The Special Theory of Relativity

Course home page

Daily Schedule Term 2

See also Daily Schedule Term 3

Week 1 — Touring Week

• Monday — Einstein’s Legacy by Julian Schwinger, pp. 1-20. Newton’s Laws of Motion and Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation. Newton’s reservations about instantaneous action at a distance. Rays of light vs. light waves. Properties of waves: wavelength, period, frequency, speed. Diffraction of waves at a corner or narrow opening. Spectrum of light (radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays). Speed of light and refractive index. Huygen’s wavefront explanation of refraction. In-class construction of Huygen’s explanation using notecards.
• Thursday — Schwinger, pp. 21-34. Complete Huygen’s explanation of refraction and derive Snell’s Law from it. Maxwell’s accomplishments prior to electromagnetism (the stability of Saturn’s rings). Coulomb’s Law for electric charges and ε₀. Ampere’s Law for the force between currents and μ₀. Faraday’s Law (a changing magnetic field can produce an electric field). Maxwell completes the laws of electromagnetism and derives electromagnetic waves, including finding an expression for their speed, c. c² = 1 / ε₀μ₀. The speed of light does not depend on the motion of the observer (Michelson-Morley experiment). The speed of light does not depend on the motion of the source (binary stars example from Schwinger p. 23). Einstein’s thought experiment and paradox (Maxwell’s explanation for electromagnetic waves make no sense if it is possible to keep up with the wave). Ordinary addition of velocities. Emphasize the paradox: ordinary addition of velocities (whether due to the motion of the source or of the motion of the observer) does not work with light!

Week 2

• Tuesday — Spacetime Physics, 2nd Edition by Edwin F. Taylor and John Archibald Wheeler, Sections 1-1 to 1-4.
• Friday — Taylor and Wheeler, Sections 1-5 to 2-3 — Homework 1 Solution

Week 3

• Tuesday — Taylor and Wheeler, Sections 2-4 to 2-8.
• Friday — Taylor and Wheeler, Sections 2-9 to 3-3. — Homework 2 Solution

Week 4

• Tuesday — Taylor and Wheeler, Sections 3-3 to 3-6 — Problems 3-8, 3-9, and 3-10 — Homework 3 Solution
• Friday — Taylor and Wheeler, Sections 3-7 to 3-9 — Problems 3-11 and 3-12 — Homework 4 Solution

Week 5

• Tuesday — Taylor and Wheeler, Sections L-1 to L-5
• Friday — No new material from main textbook — Historical reading on Michelson’s experiments from Einstein’s Generation — A problem of your choice from Chapter 3, and a problem from Chapter L, “The Headlight Effect.” — Homework 5 Solution

Week 6

• Tuesday — First half of class, Term 2 Exam covering Taylor and Wheeler through Chapter 3 — Exam Solution — second half of class, continue Historical Reading on Michelson from Einstein’s Generation
• Friday — Complete Chapter L — L-7 done in class

Week 7

• Tuesday — Examine Problem L-9 in detail (tilt of rising rod) and also understand Problem L-10 — Homework 6 Solution.
• Friday — Term 2 Final Exam adding Chapter L on the Lorentz transformation to previously covered material adding Chapter L on the Lorentz transformation to previously covered material — Exam Solution