Lecture Description

The lecture begins with a comprehensive overview of the historical conditions under which Einstein developed his theories. Of particular impact were the urgent need at the turn of the 19th century to synchronize clocks around the world; Einstein's position at a patent office; and a series of experiments that he himself carried out. In 1905 Einstein published three papers that are still considered the greatest papers in the field of physics. The lecture then moves to General Relativity and how it encompasses Newton's laws of gravity. A visual demonstration shows how space-time undergoes curvature when mass is introduced. Class ends with a question-and-answer period on a variety of topics in Special Relativity.

Course Description

This course focuses on three particularly interesting areas of astronomy that are advancing very rapidly: Extra-Solar Planets, Black Holes, and Dark Energy. Particular attention is paid to current projects that promise to improve our understanding significantly over the next few years. The course explores not just what is known, but what is currently not known, and how astronomers are going about trying to find out.

Lectures

1. Tests of Relativity
2. Hubble's Law and the Big Bang
3. Our Solar System and the Pluto Problem
4. Supernovae
5. Special and General Relativity
6. Supermassive Black Holes
7. Planetary Orbits
8. Dark Energy and the Accelerating Universe and the Big Rip
9. Introduction to Black Holes
10. Pulsars
11. Introduction to Introduction to Astrophysics
12. Dark Matter
13. Direct Imaging of Exoplanets
14. Stellar Mass Black Holes (cont.)
15. Omega and the End of the Universe
16. Microlensing, Astrometry and Other Methods
17. Stellar Mass Black Holes
18. Hubble's Law and the Big Bang (cont.)
19. Planetary Transits
20. The Multiverse and Theories of Everything
21. Special and General Relativity (cont.)
22. Discovering Exoplanets: Hot Jupiters
23. Other Constraints: The Cosmic Microwave Background