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Courses / Modules / MATH3006 Relativity, Black Holes and Cosmology

Relativity, Black Holes and Cosmology

When you'll study it
Semester 2
CATS points
15
ECTS points
7.5
Level
Level 6
Module lead
Leor Barack
Academic year
2025-26

Module overview

This is a module principally on Einstein's general theory of relativity, a relativistic theory of gravitation which explains gravitational effects as coming from the curvature of space-time. It provides a comprehensive introduction to material which is currently the subject of enthusiastic study from the theoretical and experimental standpoints.

The module starts by introducing the special theory of relativity in a manner designed to make the transition to the general theory more tractable. In addition, in order to understand the general theory fully, some familiarity with tensor calculus is required. This will involve some self-study material at the start of the module. The rest of the module will be devoted to a detailed investigation of the theory itself together with applications to classical black holes and cosmology. The theory is full of surprises and challenging new ideas and the module is designed to make these accessible to students from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Linked modules

Pre-requisites: MATH2038 OR MATH2015 OR MATH2047 OR MATH2048