Relativity
The listings are in roughly the order in which these topics might be taught.
| Topic | Description | Author | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special Theory of Relativity: html pdf | The Special Relativity document by Professor Key that is the next listing largely concentrates on the effects predicted by the theory, such as time dilation, length contraction, etc. This document is considerably longer than Professor Key's, and tends to concentrate more on the worldview suggested by the theory. (157k/310k) | David M. Harrison | html and pdf |
| Special Theory of Relativity | A discussion of the postulates of special relativity and their consequences, from a first year physics course that uses minimal mathematics; the entire set of materials from the course is available by clicking here. (119k) | Anthony W. Key | html |
| Inertial Frames of Reference html pdf | A brief summary of the concept of Inertial Frames of Reference in Newtonian and Einsteinian Physics. (25k/35k) | David M. Harrison | html and pdf |
| Mass-Energy Equivalence html pdf | A "small" document discussing how E = mc2 arises in the Special Theory of Relativity. |
David M. Harrison | html and pdf |
| Mass-Energy Equivalence - technical | This document discusses much of the same material as the previous one, but is written for physicists. (66k) | Jason Harlow and David M. Harrison | |
| General Theory of Relativity: html pdf | Similar to the two Special Relativity documents, there are two General Relativity documents in the bookshelf. This one concentrates more on the worldview demanded by the theory, while Professor Key's concentrates more on the effects predicted by the theory. (121k/170k) | David M. Harrison | html and pdf |
| General Theory of Relativity | A discussion of the general theory of relativity, from a first year physics course that uses minimal mathematics; the entire set of materials from the course is available by clicking here. (216k) | Anthony W. Key | html |
| Gravitational Time Dilation, a Derivation html pdf | A non-mathematical derivation of the fact that clocks in gravitational fields run slow. (23k/37k) | David M. Harrison | html and pdf |
| Big Bang Cosmology html pdf | A brief discussion of the Standard Hot Big Bang Model of cosmology. (70k/90k) | David M. Harrison | html and pdf |
| Black Holes html pdf | Course notes from a one-hour class on black holes for upper-year liberal arts students. (78k/90k) | David M. Harrison | html and pdf |
| The Science of Hawking | An overview of Stephen Hawking's contributions to black hole thermodynamics and cosmology. Originally written for a non-technical audience, it also includes a Primer on General Relativity and Cosmology. (32k) | Pekka K. Sinervo | html |
| Black Hole Thermodynamics html pdf | Course notes from a one-hour class on black hole thermodynamics for upper-year liberal arts students. (25k./47k) | David M. Harrison | html and pdf |
| What is the Universe Made Of? | A discussion of the role of elementary particle physics in the study of cosmology. This are slides of a talk given to University of Toronto summer research undergraduate students in 1999. (2.5M) | Robert S. Orr |
This page was last revised (m/d/y) on 05/08/05
Copyright © 2000 David M. Harrison