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Special Relativity, Electrodynamics and General Relativity

This website has Supplementary Lectures and Video Lectures(!) which present and add to the content of the textbook:

Special Relativity, Electrodynamics and General Relativity:From Newton to Einstein

Special Relativity, Electrodynamics, and General Relativity: From Newton to Einstein is intended to teach students of physics, astrophysics, astronomy, and cosmology how to think about special and general relativity in a fundamental but accessible way. Designed to render any reader a “master of relativity,” all material on the subject is comprehensible and derivable from first principles. The book emphasizes problem solving, contains abundant problem sets, and is conveniently organized to meet the needs of both student and instructor.

  • Fully revised and expanded second edition with improved figures
  • Enlarged discussion of dynamics and the relativistic version of Newton’s second law
  • Resolves the twin paradox from the principles of special and general relativity
  • Includes new chapters which derive magnetism from relativity and electrostatics
  • Derives Maxwell’s equations from Gauss’ law and the principles of special relativity
  • Includes new chapters on differential geometry, space-time curvature and the field equations of general relativity
  • Introduces black holes and gravitational waves as illustrations of the principles of general relativity and relates them to the 2015 and 2017 observational discoveries of LIGO

 

Here is a link to the published textbook which can also be found on Amazon.com:

https://www.elsevier.com/books/special-relativity-electrodynamics-and-general-relativity/kogut/978-0-12-813720-8

Students: Scroll through the “Supplementary Lectures” and the “Historical  Background Lectures” and read topics of interest.

Each Supplementary Lecture and  Historical Background Lecture is Self Contained!

A new series of Supplementary Lectures have been added: They are Introductory Lectures to the Foundations of Quantum Field Theory for Physics Students. More advanced students can get an introduction to modern physics topics here. These lectures  build on the classical field theory studied in the textbook, but add quantum mechanics and quantum field theory to the mix.

Video Lectures covering the first 10 chapters of the book are now available here and on YouTube.

Video Lectures covering Classical Differential Geometry are also available on You Tube. These videos cover and extend the discussion of differential geometry in Chapters 11 and 12 in the textbook.

Video Lectures covering General Relativity are also available on You Tube. These videos cover and extend the General Relativity material in the textbook. Special Topic lectures have been added on Rotating Black Holes, Gravito-Magnetism, the Kerr metric, Rindler space and Acceleration in Special Relativity.

Check the Video Lecture page here for more details!

ENJOY!

 

What are the focus and goals of the textbook:

Special Relativity, Electrodynamics and General Relativity: From Newton to Einstein?

Focus and Goals

This website has supplementary materials to enhance the value of the textbook.

INDEX of Supplementary Lectures

  1. How did Newton discover the inverse square law of gravity?
  2. The Gauss Bonnet Theorem
  3. Acceleration: Relativistic Rocket Dynamics and Accelerating Reference Frames (Rindler Coordinates)
  4. Curves and Surfaces of Classical Differential Geometry. Euclidean, Spherical and Hyperbolic Geometries.
  5.  Precession in Special and General Relativity
  6.  Rotating Sources, Gravito-Magnetism, the Kerr Metric
  7.  Light Cone Variables, Rapidity and High Multiplicity Collisions
  8.  Curves in 2-D, 3-D, and Curves embedded in Surfaces
  9. Planes, Spheres and Surfaces: From Straight Lines, Triangles and Differentiation to Geodesics, Covariant Differentiation, Curvature and Holonomy
  10. Accelerating Clocks in Special Relativity
  11. General Relativity for Physics Students
  12. Differential Forms for Physics Students, Parts I and II
  13. Differential Forms for Physics Students. Part III
  14. Dark Mysteries: 1. Dark Energy and the Cosmological Constant, and 2. Dark Matter
  15. Introduction to Statistical Physics. Part I: Entropy and Microcanonical Ensemble
  16. Introduction to Statistical Physics. Part II: Canonical and Grand Canonical Ensemble. Introduction to Quantum Statistical Physics
  17. Introduction to Statistical Physics, Part III: Fluctuations, Noise, Brownian Motion and Diffusion
  18. Introduction to Statistical Physics, Part IV: Kinetics, Einstein and Black Body Radiation, Detailed Balance, The H Theorem and The Boltzmann Transport Equation
  19. Introduction to Statistical Physics, Part V: Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics. Langevin Equation and Fokker-Planck Equation
  20. Introduction to Statistical Physics, Part VI: Irreversible Statistical Mechanics from Reversible Mechanics

INDEX of Introductory Quantum Field Theory Lectures for Physics Students

  1. Particles and Anti-Particles
  2. The Unruh Effect
  3. The Casimir Effect
  4. The Schwinger Effect
  5. The Goldstone Theorem and the Higgs Mechanism
  6. The Dirac Equation, Anti-Particle and the Quantum Vacuum
  7. The Chiral Anomaly and the Dirac Sea
  8. Bosonization and Solving the Schwinger Model
  9. Quantum Electrodynamics in a Strong External Magnetic Field
  10. How Hot is an Accelerating Spacecraft (and a Black Hole)
  11. Nuclear Physics Theory and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

INDEX of Historical Background Lectures

  1. Newton Kepler and the Laws of Mechanics
  2. Gauss, Riemann and his Public Lecture
  3. Ludwig Boltzmann: A Career of Conquests, Controversies and Despair