Special Relativity
Syllabus, Master's level, 1FA156
- Code
- 1FA156
- Education cycle
- Second cycle
- Main field(s) of study and in-depth level
- Physics A1N
- Grading system
- Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail (U)
- Finalised by
- The Faculty Board of Science and Technology, 13 October 2022
- Responsible department
- Department of Physics and Astronomy
Entry requirements
120 credits with Linear Algebra II. Participation in Mechanics III. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.
Learning outcomes
On completion of the course, the student should be able to:
- transform displacements, velocities, momenta, etc. from one inertial frame to another
- explain and compute doppler shifts, aberrations and other light phenomena
- determine outcomes of relativistic colissions including Compton scattering
- explain the concept of the stress-tensor and determine it in different inertial frames
- write down Maxwell's equations in covariant form
- solve Maxwell's equations in the vacuum for various situations, including a radiating particle
Content
Lorenz transformations: Minkowski space. Interval, proper time. Rotation group and Lorenz group. 4-vectors. Dirac and Majorana spinors.
Relativistic Mechanics: 4-velocity and 4-momentum. Relativistic particles. 4-force and 4-acceleration. Energy-momentum conservation. Collisions.
Relativistic treatment of electromagnetism: 4-vectors for electric charge and current density, tensor form of electromagnetic fields. Relativistic motion for a point charge in an electromagnetic field. Maxwell's equations in covariant form. Electromagnetic wave equation.
Instruction
Lectures and tutorials.
Assessment
Written examination.
In addition there are hand-in problems. Credit points from these are included only in the regular exam and the first regular re-exam.
If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the disability coordinator of the university.
Other directives
The course may not be included in the same higher education qualifications as 1FA154 Analytical mechanics and special relativity.