PHYS 2021 - Black Holes and the Early Universe

Teaching Pattern

• Duration of course: about 13 weeks

• Lecture hour(s) per week: 3

Content

• Introduction to black hole Physics
• The concept of symmetry
• Postulates of special relativity (principle of relativity, the constancy of the speed of light)
• Lorentz transformation
• Paradoxes (including length contraction, time dilation and twin paradox)
• Principle of equivalence
• Gravity as spacetime curvature
• Mathematics of curved spacetime
• Einstein field equations
• Black holes as stellar collapse
• The Schwarzschild solution & journey towards Schwarzschild black holes
• Kruskal coordinates
• Penrose diagram
• Rotating black holes
• Hawking radiation
• Olber’s paradox
• Hubble law
• Cosmic microwave background radiation
• Abundance of light elements
• Cosmological principle
• Friedman equation
• Big bang

Remarks

• Exclusion: PHYS 4054
• Prerequisite: A passing grade in *AL Physics or any 000-/1000- level Physics courses

* AL – Advanced Level of Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination