302737 (v.2) Physics 402

Area:

Department of Applied Physics

Credits:

25.0

Contact Hours:

4.0

** The tuition pattern below provides details of the types of classes and their duration. This is to be used as a guide only. For more precise information please check your unit outline. **

Lecture:

2 x 2 Hours Weekly

Other Requisite(s):

Admission: to the physics honours program

Syllabus:

Contravariant and covariant tensors. The Einstein summation convention. Lorentz space. Symmetric and antisymmetric tensors. The gradient, divergence, curl and d'Alembertian operators applied to tensors. The order of a tensor. The metric tensor. Rectilinear and curvilinear coordinates. The Einstein tensor. The line element for various coordinate systems. Converting from one coordinate system to another. Cartesian to spherical. Definition and application of flat space and Riemannian space. Christoffel symbols or connection coefficients. The curvature tensor. The Ricci tensor. The principle of equivalence and its implications. General relativity and coordinate geometry problems - calculate the angle of the deflection of light as it passes the sun. Do this calculation classically and compare with the general relativity result. Given a specific line element, determine if the space is curved. Determine the line elements of several geometrical shapes. Calculate the connection coefficients for several geometrical shapes.

** To ensure that the most up-to-date information about unit references, texts and outcomes appears, they will be provided in your unit outline prior to commencement. **

Field of Education:

10301 Physics

Funding Cluster:

08 - Engineering, Science, Surveying

SOLT (Online) Definitions*:

Informational
*Extent to which this unit or thesis utilises online information

Result Type:

Grade/Mark

Availability

Year	Location	Period	Internal	Partially Online Internal	Area External	Central External	Fully Online
2005	Bentley Campus	Semester 2	Y

Area External	refers to external course/units run by the School or Department or offered by research.
Central External	refers to external and online course/units run through the Curtin Bentley-based Distance Education Area
Partially Online Internal	refers to some (a portion of) learning provided by interacting with or downloading pre-packaged material from the Internet but with regular and ongoing participation with a face-to-face component retained. Excludes partially online internal course/units run through the Curtin Bentley-based Distance Education Area which remain Central External
Fully Online	refers to the main (larger portion of) mode of learning provided via Internet interaction (including the downloading of pre-packaged material on the Internet). Excludes online course/units run through the Curtin Bentley-based Distance Education Area which remain Central External