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Lectures

Monday/ Wednesday 11:00 pm - 11:50pm, CL G24

Recitations

(Register for one.)

Monday 1-1:50pm, CL 149

Monday 3-3:50pm, CL 327

Tuesday 12-12:50pm, CL 119

Tuesday 4-4:50pm, CL 149

Instructors

John D. Norton, 412-624-1051, jdnorton@pitt.edu
Room 817 CL. Office hours: Monday 12-1pm, Wednesday 12-1pm.

Bryan W. Roberts, email: b w r 6 at pitt dot edu
Room 901-P CL. Office hours: Monday 2-2:50pm, Tuesday 3-3:50pm.

Course website

Course materials will be posted at the course website
http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/HPS_0410
Click here http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/HPS_0410
We will communicate grades through the Blackboard website at
https://courseweb.pitt.edu/
These websites will be the primary means of obtaining course material. To take this course, you must have access the internet.

Topics

Special relativity: The two postulates and their strange consequences: rods and clocks run amuck. The light barrier. Relativity of simultaneity: the confusion of when and where and the puzzles it solves. Spacetime: time as the fourth dimension. Origins of special relativity: how did Einstein do it?. Puzzles and paradoxes. The most famous equation: E=mc². The philosophical dividend.

General relativity: Straightening out Euclid. Acceleration provides the clue: gravitation is just spacetime bent. General relativity passes the tests. Applications of general relativity: Goedel universes and the like: could we take a journey into the past? Cosmology: the biggest picture possible; a beginning and end for time? Black holes: when the fabric of spacetime collapses.

Quantum theory: The puzzle of black body radiation: light comes in lumps. The Bohr atom: where electrons jump. The perversity of matter in the small: both particle and wave. The uncertainty principle. The failure of determinism. The puzzle of Schrödinger's cat: neither alive nor dead.

Assessment

Short tests There will be 6 short in-class test, one each two weeks. (Schedule) The grade is the best 5 of 6.	35%
Assignments An assignment is due each week in the recitation. The grade is the best 10 of 13.	35%
Term paper The term paper is due in the final recitation, Monday April 7/ Tuesday April 8.	30%

Short Test

The short tests will examine material covered roughly in the preceding two weeks. They will be held in the first 15 minutes of class and consist of a series of 3-4 related questions requiring a few sentences each as answers.

Policy on Missed Tests and Late Assignments

   No make up tests will be offered. Since the test grade is the best 5 or 6, one missed test is automatically forgiven. It is strongly recommended that this one forgiven test be used only when illness or emergencies preclude class attendance.
   Assignments are due each week at the start of the recitation. Late assignments are not accepted. Since the assignment grade is the best 10 of 13, three missed assignments are automatically forgiven. It is strongly recommended that these forgiven assignments be used only when illness or emergencies preclude class attendance.
(An exception is made for students who add the course after the start of term. Assignments due prior to the date on which the class was added may be submitted at the next scheduled recitation and no later than Monday January 21/ Tuesday Jan 22.)
   For added flexibility, a universal makeup assignment is offered to all students. The makeup assignment is a second term paper conforming to the term paper guidelines, but only 500 words in length, due in the final recitation, Tuesday April 17.

Texts

The primary text for the class is available on this website as the online text Einstein for Everyone.
Supplementary readings are:

J. Schwartz and M. McGuinness, Einstein for Beginners. New York: Pantheon.

J. P. McEvoy and O. Zarate, Introducing Stephen Hawking. Totem.

J. P. McEvoy, Introducing Quantum Theory. Totem.

Special Needs

If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, 412-648-7890 or 412-383-7355 (TTY) as early as possible in the term. For more information, see http://www.drs.pitt.edu/

Last update: January 2, 2008.