Information Package / Course Catalogue
General Relativity
Course Code: FİZ405
Course Type: Area Elective
Couse Group: First Cycle (Bachelor's Degree)
Education Language: Turkish
Work Placement: N/A
Theory: 3
Prt.: 0
Credit: 3
Lab: 0
ECTS: 4
Objectives of the Course

To make the students understand the spacetime and gravitational interaction in the manner of geometry within the general theory of relativity.

Course Content

Curved spaces and the basic ideas of general theory of relativity, Static and stationary spacetimes, Geodesics, curvature tensor and vacuum field equations, The Schwarzschild metric, Black holes and Kruskal space, An exact plane gravitational wave, The full field equations, Linearized general relativity

Name of Lecturer(s)
Learning Outcomes
1.Students know different geometric structures
2.Students know static universe models
3.Students understand the origins of mechanics also in different spacetimes
4.Students know curved spacetimes
5.Students know some special spacetime structures
6.Students know gravitational wave concept and its detection mechanisms
7.Students solve field equations within the general theory of relativity
8.Students know the linearization approach of systems that are not linear in the manner of the general theory of relativity
Recommended or Required Reading
1.Relativity: Special, General, and Cosmological, Rindler, W.
2.A First Course in General Relativity, Shutz, B.
Weekly Detailed Course Contents
Week 1 - Theoretical
Curved spaces and the basic ideas of general theory of relativity; Curved surfaces, Curved spaces of higher dimensions, Riemannian spaces
Week 2 - Theoretical
Static and stationary spacetimes I; The coordinate lattice, Synchronization of clocks, First standard form of the metric, Newtonian support for the geodesic law of motion
Week 3 - Theoretical
Static and stationary spacetimes II; Symmetries and the geometric characterization of static and stationary spacetimes, Canonical metric and relativistic potentials, The uniformly rotating lattice in Minkowski space
Week 4 - Theoretical
Geodesics, curvature tensor and vacuum field equations I; Tensors for general relativity, Geodesics, Geodesic coordinates, Covariant and absolute differentiation
Week 5 - Theoretical
Geodesics, curvature tensor and vacuum field equations II; The Riemann curvature tensor, Einstein’s vacuum field equations
Week 6 - Theoretical
The Schwarzschild metric I; Derivation of the metric, Properties of the metric, The geometry of the Schwarzschild lattice, Contributions of the spatial curvature to post-Newtonian effects
Week 7 - Theoretical
The Schwarzschild metric II; Coordinates and measurements, The gravitational frequency shift, Isotropic metric and Shapiro time delay, Particle orbits in Schwarzschild space, The precession of Mercury’s orbit
Week 8 - Theoretical
The Schwarzschild metric III; Photon orbits, Deflection of light by a spherical mass, Gravitational lenses, de Sitter precession via rotating coordinates (Midterm Exam)
Week 9 - Theoretical
Black holes and Kruskal space I; Schwarzschild black holes, Potential energy; A general-relativistic ‘proof’ of E=mc2, The extendibility of Schwarzschild spacetime
Week 10 - Theoretical
Black holes and Kruskal space II; The uniformly accelerated lattice, Kruskal space, Black-hole thermodynamics and related topics
Week 11 - Theoretical
An exact plane gravitational wave I; Introduction, The plane-wave metric, When wave meets dust, Inertial coordinates behind the wave
Week 12 - Theoretical
An exact plane gravitational wave II; When wave meets light, The Penrose topology, Solving the field equation
Week 13 - Theoretical
The full field equations; de Sitter space; The laws of physics in curved spacetime, The full field equations, The cosmological constant, Modified Schwarzschild space, de Sitter space, Anti-de Sitter space
Week 14 - Theoretical
Linearized general relativity; The basic equations, Gravitational waves (The TT gauge), Some physics of plane waves, Generation and detection of gravitational waves, The electromagnetic analogy in linearized GR
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Type of AssessmentCountPercent
Attending Lectures1%5
Assignment1%5
Midterm Examination1%30
Final Examination1%60
Workload Calculation
ActivitiesCountPreparationTimeTotal Work Load (hours)
Lecture - Theory140456
Assignment1416
Midterm Examination115217
Final Examination119221
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours)100
Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes
PÇ-1
PÇ-2
PÇ-3
PÇ-4
PÇ-5
PÇ-6
PÇ-7
PÇ-8
PÇ-9
PÇ-10
PÇ-11
OÇ-1
5
4
2
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
1
OÇ-2
4
4
2
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
1
OÇ-3
5
5
4
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
1
OÇ-4
5
5
3
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
1
OÇ-5
5
5
3
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
1
OÇ-6
4
5
3
1
2
1
4
3
2
1
3
OÇ-7
5
5
5
1
2
1
3
2
2
1
3
OÇ-8
5
5
5
1
2
1
3
2
2
1
1
Adnan Menderes University - Information Package / Course Catalogue
2026