Official description

Applications of General Relativity to Astrophysics and Cosmology. Introduction to black holes, large-scale structure of the universe.

Additional information

This course follows on from PHY1483F. We begin by outlining how Einstein's equations can be derived from an action principle from scratch. Applying them, we find the conditions under which gravity is attractive, and describe gravitational lensing. Next, we develop the story of homogeneous isotropic FRW cosmology, and introduce the idea of inflation. Then we discuss aspects of the thermal physics of the early universe. After that, we give an outline of the theory of inflationary perturbations and how they grow over time, and connections to experiment. Next, we turn to introducing black hole thermodynamics, extra dimensions, and alternative theories of gravity. We finish up with a brief introduction to numerical relativity.