In-class test: Tues Nov 27
15 mins, will cover material in Bennett Ch 17.4, Oct 18 - Nov 8 class notes.

Textbooks (required):
"The Cosmic Perspective", by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider and Voit; and "Black Holes and Time Warps", by Kip Thorne.
There will be additional readings from books on reserve at Kelvin Smith Library.

• Heather Morrison, AW Smith 416, phone 368 6698
  Office hours: Wed 2:45 - 3:45, Thurs 2:30 - 3:30; you can also email me at hlm5@po.cwru.edu to ask questions or set up a time to see me.
• Jeff Kriessler, AW Smith 418.
  Office hours: Monday 6-7pm. You can also email Dr Kriessler to set up a time to see him or ask questions.

TA: Steve Rodney

Office Hours: Tuesday 9am - 10am, Friday 2.30 - 4.30. steve has his office hours in AW Smith 419. You can also email him at sar9@po.cwru.edu to ask questions or set up a time to see him.

There will be homework sets given out every 1 - 2 weeks, short tests approximately every 3 weeks, and a final exam.

Grades: Homework: 33% Tests: 33% Final: 34%

Classes will be interactive, with lots of group discussions. There will be more reading assignments than in most science classes. Class notes will be available on the web, usually the day after class.

REDEMPTION POINTS
To encourage you to learn the material better, we are giving you an opportunity to make up the points you lose on in-class tests.
Say a given topic is worth 6% of your final grade from the in-class test and another 6% from the final.
IF you take an in-class test and get half right, you can still make up the 3 points you lost towards your final grade on the final: the section from the final on that topic will now be worth 6+3% of your final grade.

Problem Set 1 (due in class Tues Sept 11)
Solutions to Problem Set 1

Problem Set 2 (due in class Tues Sept 25)
Solutions to Problem Set 2

Problem Set 3 (due in class Thurs Oct 11)

Problem Set 4 (due in class Thurs Nov 1)
Solutions to Problem Set 4

Problem Set 5 (due in class Thurs Nov 15)

Problem Set 6 (due in class Thurs Nov 29)
Solutions to Problem Set 6

Telescope viewing nights (for extra credit)

Course Outline:

Aug 28: The Scale of the Universe. [HLM]
Reading: Bennett Sections 1.1-1.3, Ch2; Tyson "Universe down to Earth" Chapters 1 (A Sentimental Journey to the Googolplex) and 2 (The Structure of Science).

Aug 30: Matter and Energy.

Sept 4: Matter and Energy. [HLM]
Reading: Bennett Ch 5, Tyson "Universe down to Earth" Chapter 6 (Energy), Bodanis, "e=mc squared" Chapters 2--6.

Sept 11: Class cancelled.

Sept 13: Light.
Reading: Bennett Ch 7.

Sept 18: Light.
Reading: Bennett Ch 7.

Sept 20: Relativity
Reading: Bennett Ch S3.

Sept 25: Special Theory of Relativity
Reading: Bennett Ch S3.

Sept 27: Special Theory of Relativity and Time Travel to Future
Reading: Gott Ch 2.

Oct 2: Spacetime and gravity: equivalence principle, geometry of curved space

Oct 4: Gravity as curvature of space-time, more on flying clocks

Oct 9: Test and Q & A.

Oct 11: Spacetime and Gravity: Time dilation
Reading: Thorne Ch 2.

Oct 16: More Spacetime, Gravity, Time dilation and Gravitational lensing
Reading: Bennett 17.4, readings from Kip Thorne "Black Holes and Time Warps" Ch. 3-6.

Oct 18: Black Holes
Reading: Bennett 17.4, Thorne Ch 3-6.

*****Fall Break Oct 22,23****

Oct 25: Black Holes continued
Reading: Bennett 17.4, Thorne Ch 3-6.

Oct 30: The Expanding Universe
the Hubble expansion, containment and cosmic edges, a homogeneous and isotropic universe on large scales. [HLM]
Reading: Bennett Ch 19, Harrison "Cosmology, the Science of the Universe" pp 89-92, 100-109, 206-219.

Nov 1: Why is the night sky dark?? A steady-state universe
Reading: Harrison "Cosmology, the Science of the Universe" pp 249-258.

Nov 6: The Expanding Universe. (HLM)

Nov 8: The future of the universe: eternal expansion or re-collapse?

Nov 13: Dark Matter.
Reading: Bennett Ch 21.

Nov 15: Dark Matter.
Reading: Bennett Ch 21.

Nov 20: The Beginning of Time: the Big Bang, Cosmic Microwave Radiation [HLM]
Reading: Bennett Ch 22

****Nov 22 Thanksgiving*****

Nov 27: Cosmic Microwave Radiation and the Geometry of the Universe [HLM]

Reading: Wayne Hu's web page.

Nov 29: --It's Flat! Boomerang results. --> --[HLM]

Dec 4: Supernova and the accelerating Universe

Dec 6: Who Ordered THAT? The Cosmological Constant and results from VERY distant exploding stars. [HLM]