General Information

General Comments
8.20 is an introduction to Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. We will probably have a lecture or two to introduce his General Theory as well, but the principal focus will be on special relativity, which we will study in quite a bit of detail. If you have hoped to understand the physics of Lorentz contraction, time dilation, the "twin paradox", and E=mc², you’re in the right place.

8.20 is a 9-unit course given in the four weeks of IAP. A 9-unit course is roughly equivalent to 30 hours a week for four weeks, be prepared to work hard! Problem sets will come upon you quickly. So will the midterm and the final. The course will be defined by the lectures. The reading is an important part of the course, but if you want to know what you are responsible for, it's the material that is presented in lecture unless otherwise explicitly stated.

Course Prerequisites
8.20 is open to all MIT students who have completed or placed out of 8.01 and 18.01. Anyone in the MIT community who is familiar with elementary mechanics and who has a good knowledge of algebra (and a little knowledge of calculus) will find the course accessible. If you have any concerns about your background, please talk to or email Professor Knuteson.

Use of the Web
All course-related documents (syllabus, notes, problem sets and solutions, handouts, announcements, etc.) will be distributed electronically over the web. Students should check the 8.20 Home Page regularly for updates and announcements.

8.20 students are encouraged to provide anonymous feedback to Professor Knuteson -- on any aspect of the course -- using this anonymous feedback form. Please be constructive!

Textbooks
The following textbooks are required or strongly recommended. Readings will be assigned in Resnick and Halliday and in French. Einstein’s book is a cultural classic. These textbooks are available at the MIT Coop.

• R. Resnick, Introduction to Special Relativity, Wiley, ISBN-0-471-71725-8 (required)
• A. P. French Special Relativity, Norton, 1968, 0-393-09793-5 (required)
• Einstein Relativity: The Special and the General Theory, Three Rivers Press/Random House, New York, 1961, ISBN-0-517-8841-0 (recommended). Also available online here.

Here are some texts which supplement 8.20. I don’t recommend buying them, but they are on reserve at the Hayden library and in the Physics Reading Room.

• Wolfgang Rindler Essential Relativity Springer-Verlag, 2nd edition, (ISBN-0387100903). A more advanced book.
• Dennis W. Sciama The Physical Foundations of General Relativity Doubleday-Anchor, 1969, no ISBN number. A very short, very elementary book on GR.
• Leo Sartori Understanding Relativity, University of California Press, 1996, (ISBN-0520079868). Another book at the level of 8.20, similar to French, but with more space-time diagrams and less about experiment.

Problem Sets
Problem sets are an important part of 8.20. It simply isn’t possible to learn relativity unless you sit down and work through problems and concepts on your own. We recognize that students also learn a great deal from talking to and working with each other. We therefore encourage each student to make his/her own attempt on every problem and then, having done so, to discuss the problems with one another and collaborate on understanding them more fully. The solutions you submit must reflect your own work. They must not be transcriptions or reproductions of other people’s work, published textbook solutions, or solutions from previous years. Plagiarism is a serious offense and is easy to recognize. Don’t submit work which is not your own.

• There will be four problem sets, each roughly equivalent to 2.5 ordinary term assignments. The problem sets will be available on the course website on or before January 7, 11, 18, and 23. They will be due at 5 pm on January 14, 18, 25, and 30 in the physics problem set boxes at the intersection of building 8 (third floor) and building 16 (fourth floor), outside the Physics Undergrad Lounge (Marble Room, 8-329).
• Generally solutions will available on the web on the morning after the problem sets are due.
• Because of the accelerated pace of the course, no late problem sets can be accepted.
• Graded problem sets will be returned in lecture as soon as possible.

Exams

• A two-hour midterm is scheduled for Tuesday evening, January 22, 7:30-9:30 pm, in room 4-370. It will cover material through lecture on Thursday, January 17.
• A 2.5-hour final exam is scheduled for Friday afternoon, February 1, 2:30-5:00 pm, in room 4-370.

Grading
Grading will be weighted: Problem sets 35%, Midterm 25%, Final 40%. Grades will be available at the end of the second week of February.

History
This course was originally designed and taught by Professor Jaffe.

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