The course will examine a number of issues concerning the mathematical and philosophical foundations of the special theory of relativity. The emphasis throughout will be on the "geometric" approach to the theory, and considerable class time will be devoted to a careful study of Minkowski geometry, and its relations to both Euclidean and non-Euclidean (Lobatchevskian) plane geometry. (One of the nicest routes to the latter is via special relativity.)

The course will presuppose familiarity with calculus, basic linear algebra, and (for one topic) formal logic.  More advanced prior training in mathematics and/or physics will certainly be helpful.

Instructor:  David Malament, SST 757, 824-7374.  I can be reached, most reliably, by e-mail:  dmalamen@uci.edu.  Office hours:  Tu 11-12 am, and by appt.  

 
Course requirements: Auditors are welcome. Students who want to take the course for a grade will be asked to submit regular problem sets.
 

Reading: My lecture notes will serve as a text for the course. They can be downloaded here.  In addition, I recommend that when we reach section 3.4 in the notes (concerning the status of the relative simultaneity relation ), students read the article on the  "Conventionality of Simultaneity"  in the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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Course Outline with Problem Sets

All problems are from the lecture notes.  The due dates are tentative and subject to change.  

A.  Review of Needed Background Mathematics  (4 weeks)
        
            Problem Set #1:        2.1.2,  2.1.4,  2.1.6   (due 10/6)                                     

            Problem Set #2:        2.2.2,  2.2.4,  2.3.2   (due 10/13)                  

            Problem Set #3:        2.4.2,  2.4.4,  2.4.6    (due 10/20)                

 
B.  Minkowski Spacetime Geometry and its Physical Interpretation (4 weeks) 

            Problem Set #4:        3.1.1,  3.1.2,  3.1.3    (due 11/03)                     

            Problem Set #5:        3.1.4,  3.1.5                (due 11/10)                                                                             

            Problem Set #6:        3.2.1,  3.2.2                (due 11/17)                                                              

            Problem Set #7:        3.3.1  or  3.4.1            (due 11/24)                             
 

C.  From Special Relativity to Non-Euclidean (Lobatchevskian) Plane Geometry (2 weeks)

             Problem Set #8:        4.1.1, 4.2.1                 (due 12/8)