How long do you live after you fall through the horizon of a black hole?
Can you detect the moment at which you cross the horizon?
As you float comfortably inward, can you see the starry heavens?
Receive messages and packages from your friend on the outside?
Why can't you send messages to your friends on the outside?
Can you tell when you are approaching the center?
How quickly will it be over at the central crunch point?
You can answer these questions for yourself with calculus, starting from a
simple formula, the "metric", for the black hole. In fact, with the metric
you can answer every possible (non quantum) scientific question about
spacetime surrounding the black hole. You can also answer every possible
question about trajectories of light and satellites around the black hole
as well as around familiar centers of gravitational attraction such as
Earth and Sun.
The metric for the even more interesting rotating black hole may tell us
about quasars, the most powerful steady energy sources in the universe.
Where do quasars get their power? Is falling into a rotating black hole an
experience different from plunging into a static black hole? Ask the
metric!
SYLLABUS:
The course begins by examining the idea of spacetime curvature
and the Schwarzschild metric for a non-rotating black hole. From the
metric springs energy as a constant of the motion of radially plunging
observers. More general orbits follow after the metric also predicts that
angular momentum is a second constant of the motion. Trajectories of light
reveal what one will SEE as one stands, falls, or orbits in the vicinity of
a black hole. The last part of the course is a series of student projects
examining life inside the horizon of a black hole, the spacetime around a
rotating black hole, and a simple model of the cosmos as a whole.
INSTRUCTOR:
The instructor is Nora S. Thornber, Associate Professor of
Mathematics at Raritan Valley Community College, NJ. She has a PhD in
physics from the California Institute of Technology and has done
postdoctorial research at Stanford University and SLAC.
CREDIT:
Physics 580 - 3 graduate semester credits.
PREREQUISITES:
One year of Physics; Differential & Integral Calculus, and
Special Relativity such as NTEN course SPECIAL RELATIVITY.
TIME COMMITMENT:
10 to 15 hours per week.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
The course is designed for high school science
teachers.
TEXTS:
The text for the Topics in General Relativity course is Scouting Black Holes, by Taylor and Wheeler, that is included in your fee.
Black Holes and Time Warps, Einstein's Outrageous Legacy by Kip S.Thorne, that is included in your fee.
For background, you must have a copy of the special relativity text -
Spacetime Physics, Second Edition by Taylor and Wheeler. Participants should order this
book on their own. The publisher is W.H. Freeman & Co. (1-800-288-2131).
The ISBN# is 0-7167-23271. Note: We will be referring to this book during the course.
COST:
Tuition is $270 and the materials fee is $75 (includes
shipping). In addition, there is a communications fee of $100 for use
of our 800 number, unless you are able to access the course through a
direct Internet connection (requires a SLIP or PPP connection).
Return to the list of NTEN courses.