Introduction à la relativité générale et à la cosmologie - Département de Physique de l'Ecole Normale supérieure

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Introduction à la relativité générale et à la cosmologie

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November 14 - 18, 2022 :
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Contact us - Student support and Graduate School office :
Tél : 01 44 32 35 60
enseignement@phys.ens.fr

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Next student seminar :
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Here you can find information about your internships:
Experimental Internship - Undergraduate program
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News : ICFP Research seminars
November 14 - 18, 2022 :
All information about the program

Contact us - Student support and Graduate School office :
Tél : 01 44 32 35 60
enseignement@phys.ens.fr

Enseignant : Nick Kaiser
Chargé des TD : Vassilis Papadopoulos
ECTS : 6
Langue d’enseignement : Anglais
Site web :

The first half of the course is an introduction to general relativity. We start with a review of special relativity (and electromagnetism in relativistic notation) and then develop the concepts of differential geometry in curved space-time and derive the Einstein field equations. We develop the weak-field theory of gravity and apply it to gravitational waves and then discuss other applications including black-holes and elementary stellar structure theory; gravitational lensing; the solar system (precession of Mercury’s orbit); and the derivation of the singularity theorems from Raychaudhuri’s equation .

The second half of the course is an introduction to modern cosmology. We obtain the Friemann-Robertson-Walker-Lemaitre relativistic world model and show how this is related to observations. We also explore the Newtonian analogy. We review the successes of the hot-big-bang model, including nucleosynthesis, and its shortcomings (horizon and flatness problems). We then show how these are resolved via inflation in the early (and perhaps also the late) universe. Finally, we develop the relativistic theory for the growth of cosmological structure and review the main observational probes (large-scale structure; gravitational lensing; and the cosmic microwave background).

Quick links

Next student seminar :
Access to the program

Here you can find information about your internships:
Experimental Internship - Undergraduate program
Master ICFP first year Internship

News : ICFP Research seminars
November 14 - 18, 2022 :
All information about the program

Contact us - Student support and Graduate School office :
Tél : 01 44 32 35 60
enseignement@phys.ens.fr