PHYS675 Fall2008

physics 879

special topic in general relativity: gravitational-wave physics

black holes in binary spiraling in while emitting gravitational waves

spring 2014 schedule

instructor: alessandra buonanno

class room: psc 3150

lecture days: tuesday & thursday: 2:00pm - 3:15pm

first day of class: january 28

last day of class: may 13

professor contact info

office room: psc 3149
e-mail: buonanno@umd.edu
phone: (301) 405 1440
office hours: after classes or by appointment

grader

grader: andrea taracchini
office room: PSC 3260

e-mail: taracchini@gmail.com

textbooks

required textbook: "gravitational waves volume 1: theory and experiments"
by michele maggiore. please see also the errata

prerequisite

to follow the classes, students should have already mastered the material covered
in an introductory general relativity course. By contrast it is not necessary to have
followed a course in astrophysics and/or cosmology.

exams

none.

grading

the course grade will be based on the homeworks (1/3) and final project (2/3).

homework rules

late homeworks are accepted only under serious circumstances (to be discussed before due day).
you are encouraged to discuss homeworks with other students, however the work you turn in should be your own formulation and reflection.
use of previous solutions is not allowed (violation of this rule is cause for failure of the course).
homework sets must show reasoning leading to the final answers in a clear and readable fashion to obtain credit.
please, include your name, write clearly and staple the pages together.

academic integrity

the university has approved a code of academic integrity available on the web. the code
prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper
for credit in two courses without authorization, buying papers, submitting fraudulent
documents, and forging signatures. the university senate requires that students include
the following signed statement on each examination or assignment: “i pledge on my
honor that i have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this examination
(or assignment).” compliance with the code is administered by a student honor council,
which strives to promote a “community of trust” on the college park campus. allegations
of academic dishonesty can be reported directly to the honor council (314-9154) by any
member of the campus community.

course description

Tentative course plan - will be adjusted during semester.

the sections refer to the book by maggiore

date	tuesday	thursday	references
Jan 28, 30	Overview	Linearization of Einstein equations, Lorenz gauge, transverse-traceless gauge [1.1, 1.2]	science paper on ligo flanagan & hughes
Feb 4, 6	Interaction of GWs with freely-falling test particles, key ideas underlying GW detectors [1.3]	Effective EMT of GWs, GW energy and linear-momentum fluxes [1.4]	kennefick
Feb 11, 13	Propagation of GWs in curved spacetime, geometric optics approximation [1.5]	class canceled because of snow!
Feb 18, 20	Interaction of GWs with matter, gravitational lensing, absorption and scattering	Astrophysical predictions for binary coalescing rates [guest lecturer: Cole Miller]	phinney abadie et al.
Feb 25, 27	Leading-order generation of GWs in the slow-motion approximation [3.1--3.3]	Quadrupole formula [3.1--3.3]	Re
March 4, 6	GWs from binary systems [4.1]	Binaries on elliptic orbits [4.1]
March 11, 13	Basics of PN formalism [5.1]	Basics of PN formalism [5.2-5.3]
March 25, 27	Basics of PN formalism [5.2-5.3]	Perturbation theory and quasi-normal modes	regge & wheeler will & schutz mashhoon & ferrari maggiore
April 1, 3	Numerical relativity [guest lecturer: John Baker]	Numerical relativity [guest lecturer: John Baker]	chap 2-3, "numerical relativity", baumgarte & shapiro
April 8, 10	Effective-one-body formalism	Effective-one-body formalism	buonanno & damour buonanno & damour key ideas
April 15, 17	Tidal effects in two-body dynamics and waveforms [guest lecturer: Tanja Hinderer]	NS-BH and NS-NS merger waveforms [guest lecturer: Tanja Hinderer]
April 22, 24	BH-BH merger waveforms GWs from rotating rigid bodies (pulsars) [4.2]	GWs from rotating rigid bodies (pulsars) and from supernovae	spin-down limits on crab & vela youngest known NS: cass A
April 29, May 1	GWs from the early Universe	GWs from the early Universe	maggiore's review allen's review
May 6, 8	Data analysis [7.1-7.3] [guest lecturer: Peter Shawhan]	Data analysis [7.5-7.8] [guest lecturer: Peter Shawhan]	lecture1 lecture2
May 13, 16	GWs from the early Universe	students' presentations	primordial spectrum cosmic strings

homeworks	solutions
HW1	SHW1
HW2	SHW2
HW3	SHW3
HW4	SHW4
HW5	SHW5
HW6	SHW6

questions and comments may be sent to buonanno@umd.edu
last modified on 5/13/2014