PHYS 598 GR3

Subject offerings of new and developing areas of knowledge in physics intended to augment the existing curriculum. See Class Schedule or departmental course information for topics and prerequisites. Course Information: May be repeated in the same or separate terms if topics vary.

PHYS 598: General Relativity ? Compact Binaries Pre-requisite courses: PHYS 515 (GR1) or equivalent This course will cover advanced topics in Einstein?s theory of General Relativity, focusing on the dynamics of compact binaries. Emphasis will be put on widely separated binaries of comparable mass ratio, where the post-Newtonian approximation is valid. The topics discussed will include a subset of the following:orbital dynamics of binary systems, three-body interactions and the Kozai-Lidov mechanism, the radiation-reactionforce, gravitational waves emitted during inspiral. This class is very mathematically intensive, because it has to be to achieve its goals, and it will use technical language, as defined in GR I (see e.g. Carrol?s textbook), which is heavily employed in the gravity and astrophysics scientific literature.