Special relativity from a mathematician’s point of view

7-11 September 2020

Title of the course: Special relativity from a mathematician’s point of view
Instructor’s Name: Prof. Stephen Huggett
Institution:
Dates: 7-11 September 2020
Prerequisites: Groups of transformations, elementary linear algebra, elementary geometry.
Level: Advanced undergraduate
Abstract: This will be a gentle introduction to special relativity, from the mathematician’s point of view. So we shall understand special relativity as a geometry, that is, as a mathematical space together with a group of transformations acting on that space.
1. Principles of special relativity
2. The Lorentz group
3. Effects in space and time
4. The metric, and causality
5. Aberration
6. The celestial sphere, and SL(2,C)
Language: English