What is Relativity and Cosmology?
General Relativity is the theory of gravity proposed by Einstein in 1916, that supercedes the Newtonian theory of gravity which dates back to the seventeenth century.
General Relativity forms the basis for the disciplines of cosmology (the structure and origin of the Universe on the largest scales) and relativistic astrophysics (the study of galaxies, quasars, neutron stars, etc.), and has led to a number of dramatic predictions concerning the physical world:
- Black holes
- Gravitational lensing
- Gravitational waves
- Big-bang origin of the universe
- Gravity affects clocks
An introduction to these fascinating ideas is provided by our fourth year course in General Relativity and by courses offered by the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
