Govind Menon
Phone: (334) 670-3924
gmenon@troy.edu
Office Hours (CST): MW 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

 Fall 2025
PHY 5560: Relativity I : M, W, F, Room 318 MSCX, 1:00-1:50 p.m.
Topics: Lorentz transformation, inertial coordinates, causal structure of spacetime, equivalence principle, gravitational effects in special relativity, curved spacetime, and introduction to black holes.
curved



Lecture notes for Relativity I&II videos can be found here.


PHY 4460/5560, Relativity I: Video Lectures

  • Lecture 1.1, Lorentz Transformation
  • Lecture 1.2, Spacetime Diagrams
  • Lecture 2.1, The Rotation Group
  • Lecture 2.2, Inertial Observers
  • Lecture 2.3, 4-Vectors
  • Lecture 2.4, Lorentz Group 1
  • Lecture 2.5, Lorentz Group 2
  • Lecture 2.6, Lorentz Group 3
  • Lecture 2.7, Causal Structure of Minkowski Spacetime
  • Lecture 2.8, Time Orientation
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  • Lecture 3.1, Timelike Curves
  • Lecture 3.2, Propertime
  • Lecture 3.3, 4-Velocity
  • Lecture 3.4, Relativistic Force
  • Lecture 3.5, \(E=mc^2\)
  • Lecture 3.6, First look at Tensors-I
  • Lecture 3.7, First look at Tensors-II
  • Lecture 3.8, Electrodynamics-I
  • Lecture 3.9, Electrodynamics-II
  • Lecture 4.1, The Equivalence Principle
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  • Lecture 4.1, Introduction to Gravity
  • Lecture 4.2, Generalized Coordinates
  • Lecture 4.3, The Metric Tensor and the Equivalence Principle
  • Lecture 4.4, The Geodesic Equation of Motion-I
  • Lecture 4.5, The Geodesic Equation of Motion-II
  • Lecture 5.1, Schwarzschild Spacetime
  • Lecture 5.2, Schwarzschild Geodesics
  • Lecture 5.3, Black Hole Coordinates
  • Lecture 5.4, The Schwarzschild Black Hole
  • Lecture 5.5, The Maximal Schwarzschild Geometry I
  • Lecture 5.6, The Maximal Schwarzschild Geometry II
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    PHY 4478/5578, Relativity II: Video Lectures

  • Lecture 6.1, Tensor Analysis I
  • Lecture 6.2, Tensor Analysis II
  • Lecture 6.3, Tensor Analysis III
  • Lecture 6.4, The Lie Bracket
  • Lecture 6.5, Covariant Derivative I
  • Lecture 6.6, Covariant Derivative II
  • Lecture 6.7, Covariant Derivative III
  • Lecture 6.8, Covariant Derivative Along a Curve I
  • Lecture 6.9, Covariant Derivative Along a Curve II
    		•

  • Lecture 6.10, More on Geodesics
  • Lecture 6.11, Torsion Tensor and the Levi-Civita Connection
  • Lecture 7.1, The Riemann Curvature Tensor I
  • Lecture 7.2, The Riemann Curvature Tensor II
  • Lecture 7.3, Symmetries of the Riemann Curvature Tensor
  • Lecture 7.4, The Einstein Tensor
  • Lecture 7.5, The Weak Field Limit
  • Lecture 7.6, The Einstein Tensor
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  • Lecture 8.1, Homogeneity and Isotropy in the Universe
  • Lecture 8.2, FLRW Spacetime
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