HOMEWORK
MTH 437/537 — Spring 2017

Ground Rules

Suggested Reading
It is to your advantage to skim suggested readings as soon as possible. However, do not expect to master this material the first time around. Don't worry; we'll cover it in class, after which the readings should make more sense. But be warned: we will not always cover the material the same way it is presented in the text. The bottom line is that you are only responsible for material covered in class.
Written Work
It is your job to explain your work to me clearly and completely. Here are some guidelines: You may discuss homework problems with anyone you like, and you may use any reference materials you like. However, you must write up the solutions in your own words, and you must indicate what help you used. Late homework will be corrected as a courtesy to you, but can earn at most half credit.

Assignments

Week 10
No assignment this week
Week 9
Suggested reading:
The rest of Chapter 9 of the text (which is Chapter 8 of the wiki).
Assignment:
No assignment this week.
Week 8
Suggested reading:
The rest of Chapter 8 of the text (which is Chapter 7 of the wiki),
and the first four sections of Chapter 9 of the text (which is Chapter 8 of the wiki).
Assignment (due 5/31/17):
Please complete the assignment sheet.
You can check your answer to the warmup question in Section A.9 of the text, but please try it on your own first.
Weeks 6 & 7
Suggested reading:
The first two sections of Chapter 7 of the text (which is Chapter 6 of the wiki)
and the first four sections of Chapter 8 of the text (which is Chapter 7 of the wiki).
(You may also want to skim the rest of Chapter 7, especially the last two sections.)
Assignment (complete by 5/19/17):
Please complete the assignment sheet.
You should not turn this in, but you are strongly encouraged to perform these computations.
You can check your computation in Section A.3 of the text, but please try it on your own first.
Week 5
Suggested reading:
Chapter 4 of the text, as well as the first two sections of Chapter 5.
Assignment (due 5/5/17):
Continue working on the assignment sheet.
Week 4
Suggested reading:
The last five sections of Chapter 3 of the text.
Assignment (due 5/5/17):
Begin work on next week's assignment sheet.
(This assignment is due next week; don't forget last week's assignment, which is due this week.)
Week 3
Suggested reading:
§1.7 of the text.
The first five sections of Chapter 3 of the text.
Assignment (due 4/26/17):
Please complete the assignment sheet.
(This assignment is due next week; don't forget last week's assignment, which is due this week.)
Week 2
Suggested reading:
Review §6.1 of the text.
Read §19.1 and §19.3 of the text, then skim §19.4–§19.6, then read Chapter 2 of the text.
Read §6.3 of the text.
Review Assignment (not to turn in):
Make sure you understand how to determine the connection 1-forms for polar coordinates.
It wouldn't hurt to compute the curvature 2-forms as well.
Assignment (due 4/19/17):
Please complete the assignment sheet.
(You should be able to complete this assignment even though we have not yet discussed the Schwarzschild line element.)
Week 1
Suggested reading:
Chapters 4–6 of my book on special relativity, which are summarized in the first four sections of Chapter 1 of the text.
Assignment (due 4/7/17):
Please send a short email message to me at tevian@math.oregonstate.edu.
Please include the following information: I will assume that email is a reliable way to reach you unless you tell me otherwise.
Assignment (due 4/10/17):
Please complete the assignment sheet.