Essay Topics for PHYS378: General Relativity and Cosmology

Students are required to submit an essay of approximately 1500 words on a topic chosen from the list below, or — with approval by Prof Mark Wardle (E7A 322, 9850 8909) — on another topic of relevance to the unit. The essay should be clear and concise, demonstrate understanding of the subject, and be written at a level appropriate to 3rd year physics or higher. You must include references and a bibliography, and rules concerning plagiarism apply. Detailed mathematical derivations should not be included in the essay unless essential to making an important point.

The essay comprises 10% of the assessment for the unit and must be submitted on or before Monday 10th November. A 100 word outline must be submitted on or before Monday 20th October.

Suggested Topics

• Special Relativity in Astrophysics
• Experimental Tests of General Relativity (apart from classical tests)
• Black Holes and Time Travel
• Astrophysical Black Hole Candidates
• Gravity Probe B
• Gravitational Wave Detectors
• Recent Astronomical Observations and their Implications for Cosmology
• The WMAP Mission
• Cosmological Variation of the Fine Structure Constant
• The Large Number Hypothesis
• The Anthropic Principle
• Dark Matter
• Cosmological Horizons in the Universe
• Gravitational Lensing
• The Physical Nature of the Cosmological Constant
• Brans-Dicke Theory
• Primordial Black Holes
• The Universe Before Decoupling
• Grand Unified Theories and the Big Bang
• Inflation and the Geometry of the Universe
• Primordial Abundances of the Elements