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World Year of Physics 2005
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This page provides a few links to "World Year of Physics 2005" web resources, a section on the Theory of Relativity, and a section on Superstring Theory.

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Websites "World Year of Physics 2005"


  • World Year of Physics 2005 - Einstein in the 21st century: [e] www.physics2005.org
    Website of the Project Coordination Office for the World Year of Physics 2005.
     
  • The Particle Adventure - the fundamentals of matter and force: [e] particleadventure.org
    An award-winning interactive tour of quarks, neutrinos, antimatter, extra dimensions, dark matter, accelerators and particle detectors, presented by the Particle Data Group of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
    Also available in translation, in a dozen of languages, and available from several mirror sites.
  • Elementaire deeltjes: [n] www.xs4all.nl/~adcs/Deeltjes/
    The Particle Adventure, in Dutch translation.
     
  • Year of physics: relativity revisited (supplement from Nature magazine): [e] www.nature.com/nphys/supplements/einstein/
    In a special issue of Nature - published originally in 1921 and now available online for the first time - authors including Eddington, Weyl and Lorentz, and Einstein himself, celebrate his General Theory of Relativity.
  • Year of physics: a celebration (supplement from Nature magazine): [e] www.nature.com/nature/supplements/collections/yearofphysics/
    Nature joins the celebrations of the 'World Year of Physics' with the publication of this special supplement.
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Theory of Relativity


Below is my short-list of websites on the theory of relativity that I appreciate for clarity and wit. I have arranged the material in three levels of increasing difficulty, from level 1 (recommended for starters) to level 3 (mathematically sophisticated academic level). The list is completed with a prologue, an epilogue, and a reference to another (excellent and exhaustive) webography on relativity.


Prologue

  • [e] Geometry and Experience by Albert Einstein
    Nothing could be more appropriate to open this list than the words of Einstein himself: lecture before the Prussian Academy of Sciences, January 27, 1921 (in English translation; the original German text is found [d] here).

Level 1


Level 2


Level 3

  • [e] An Introduction to Tensors and Relativity by Peter K. S. Dunsby, University of Cape Town, South Africa
    An online course discussing the special theory of relativity, vectors and tensors in special relativity, the conceptual basis of general relativity, curved spacetime, Einstein's field equations, Schwarzschild's solution.
     
  • [e] Lecture Notes on General Relativity by Sean M. Carrell, University of Chicago, USA
    (Website intro:) "These notes represent approximately one semester's worth of lectures on introductory general relativity for beginning graduate students in physics. Topics include manifolds, Riemannian geometry, Einstein's equations, and three applications: gravitational radiation, black holes, and cosmology."
     
  • [e] Reflections on Relativity (604 pages)
    (Website intro:) "This online book examines the evolution of the principle of relativity in its classical, special, and general incarnations, both from a technical and a historical perspective, with the aim of showing how it has repeatedly inspired advances in our understanding of the physical world."

Epilogue

  • [e] Alternative theories collected at Crank Dot Net
    Not everybody agrees with Einstein. Here are links to nearly a hundred websites presenting alternative theories.

Other webographies

A much more exhaustive webography on "Relativity on the World Wide Web" was compiled by Chris Hillman (Ph.D., Mathematics, University of Washington) and was maintained by John Baez (Professor of Mathematics, University of California at Riverside). The site was withdrawn in March 2007; here is [e] the last archived version. It includes lists of popular science sites, of visualization sites, of web tutorials, of evidence bearing on relativity, of formal courseware, and more.

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Strings 'n' things


This section is about Superstring Theory, that may ultimately evolve into the "Theory of Everything", that is hoped to cover the four fundamental forces of Nature in a single unified framework. These fundamental forces are gravitation, electromagnetism, weak nuclear force, and strong nuclear force. The idea is explained in
  [e] String Theory and the Unification of Forces by Sunil Mukhi.


Magic, Mystery, or Matrix, according to taste


Award-winning tutorial websites on Superstring Theory

  • [e] The Theory of Strings: A Detailed Introduction by Sunil Mukhi, TIFR Mumbai.
    I don't know if this text has in fact received an award, but surely it deserves one. I think it is the best text on the subject for lay readers who have little more than an hour or so to spend, and still wish to get the gist of the core issues.
  • [e] Superstrings! by John Pierre, MIT.
    (Scientific American Sci/Tech Web Awards 2001, and other)
  • [e] The Official String Theory Web Site by Patricia Schwarz, Caltech.
    (Scientific American Sci/Tech Web Awards 2002)
    Fairly elaborate tutorial written in a "dual" fashion, with for each section a "basic" and an "advanced" version, plus historical notes, interviews with leading scientists, a discussion forum and more.

Nederlandse snaren (Dutch strings)


Glossaries

  • [e] Glossary from John Pierre's site.
  • [e] Glossary from NOVA - The Elegant Universe (PBS).

References for further reading


"Strings" conferences
(never shown)