Reduction of equations of general relativity to Newtonian gravitational equations. Schwarzschild exterior solution, planetary motion, bending of light rays, time delays. Observational tests of general relativity. Schwarzschild interior solution, gravitational collapse, black holes. The Hafele-Keating experiment.
Radar echoes from planets.
Quantum optics is the theory of light that unifies wave and particle optics. Quantum optics describes modern high-precision experiments that often probe the very fundamentals of quantum mechanics. The module introduces the quantisation of light, the concept of single light modes, the various quantum states of light and their description in phase space. The course will demonstrate, by application to real systems of stars, how a basic dynamical theory may be developed to cover all known systems of self-gravitating masses in the Universe. Numerical methods for calculating orbits.