Introduction to Special Relativity

Albert Einstein. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

Instructors:
Bruce Knuteson
MIT Course Number:
8.20
Level:
Undergraduate

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Course Highlights

This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month.

Course Description

This course introduces the basic ideas and equations of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. If you have hoped to understand the physics of Lorentz contraction, time dilation, the "twin paradox", and E=mc², you're in the right place.

Acknowledgements

Prof. Knuteson wishes to acknowledge that this course was originally designed and taught by Prof. Robert Jaffe.