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BF:
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Spacetime Physics
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Location:
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SS Ballroom ABC |
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Date:
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Monday, Aug.01 |
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Time:
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1:00PM - 2:30PM
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Presider:
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Wolfgang Christian,
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Co-Presiders(s):
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None
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Equipment:
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N/A
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BF01:
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Completing John Wheeler's Vision: Undergraduate General Relativity
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Location:
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SS Ballroom ABC |
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Date:
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Monday, Aug.01 |
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Time:
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1:00PM - 1:30PM
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Author:
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Edwin F. Taylor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
781-646-7775, eftaylor@mit.edu
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Co-Author(s):
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None
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Abstract:
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John Archibald Wheeler was a radical conservative: Take the laws of physics seriously, then drive them to their limits. He drove general relativity to its limits with the black hole, our "little jugged apocalypse." Wheeler's Rules of Writing include "Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!" For undergraduate general relativity this means (1) Describe curved spacetime with the metric instead of the field equations, which reduces required mathematics to simple calculus. (2) Command the moving stone to obey the Principle of Maximal Aging, a simple extension of the Twin "Paradox." A second edition of Exploring Black Holes with cosmologist Edmund Bertschinger treats the wealth of recent cosmological observations and repairs the first edition's neglect of the dark side of General Covariance: We can choose global coordinates with (almost) complete freedom, so they need have no direct relation to physical measurements and observations.
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Footnotes:
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None
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BF02:
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Einstein for Everyone?
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Location:
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SS Ballroom ABC |
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Date:
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Monday, Aug.01 |
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Time:
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1:30PM - 2:00PM
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Author:
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Anne J. Cox, Eckerd College
727-864-8435, coxaj@eckerd.edu
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Co-Author(s):
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None
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Abstract:
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Special relativity for the nonscience student: In an introductory freshman seminar course “Einstein for Everyone” Yes! We know that the physics of special relativity does not require mathematics beyond high school trigonometry, but how often do we offer nonscientists the chance to explore the intuitive and nonintuitive implications of the ideas at the core of spacetime physics? Using one course as an example, we will explore questions of its depth of coverage and its role in the curriculum. This will include examples of sample assignments, student projects as well as simulations that stand at the heart of the course and serve as the course "laboratory."
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Footnotes:
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None
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BF03:
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Visual Aids for Teaching Special Relativity
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Location:
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SS Ballroom ABC |
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Date:
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Monday, Aug.01 |
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Time:
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2:00PM - 2:30PM
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Author:
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Thomas A. Moore, Pomona College
909-621-6474, tmoore@pomona.edu
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Co-Author(s):
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None
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Abstract:
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In my experience, successfully teaching special relativity to introductory students is much easier if one extensively uses (1) the geometric analogy for spacetime, and (2) visual aids based on that analogy, including (but not limited to) multiple-observer spacetime diagrams. In this presentation, I will describe some of these visual aids and how such tools can help students reason more intuitively about relativity and thus avoid many common errors and misconceptions, and describe resources one can use in special relativity courses at any level.
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Footnotes:
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None
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