Energy-momentum tensor (Lecture #05b of a course on Relativity & Cosmology)

PART-1: Special Relativity (book Ch 1, Ch 2, and Ch 3, and video lectures #1 to #6)
Course textbook: A College Course on Relativity and Cosmology by Ta-Pei Cheng

Description: We present special relativity as first introduced by Einstein, and then study its geometric formulation in Minkowski spacetime.

Learning objective: Understanding the meaning of relativity (as a coordinate symmetry) and the key role played by Einstein’s new conception of time in its formulation. Understanding why the proper physics arena is the 4D spacetime and the sense that the flat spacetime metric, the diagonal matrix of (-1,1,1,1), embodies all special relativity. Learning to use 4D tensors (such as 4- position, 4-derivative, 4-momentum, and electromagnetic field tensor and energy-momentum-stress tensor, etc.) to construct relativistic equations.