Date	Topic
Jan. 21	Organizational meeting
Jan. 28	Y. Meurice: Introduction to General Relativity
Feb. 4	Andrew Lytle: Curvature
Feb. 11	Brian Kessler: Why we can't see black holes
Feb. 18	Prof. Vincent Rodgers: Geodesics and Einstein's equations http://www-hep.physics.uiowa.edu/~vincent/misc/colloquim/
Feb. 25	Chris Jones, Geometry of the sphere
March 4	Quiz, questions and discussions.
March 11	Prof. R. Wald, Univ. of Chicago: Discussion on Black Holes and Thermodynamics.
March 18	Spring Break
March 25	Prof. Robert Mutel, Cosmological implications of recent results on type Ia SN and the CMB.
April 1	Prof. Cornelia Lang, Black Holes at the Galactic Center
April 8	Y. Meurice, Introd. to Cosmology
April 15	Y. Meurice, Introd. to Cosmology II
April 22	Prof. A. Albrecht (UC Davis) Discussion on Cosmic Inflation and the Arrow of Time Abstract: I review the impressive successes of cosmic inflation theory, especially in light of the new WMAP results. I argue that new high impact observational tests are on the horizon, and that (especially in the light of future observational opportunities) the prospects are bright for even more exiting theoretical developments. I then analyze one particularly fascinating theoretical aspect of cosmic inflation, namely its relationship to the thermodynamic arrow of time. This analysis allows a deeper look at the role of inflation as a theory of initial conditions, and also provides criteria with which to contrast competing explanations of the origins of our universe. Suggested Readings: Cosmic Inflation, by A. Albrecht http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0007247; see also http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0210527
April 29	Laura Spitler, tba
May 6	Kate Pacha, tba