The standard model of physics says that gravity is a constant and universal force, pulling everything together. Yet the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate. In General Relativity, this problem is fixed by dark matter - but there may be another answer.

In this course, award-winning theoretical physicist Claudia de Rham concisely outlines the history of gravity and general relativity before putting forward a theory that could fix some of General Relativity’s seemingly unfixable problems

By the end of the course, you will have learned:

• What Minkowski Coordinates are, and how they relate to four-dimensional geometry.
• About the planet Vulcan, and how its non-existence displayed the limitations of Newtonian physics.
• Why time moves differently in different parts of space.
• Why Einstein got in a dispute trying to disprove his own theory.
• What a graviton is, and why we can't detect it.
• How gravitational waves can allow us access to the early universe.
• How a radical new theory of gravity could eliminate the need for dark matter.

As part of the course, there are in-video quiz questions to consolidate your learning, and discussion boards to have your say.

IAI Academy courses are designed to be challenging but accessible to the interested student. No specialist knowledge is required.

Claudia de Rham

Claudia de Rham is a Swiss theoretical physicist working at the interface of gravity, cosmology and particle physics. She is based at Imperial College London. She was one of the UK finalists in the Physical Sciences and Engineering category of the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in 2018 for revitalizing the theory of massive gravity, and won the award in 2020. 

• de Rham, C., The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2024).
• Einstein, A., Relativity: The Special and the General Theory, (London: Routledge, 2001 [1916]).
• Greene, B., The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, (London: Vintage, 2000).
• Carroll, S., Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019).
• Rovelli, C., Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity, (London: Penguin, 2016).
• Peebles, P. J. E., Principles of Physical Cosmology, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993).
• Randall, L., Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions, (New York: HarperCollins, 2005).