After successful completion of the course, students are able to tackle current problems in black hole phenomenology and theory. In particular, they will know how to construct Penrose diagrams, how to describe gravitational waves and learn some aspects of black hole thermodynamics, the Hawking effect and action principles in the presence of asymptotic boundaries.

• Black hole definition, causal structure and Penrose diagrams
• Raychaudhuri equations and singularity theorems
• Gravitational waves and black hole mergers
• Black hole perturbations and quasi-normal modes
• Black hole thermodynamics
• Hawking effect
• Action principle and boundary issues
• Holographic renormalization and Brown-York stress tensor
• Asymptotic symmetries
• Black holes in AdS
• ... and possibly further selected recent research topics

Paper, pencil and brain.

First meeting: Tuesday, March 3, Seminar room Freihaus, 3rd floor (yellow)

Homework exercises and/or optional oral exam.

the lecture Black Holes I is a necessary pre-requisite (or, equivalently, good knowledge in General Relativity/basics of black hole physics)