General Relativity for the Gifted Amateur

NOTE EDITORE

General relativity is one of the most profound statements in science. It is a theory of gravity that allows us to model the large-scale structure of the Universe, to understand and explain the motions and workings of stars, to reveal how gravity interacts with light waves and even how it hosts its own gravitational waves. It is central to our notions of where the Universe comes from and what its eventual fate might be. For those wishing to learn physics, general relativity enjoys a dubious distinction. It is frequently viewed as a difficult theory, whose mastery is a rite of passage into the world of advanced physics and is described in an array of unforgiving, weighty textbooks aimed firmly at aspiring professionals. Written by experimental physicists and aimed at providing the interested amateur with a bridge from undergraduate physics to general relativity, this book is designed to be different. The imagined reader is a gifted amateur possessing a curious and adaptable mind looking to be told an entertaining and intellectually stimulating story, but who will not feel patronised if a few mathematical niceties are spelled out in detail. Using numerous worked examples, diagrams and careful physically motivated explanations, this book will smooth the path towards understanding the radically different and revolutionary view of the physical world that general relativity provides and which all physicists should have the opportunity to experience.

SOMMARIO

0 - Overture1 - Special relativity2 - Vectors in at spacetime3 - Coordinates4 - Linear slot machines5 - The metric6 - Finding a theory of gravitation7 - Parallel lines and the covariant derivative8 - Free fall and geodesics9 - Geodesic equations and connection coecients10 - Making measurements in relativity11 - Riemann curvature and the Ricci tensor12 - The energy-momentum tensor13 - The gravitational field equations14 - The triumphs of general relativity15 - An introduction to cosmology16 - Robertson-Walker spaces17 - The Friedmann equations18 - Universes of the past and future19 - Causality, infinity and horizons20 - Newtonian orbits21 - The Schwarzschild geometry22 - Motion in the Schwarzschild geometry23 - Orbits in the Schwarzschild geometry24 - Photons in the Schwarzschild geometry25 - Black holes26 - Black-hole singularities27 - Kruskal-Szekeres coordinates28 - Hawking radiation29 - Charged and rotating black holes30 - Classical curvature31 - A reintroduction to geometry32 - Differential forms33 - Exterior and Lie derivatives34 - Geometry of the connection35 - Riemann curvature revisited36 - Cartan's method37 - Duality and the volume form38 - Forms, chains and Stokes' theorem39 - Fluids as dry water40 - Lagrangian field theory41 - Inflation42 - The electromagnetic field43 - Charge conservation and the Bianchi identity44 - Gauge fields45 - Weak gravitational fields46 - Gravitational waves47 - The properties of gravitons48 - Higher-dimensional spacetime49 - From classical to quantum gravity50 - The Big-Bang singularityA - Further readingB - Conventions and notationC - Manifolds and bundlesD - EmbeddingE - Answers to selected problems

AUTORE

Tom Lancaster is Professor of Physics at Durham University. His research interests include using muons to investigate low-dimensional and molecular magnetism. Stephen Blundell is a Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, and a Professorial Fellow of Mansfield College. His research interests include muon-spin rotation, density functional techniques, and spin liquids.

ALTRE INFORMAZIONI

• Condizione: Nuovo
• ISBN: 9780192867407
• Dimensioni: 253 x 37.0 x 194 mm Ø 1522 gr
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Illustration Notes: 302 line illustrations and cartoons
• Pagine Arabe: 640