Relativity, gravitation, and cosmology : a basic introduction /
This book is an introduction to Einstein's general theory of relativity, suitable for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate courses. The content is structured so that interesting applications, such as gravitational lensing, black holes and cosmology, can be presented without the readers...
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford ; New York :
Oxford University Press,
2005.
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| Online Access: |
Full text (MFA users only) |
| ISBN: | 9781429459938 142945993X 9780191523861 0191523860 9786610758944 6610758948 9780198529576 0198529570 |
| Local Note: | ProQuest Ebook Central |
Table of Contents:
- Part I. Relativity: metric description of spacetime. Introduction and overview. Relativity as a coordinate symmetry ; GR as a gravitational field theory
- Special relativity and the flat spacetime. Coordinate symmetries ; The new kinematics of space and time ; Geometric formulation of SR
- The principle of equivalence. Newtonian gravitation potential: a review ; EP introduced ; Implications of the strong EP
- Metric description of a curved space. Gaussian coordinates ; Metric tensor ; Curvature
- GR as a geometric theory of gravity: I. Geometry as gravity ; Geodesic equation as GR equation of motion ; The curvature of spacetime
- Spacetime outside a spherical star. Description of Schwarzschild spacetime ; Gravitational lensing ; Precession of Mercury's perihelion ; Black holes
- Part II. Cosmology. The homogeneous and isotropic universe. The cosmos observed ; The cosmological principle ; The Robertson-Walker metric
- The expanding universe and thermal relics. Friedmann equations ; Time evolution of model universes ; Big bang cosmology ; Primordial nucleosynthesis ; Photon decoupling and the CMB
- Inflation and the accelerating universe. The cosmological constant ; The inflationary epoch ; CMB anisotropy and evidence for k = 0 ; The accelerating universe in the present epoch ; The concordant picture
- Part III. Relativity: full tensor formulation. Tensors in special relativity. General coordinate systems ; Four-vectors in Minkowski spacetime ; Manifestly covariant formalism for E & M ; Energy-momentum tensors
- Tensors in general relativity. Derivatives in a curved space ; Parallel transport ; Riemannian curvature tensor
- GR as a geometric theory of gravity: II. The principle of general covariance ; Einstein field equation ; The Schwarzschild exterior solution ; The Einstein equation for cosmology
- Linearized theory and gravitational waves. The linearized Einstein theory ; Plane waves and the polarization tensor ; Gravitational wave detection ; Evidence for gravitational wave
- Supplementary notes. The twin paradox ; A glimpse of advanced topics in black hole physics ; False vacuum and hidden symmetry ; The problem of [lambda] as quantum vacuum energy
- Answer keys to review questions
- Solutions of selected problems.