A First Course in General Relativity

This widely used textbook explains general relativity for advanced undergraduates, requiring only a minimal background in mathematics.

Bernard Schutz (Author)

9781108492676, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 June 2022

512 pages
25.3 x 19.6 x 2.8 cm, 1.26 kg

'As with its previous editions, this textbook provides a fantastically accessible introduction to the key physical concepts of general relativity and the formalism used by its practitioners. The third edition gives a much-needed update accounting for discoveries since the previous edition, with the chapters on gravitational waves in particular serving as outstanding tutorials for students who are interested in astronomical applications of this subject.' Scott Hughes, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Clarity, readability, and rigor combine in the third edition of this widely used textbook to provide the first step into general relativity for advanced undergraduates with a minimal background in mathematics. Topics within relativity that fascinate astrophysics researchers and students alike are covered with Schutz's characteristic ease and authority, from black holes to relativistic objects, from pulsars to the study of the Universe as a whole. This third edition contains discoveries by astronomers that require general relativity for their explanation; two chapters on gravitational waves, including direct detections of gravitational waves and their observations' impact on cosmological measurements; new information on black holes and neutron stars; and greater insight into the expansion of the Universe. Over 300 exercises, many new to this edition, give students the confidence to work with general relativity and the necessary mathematics, while the informal writing style and worked examples make the subject matter easily accessible.

Preface to the third edition page
Preface to the second edition
Preface to the first edition
1. Special relativity
2. Vector analysis in special relativity
3. Tensor analysis in special relativity
4. Perfect fluids in special relativity
5. Preface to curvature
6. Curved manifolds
7. Physics in a curved spacetime
8. The Einstein field equations
9. Fundamentals of Gravitational Radiation
10. Spherical solutions for stars
11. Schwarzschild geometry and black holes
12. Gravitational wave astronomy
13. Cosmology
Appendix A. Summary of linear algebra
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Mathematical physics [PHU], Relativity physics [PHR], Cosmology & the universe [PGK]