A Student's Guide to General Relativity

Presents the key features of general relativity to help students understand its core ideas and the basics of differential geometry.

Norman Gray (Author)

9781316634790, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 January 2019

162 pages, 29 b/w illus. 1 table
22.8 x 15.2 x 0.9 cm, 0.28 kg

'This book is part of the Cambridge 'Student's Guide' series. It is based on a 10 lecture course the author taught at the University of Glasgow. The book is mostly about introducing the math needed to reach the discussion of the Einstein equation.' Jorge Pullin, zbMATH

This compact guide presents the key features of general relativity, to support and supplement the presentation in mainstream, more comprehensive undergraduate textbooks, or as a re-cap of essentials for graduate students pursuing more advanced studies. It helps students plot a careful path to understanding the core ideas and basics of differential geometry, as applied to general relativity, without overwhelming them. While the guide doesn't shy away from necessary technicalities, it emphasises the essential simplicity of the main physical arguments. Presuming a familiarity with special relativity (with a brief account in an appendix), it describes how general covariance and the equivalence principle motivate Einstein's theory of gravitation. It then introduces differential geometry and the covariant derivative as the mathematical technology which allows us to understand Einstein's equations of general relativity. The book is supported by numerous worked exampled and problems, and important applications of general relativity are described in an appendix.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Vectors, tensors and functions
3. Manifolds, vectors and differentiation
4. Energy, momentum and Einstein's equations
Appendix A. Special relativity – a brief introduction
Appendix B. Solutions to Einstein's equations
Appendix C. Notation
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Mathematical physics [PHU], Relativity physics [PHR], Physics [PH]