Relativity, Gravitation and Cosmology

Aimed at advanced undergraduates, this self-contained textbook covers the key ideas of special and general relativity and their applications.

Robert J. A. Lambourne (Author)

9780521131384, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 1 June 2010

312 pages, 80 colour illus. 50 exercises
26.3 x 20.9 x 2 cm, 1 kg

'It is the few books intended for physics undergraduates with which [this] volume should be compared, and it comes out with flying colours … This is an excellent volume which can be highly recommended for an introductory course on general relativity and I hope will have the effect of increasing understanding of this most beautiful and striking creation of twentieth-century physics.' Contemporary Physics

Aimed at advanced undergraduates, this self-contained textbook covers the key ideas of special and general relativity together with their applications. The textbook introduces students to basic geometric concepts, such as metrics, connections and curvature, before examining general relativity in more detail. It shows the observational evidence supporting the theory, and the description general relativity provides of black holes and cosmological space-times. The textbook is in full colour, with numerous worked examples and exercises with solutions. Key points and equations are highlighted for easy identification, and each chapter ends with a summary list of important concepts and results. This textbook provides the essential background for an up-to-date discussion of modern observational cosmology. Each chapter builds on the previous one as concepts are developed, making it ideal for self-study. Accompanying resources to this textbook are available at: http://www.cambridge.org/features/astrophysics.

1. Special relativity and spacetime
2. Special relativity and physical laws
3. Geometry and curved spacetime
4. General relativity
5. The Schwarzschild solution and black holes
6. Testing general relativity
7. Cosmological solutions
8. Our Universe
Index.

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