Call number:
AWI G8-99-0039
Description / Table of Contents:
Put as simply as possible, this is a book on Einstein's theory of gravity (general relativity). It is the first textbook on the subject that uses throughout the modern formalism and notation of differential geometry, and it is the first book to document in full the revolutionary techniques developed during the past decade to test the theory of relativity. (Such tests include the use of atomic clocks, long baseline radio interferometry, interplanetary radar, lunar laser ranging, and interplanetary spacecraft.) Among the topics treated in depth are relativistic stars and star clusters and their possible roles in pulsars and quasars, recent developments in cosmology, gravitational collapse and black holes, and the generation, propagation, and detection of gravitational waves. All three authors are uniquely qualified to have written this authoritative work: during the past decade, they and their research groups have been responsible for approximately half of the theoretical developments in the areas of concentration mentioned. Here is a book that is without competition and without peer - a book that belongs on the shelves and in the libraries of all who are seriously interested in modern science.
Type of Medium:
Monograph available for loan
Pages:
XXVI, 1279 S. : Ill., graph. Darst.
ISBN:
0716703440
Note:
Contents: Boxes. - Figures. - Acknowledgements. - PART 1 SPACETIME PHYSICS. - 1. Geometrodynamics in Brief. - PART 2 PHYSICS IN FLAT SPACETIME. - 2. Foundations of special relativity. - 3. The electromagnetic field. - 4. Electromagnetism and differential forms. - 5. Stress-energy tensor and conservation laws. - 6. Accelerated observers. - 7. Incompatibility of gravity and special relativity. - PART 3 THE MATHEMATICS OF CURVED SPACETIME. - 8. Differential geometry: an overview. - 9. Differential topology. - 10. Affine geometry: geodesics, parallel transport and covariant derivative. - 11. Geodesic deviation and spacetime curvature. - 12. Newtonian gravity in the language of curved spacetime. - 13. Riemannian geometry: metric as foundation of all. - 14. Calculation of curvature. - 15. Bianchi identities and the boundary of a boundary. - PART 4 EINSTEIN'S GEOMETRIC THEORY OF GRAVITY. - 16. Equivalence principle and measurement of the "Gravitational field". - 17. How mass-energy generates curvature. - 18. Weak gravitational fields. - 19. Mass and angular momentum of a gravitating system. - 20. Conservation laws for 4-Momentum and angular momentum. - 21. Variational principle and initial-value data. - 22. Thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, electrodynamics, geometric optics, and kinetic theory. - PART 5 RELATIVISTIC STARS. - 23. Spherical stars. - 24. Pulsars and Neutron stars: quasars and supermassive stars. - 25. The "Pit in the Potential" as the central new feature of motion in Schwarzschild geometry. - 26. Stellar pulsations. - PART 6 THE UNIVERSE. - 27. Idealized cosmologies. - 28. Evolution of the universe into its present state. - 29. Present state and future evolution of the universe. - 30. Anisotropic and inhomogeneous cosmologies. - PART 7 GRAVITATIONAL COLLAPSE AND BLACK HOLES. - 31. Schwarzschild Geometry. - 32. Gravitational collapse. - 33. Black holes. - 34. Global techniques, horizons, and singularity theorems. - PART 8: GRAVITATIONAL WAVES. - 35. Propagation of gravitational waves. - 36. Generation of gravitational waves. - 37. Detection of gravitational waves. - PART 9 EXPERIMENTAL TESTS OF GENERAL RELATIVITY. - 38. Testing the foundations of relativity. - 39. Other theories of gravity and the Post-Newtonian Approcimation. - 40 Solar-System experiments. - PART 10 FRONTIERS. - 41. Spinors. - 42. Regge Calculus. - 43. Superspace: arena for the dynamics of geometry. - 44. Beyond te end of time. - Bibliography and index of names. - Subject index.
Location:
AWI Reading room
Branch Library:
AWI Library
