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"General relativity (Physics) Textbooks."
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Einstein gravity in a nutshell
\"This unique textbook provides an accessible introduction to Einstein's general theory of relativity, a subject of breathtaking beauty and supreme importance in physics. With his trademark blend of wit and incisiveness, A. Zee guides readers from the fundamentals of Newtonian mechanics to the most exciting frontiers of research today, including de Sitter and anti-de Sitter spacetimes, Kaluza-Klein theory, and brane worlds. Unlike other books on Einstein gravity, this book emphasizes the action principle and group theory as guides in constructing physical theories. Zee treats various topics in a spiral style that is easy on beginners, and includes anecdotes from the history of physics that will appeal to students and experts alike. He takes a friendly approach to the required mathematics, yet does not shy away from more advanced mathematical topics such as differential forms. The extensive discussion of black holes includes rotating and extremal black holes and Hawking radiation. The ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate students, Einstein Gravity in a Nutshell also provides an essential resource for professional physicists and is accessible to anyone familiar with classical mechanics and electromagnetism. It features numerous exercises as well as detailed appendices covering a multitude of topics not readily found elsewhere. Provides an accessible introduction to Einstein's general theory of relativity Guides readers from Newtonian mechanics to the frontiers of modern research Emphasizes symmetry and the Einstein-Hilbert action Covers topics not found in standard textbooks on Einstein gravity Includes interesting historical asides Features numerous exercises and detailed appendices Ideal for students, physicists, and scientifically minded lay readers Solutions manual (available only to teachers) \"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Lectures on gravitation
This book is a compilation of the lectures for a one-semester course on gravitation at the University of Rochester. Starting from a simple description of geometry, the topics are systematically developed to the big bang theory with a simple derivation of the cosmic background temperature. Several informative examples are worked out in detail as well.
eBook
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 having to first learn the difficult mathematics of tensor calculus. The mathematical accessibility and the presentation of the book make it practical for readers to study the subject on their. own. - ;Einstein's general theory of relativity is introduced in this advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate level textbook. Topics include special relativity in the formalism of Minkowski's four-dimensional space-time, the principle of equivalence, Riemannian geometry and tensor analysis, Einstein's field equation and cosmology. The author presents the subject from the very beginning with an emphasis on physical examples and simple applications without the full tensor apparatus. One first learns how to describe curved spacetime. At this mathematically more accessible level, the reader can already study the many interesting phenomena such as gravitational lensing, precession of Mercury's perihelion, black holes, as well as cosmology. The full tensor formulation is presented later, when the Einstein equation is solved. for a few symmetric cases. Many modern topics in cosmology are discussed in this book: from inflation and cosmic microwave anisotropy to the \"dark energy\" that propels an accelerating universe. Mathematical accessibility, together with the various pedagogical devices (e.g., worked-out solutions of chapter-end problems), make it practical for interested readers to use the book to study general relativity, gravitation and cosmology on their own. - ;This is a great time to have published a fresh new undergraduate text on relativity and
cosmology...this is an excellent textbook which this reviewer would rate as the text of choice for a course on relativity and cosmology aimed at physics and astronomy undergraduates. American Journal of Physics, October 2005. -.
eBook
Fundamentals of Physics I
A beloved introductory physics textbook, now including exercises and an answer key, explains the concepts essential for thorough scientific understanding.
eBook
Introduction to General Relativity, Black Holes and Cosmology
This book presents basic General Relativity and provides a basis for understanding and using the fundamental theory. General Relativity is a beautiful geometric theory, simple in its mathematical formulation. It leads to numerous consequences with striking physical interpretations: gravitational waves, black holes, cosmological models, and so on. The first part of the book outlines the fundamentals of the subject. Chapters in this part look at Riemannian and Lorentzian geometry, Special and General Relativity, the Einstein equations, the Schwarzschild spacetime, black holes, and cosmology. The second part presents a number of more advanced topics such as general Einstein spacetimes, the Cauchy problem, relativistic fluids, and Relativistic Kinetic Theory.
eBook
The elements of relativity
Relativity is a set of remarkable insights into the way space and time work. The basic notion of relativity, first articulated by Galileo, explains why we do not feel Earth moving as it orbits the Sun and was successful for hundreds of years. We present thinking tools that elucidate Galilean relativity and prepare us for the more modern understanding. We then show how Galilean relativity breaks down at speeds near the speed of light, and follow Einstein’s steps in working out the unexpected relationships between space and time that we now call special relativity. These relationships give rise to time dilation, length contraction, and the twin “paradox” which we explain in detail. Throughout, we emphasize how these effects are tightly interwoven logically and graphically. Our graphical understanding leads to viewing space and time as a unified entity called spacetime whose geometry differs from that of space alone, giving rise to these remarkable effects. The same geometry gives rise to the energy?momentum relation that yields the famous equation E = mc2, which we explore in detail. We then show that this geometric model can explain gravity better than traditional models of the “force” of gravity. This gives rise to general relativity, which unites relativity and gravity in a coherent whole that spawns new insights into the dynamic nature of spacetime. We examine experimental tests and startling predictions of general relativity, from everyday applications (GPS) to exotic phenomena such as gravitomagnetism, gravitational waves, Big Bang cosmology, and especially black holes.
eBook
Economics: An Empirical Science Capable of Forecasting Economic Events?
In the aftermath of the 2007-2009 financial crisis, mainstream economics was criticized for having failed to either forecast or help prevent the market crash, which resulted in large losses for investors, although markets were back to pre-crisis levels by the end of the first quarter of 2013. Some have suggested that the crash itself was the result of bad or poorly applied theory. What parts of the theory are bad? What parts were poorly applied? What parts are truly relevant to investment management? Is there better science in the making? The authors of this article address these questions.
Journal Article
Generalized geodesic deviation in de Sitter spacetime
The geodesic deviation equation (GDE) describes the tendency of objects to accelerate towards or away from each other due to spacetime curvature. The GDE assumes that nearby geodesics have a small rate of separation, which is formally treated as the same order in smallness as the separation itself. This assumption is discussed in various papers, but is typically not recognized in textbooks. Relaxing this assumption leads to the generalized geodesic deviation equation (GGDE). We demonstrate the distinction between the GDE and the GGDE by computing the relative acceleration between timelike geodesics in two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime. We do this by considering a fiducial geodesic and a secondary geodesic (both timelike) that cross with nonzero speed. These geodesics are spanned by a spacelike geodesic, whose tangent evaluated at the fiducial geodesic defines the separation. The second derivative of the separation describes the relative acceleration between the fiducial and secondary geodesics. Near the crossing point, where the separation between the timelike geodesics is small but their rates of separation can be large, we show that the GGDE holds but the GDE fails to apply.
Paper
Whose Mass Is It Anyway? Particle Cosmology and the Objects of Theory
Physicists in different branches of the discipline were puzzled by the problem of mass during the 1950s and 1960s: why do objects have mass? Around the same time, yet working independently, specialists in gravitational studies and in particle theory proposed that mass might arise due to objects' interactions with a new (and as yet undetected) field. Although the questions they posed and even the answers they provided shared several similarities - and even though both proposals quickly became 'hot topics' in their respective subfields - virtually no one discussed one proposal in the light of the other for nearly 20 years. Only after massive, unprecedented changes in pedagogical infrastructure rocked the discipline in the early 1970s did a new generation of physicists begin to see possible links between the Brans-Dicke field and the Higgs field. For the new researchers, trained in different ways than most of their predecessors, the two objects of theory were not only similar - some began to proclaim that they were exactly the same. Charting the histories of these two objects of theory illuminates the complicated institutional and pedagogical factors that helped to produce a new subfield, particle cosmology, which today ranks at the very forefront of modern physics.
Journal Article
Does time always slow down as gravity increases?
We consider gravitational time dilation between stationary observers and present examples, which contradict the statement that \"time slows down as gravity increases\". We show furthermore that this statement cannot be true in general, if strength of gravity is defined in an observer independent manner. We provide also a pedagogical introduction to gravitational time dilation, and discuss aspects of this phenomenon, which are often omitted in textbooks on general relativity.
Paper