Relativity, Gravitation and Cosmology

A Basic Introduction

Ta-Pei Cheng - Collection Oxford Master Series in Physics

354 pages, parution le 16/12/2004

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Résumé

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.

Readership: Advanced undergraduates and beginning graduates in physics and astronomy. Also general readers with some physics training who are interested in general relativity and cosmology.

L'auteur - Ta-Pei Cheng

Ta-Pei Cheng, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri - St. Louis, USA

Sommaire

Relativity - metric description of spacetime
- Introduction and overview
- Special relativity and the flat spacetime
- The principle of equivalence
- Metric description of a curved space
- General relativity (GR) as a geometric theory of gravity - I
- Spacetime outside a spherical star
Cosmology
- The homogenous and isotropic universe
- The expanding universe and thermal relics
- Inflation and the accelerating universe
Relativity - full tensor formulation
- Tensors in special relativity
- Tensors in general relativity
- GR as a geometric theory of gravity - II
- Linearized theory and gravitational waves

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Oxford University Press
Auteur(s)	Ta-Pei Cheng
Collection	Oxford Master Series in Physics
Parution	16/12/2004
Nb. de pages	354
Format	19 x 24,5
Couverture	Broché
Poids	820g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780198529576
ISBN13	978-0-19-852957-6