Relativity, Gravitation and Cosmology: A Basic Introduction [Minkštas viršelis]

There are plenty of graduate textbooks on general relativity, points out Cheng (physics, U. of Missouri), and plenty of popular works describing in for lay readers. He offers an intermediate textbook for undergraduate students that can be used by instructors who are not themselves specialists in relativity. Students are expected to have the usual mathematics at the calculus level, some familiarity with matrices, and the physics of mechanics and electromagnetism including differential equations of Maxwell's theory. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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 as 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.