Relativity Made Relatively Easy Volume 2

Description

Aimed at advanced undergraduate or graduate physics students, the book aims to give a working understanding of astronomy and gravitational waves, as well as introducing the reader to the key concepts in cosmology and classical field theory.

• Includes chapters on gravitational waves and black holes
• Features a large number of processes and results derived in full as well as clear explanations designed to work for self-study
• Includes plenty of diagrams, exercises, and tutorial inserts to aid comprehension

About the Author(s)

Andrew M. Steane, Professor of Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford

Andrew Steane is a Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford. He has conducted experimental and theoretical research into the foundations of physics and has performed pioneering quantum experiments with ultra-cold atomic clouds, as well as establishing the ion trap quantum computing program at Oxford. Professor Steane discovered quantum error correction and the CSS (Calderbank Shor Steane) codes and he is a recipient of the Maxwell Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics, and the Trotter Prize of Texas A&M University. He regularly lectures on relativity and other areas of physics and has published two undergraduate physics textbooks and two books on science and religion with Oxford University Press.

Table of Contents

1:Preface
2:Terminology and notation
3:The elements of general relativity
4:An introductory example: the uniform static field
5:Life in a rotating world
6:Linearized general relativity
7:Slow stationary sources
8:Gravitational waves
9:Manifolds
10:Vectors on manifolds
11:The affine connection
12:Further useful ideas
13:Tensors
14:Parallel transport and geodesics
15:Physics in curved spacetime
16:Curvature
17:The Einstein field equation
18:Schwarzschild-Droste solution
19:Further spherically symmetric solutions
20:Rotating bodies; the Kerr metric
21:Black holes
22:Black hole thermodynamics
23:Cosmology
24:Cosmological dynamics
25:The growth of structure
26:Observational cosmology
27:The very early universe
28:First steps in classical field theory
29:Lagrangian mechanics for fields
30:Conclusion

Reviews

"Review from previous edition As Albert Einstein once emphasized, one should make things as simple as possible, but not simpler. Andrew Steane follows the master's recommendation and presents a relatively easy tour through the wonderful worlds of Special and General Relativity. He guides the reader patiently and pedagogically through the fundamental concepts as well as their main applications. This book is of great value for both students and lecturers." - Claus Kiefer, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne

"Steane's book provides a physically oriented introduction to Special Relativity and its consequences, which does not compromise rigour in its exposition. I do not know of any other textbook on the topic covering such a breadth of topics at a detailed, but at the same time accessible and insightful level. In particular, the discussion of electromagnetism in the context of Special Relativity - where Relativity really comes into life - is excellent. The book contains an interesting and original selection of exercises which will help the dedicated reader to gain mastery in the details of the theory." - Juan A. Valiente Kroon, School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London

"Offering a uniquely broad and thorough coverage of one of the standard tools of modern physics, Andrew Steane's <i>Relativity Made Relatively Easy</i> is an approachable and comprehensive coverage of Einstein's most famous contribution to science. It is sure to become a favorite resource for students and researchers alike." - Warren Anderson, Center for Gravitation and Cosmology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

"The book truly has the potential to become a pivotal part of scholarship in physics. This lucid and thoughtful approach to taking the reader pedagogically through how Einsteinian relativity works, and how it supersedes the Newtonian construction with respect to explaining the basic principles of physical law, is comprehensive, thorough, innovative, challenging, and in many cases original. Steane's approach fills a gap in what in many university undergraduate courses has become a topic considered rather too briefly and in a rather too stereotyped manner, and which thereby has always denied physics graduates of the deeper insight into how Lorentz invariance is at the root of almost everything." - John Dainton, Sir James Chadwick Professor of Physics, University of Liverpool