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This comprehensive textbook on relativity integrates Newtonian physics, special relativity and general relativity into a single book. It emphasizes the deep underlying principles common to them all, yet explains how they are applied in different ways in these three contexts.
List of contents
- Book 1. SPACE, TIME, AND GRAVITY IN NEWTON'S THEORY
- Part I KINEMATICS
- 1: Cartesian coordinates
- 2: Vector geometry
- 3: Curvilinear coordinates
- 4: Differential geometry
- Part II DYNAMICS
- 5: Equations of motion
- 6: Dynamics of massive systems
- 7: Conservation laws
- 8: Lagrangian mechanics
- 9: Hamiltonian mechanics
- 10: Kinetic theory
- Part III: GRAVITATION
- 11: The law of gravitation
- 12: The Kepler problem
- 13: The N-body problem
- 14: Deformations of celestial bodies
- 15: Self-gravitating fluids
- 16: Newtonian cosmology
- 17: Light in Newtonian theory
- BOOK 2: SPECIAL RELATIVITY AND MAXWELL'S THEORY
- PART I KINEMATICS
- 1: Minkowski spacetime
- 2: The kinematics of a point particle
- 3: The kinematics of light
- 4: The wave vector of light
- 5: Accelerated frames
- PART II DYNAMICS
- 5: Dynamics of a point particle
- 6: Dynamics of a point particle
- 7: Rotating systems
- 8: Fields and matter
- 9: The classical scalar field
- 10: The Nordstrom theory
- PART III ELECTROMAGNETISM
- 11: The Lorentz force
- 12: The Maxwell equations
- 13: Constant fields
- 14: The free field
- 15: Electromagnetic waves
- 16: Waves in a medium
- PART IV ELECTRODYNAMICS
- 17: The field of a moving charge
- 18: Radiation by a charge
- 19: The radiation reaction force
- 20: Interacting charges I
- 21: Interacting charges II
- 22: Electromagnetism and differential geometry
- BOOK 3. GENERAL RELATIVITY AND GRAVITATION
- PART I CURVED SPACETIME AND GRAVITATION
- 1: The equivalence principle
- 2: Riemannian manifolds
- 3: Matter in curved spacetime
- 4: The Einstein equations
- 5: Conservation laws
- PART II THE SCHWARZSCHILD SOLUTION AND BLACK HOLES
- 6: The Schwarzschild solution
- 7: The Schwarzschild black hole
- 8: The Kerr solution
- 9: The physics of black holes I
- 10: The physics of black holes II
- PART III GENERAL RELATIVITY AND EXPERIMENT
- 11: Tests in the solar system
- 12: The post-Newtonian approximation
- 13: Gravitational waves and the radiative field
- 14: Gravitational radiation
- 15: The two-body problem and radiative losses
- 16: The two-body problem: an effective-one-body approach
- PART IV FRIEDMANN-LEMAITRE SOLUTIONS AND COSMOLOGY
- 17: Cosmological spacetimes
- 18: Friedmann-Lemaitre spacetimes
- 19: The Lambda-CDM model of the hot Big Bang
- 20: Inflationary models of the primordial universe
- 21: Cosmological perturbations
- 22: Primordial quantum perturbations
- PART V ELEMENTS OF RIEMANNIAN GEOMETRY
- 23: The covariant derivative and the curvature
- 24: Reimannian manifolds
- 25: The Cartan structure equations
About the author
Nathalie Deruelle is a researcher in Theoretical Physics and Director Research at the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) in France. She is based at Laboratoire Astroparticules & Cosmologie (APC) at Université Paris VII (Denis-Diderot) and is affiliated professor at the Kyoto Yukawa Institute. Deruelle has lectured at numerous summer schools and universities, including the École Polytechnique and the École Normale Supérieure.
Jean-Philippe Uzan is a researcher in Theoretical Physics and Director of Research at the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) in France. He is currently member of the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP) at Université Paris VI (Sorbonne Université). Uzan has taught at several Paris universities, including the École Normale Supérieure, and has published specialized and popular books in physics and cosmology.
Summary
This comprehensive textbook on relativity integrates Newtonian physics, special relativity and general relativity into a single book. It emphasizes the deep underlying principles common to them all, yet explains how they are applied in different ways in these three contexts.
Additional text
It brings together, in a coherent way, classical Newtonian physics, special relativity and general relativity, emphasising common underlying principles.
