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A Student's Manual for A First Course in General Relativity

A Student's Manual for <I>A First Course in General Relativity</I>

A Student's Manual for <I>A First Course in General Relativity</I>

Robert B. Scott, Université de Bretagne Occidentale
February 2016
Paperback
9781107638570
$32.99
USD
Paperback
USD
eBook

    This comprehensive student manual has been designed to accompany the leading textbook by Bernard Schutz, A First Course in General Relativity, and uses detailed solutions, cross-referenced to several introductory and more advanced textbooks, to enable self-learners, undergraduates and postgraduates to master general relativity through problem solving. The perfect accompaniment to Schutz's textbook, this manual guides the reader step-by-step through over 200 exercises, with clear easy-to-follow derivations. It provides detailed solutions to almost half of Schutz's exercises, and includes 125 brand new supplementary problems that address the subtle points of each chapter. It includes a comprehensive index and collects useful mathematical results, such as transformation matrices and Christoffel symbols for commonly studied spacetimes, in an appendix. Supported by an online table categorising exercises, a Maple worksheet and an instructors' manual, this text provides an invaluable resource for all students and instructors using Schutz's textbook.

    • Provides a perfect accompaniment to Schutz's textbook by cross-referencing all solutions and exercises to those in Schutz's book as well as referencing other complementary and widely used textbooks
    • Includes annotated derivations allowing students to easily follow solutions
    • Contains detailed solutions to almost half of Schutz's exercises, and includes 125 new supplementary problems
    • Online resources include a table of answers and an instructors' manual

    Reviews & endorsements

    "Robert Scott has done a great service to students and instructors alike by compiling this superb Student's Manual to Bernard Schutz's A First Course in General Relativity, a classic introductory textbook on general relativity. Not only does Scott present exquisitely detailed solutions to Schutz's exercises, he also proposes a large number of his own problems to further test the student's understanding. The student will benefit greatly from this resource, and will be eased into the subject by Scott's excellent advice."
    Eric Poisson, University of Guelph

    "In attempting to master any subject, there is no substitute for working through problems, and this is especially true for developing an understanding of relativity. This collection of solutions to a range of selected problems from Schutz's classic textbook A First Course in General Relativity contains carefully worked model answers that should provide an invaluable resource to generations of students."
    Michael Hobson, University of Cambridge

    "This Student's Manual, with its detailed calculations and very pedagogical explanations, is an extremely valuable tool for learning general relativity and acquiring a solid foundation in this field. I highly recommend it!"
    Eric Gourgoulhon, Université Paris Diderot

    'The textbook by Bernard Schutz, A First Course in General Relativity, is one of the best regarded on the subject, and Robert Scott’s ‘student’s manual’ is an extremely good aid… Scott provides clear and detailed explanations and algebra so that the student can navigate through these problems with confidence … It seems to me that Scott’s very helpful volume - which includes a number of further problems set by himself - will prove indispensable to any student who makes use of Schutz, and it may well provide an incentive for students and course directors to base their studies on this text … It might be possible to use Scott’s book, which also includes material on special relativity, as an adjunct to other books on relativity … it might be worthwhile for users of other textbooks to check its compatibility. … this is a book that all students of general relativity should be aware of.' Peter J. Bussey, Contemporary Physics

    'This is an excellent companion volume for anyone contemplating teaching a first course in General Relativity … this book is a perfect companion to a textbook …' Paranjape Manu, Physics in Canada

    See more reviews

    Product details

    February 2016
    Paperback
    9781107638570
    370 pages
    245 × 189 × 14 mm
    0.69kg
    12 b/w illus. 5 tables 63 exercises
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Preface
    • 1. Special relativity
    • 2. Vector analysis in special relativity
    • 3. Tensor analysis in special relativity
    • 4. Perfect fluids in special relativity
    • 5. Preface to curvature
    • 6. Curved manifolds
    • 7. Physics in curved spacetime
    • 8. The Einstein field equations
    • 9. Gravitational radiation
    • 10. Spherical solutions for stars
    • 11. Schwarzschild geometry and black holes
    • 12. Cosmology
    • Appendix A. Acronyms and definitions
    • Appendix B. Useful results
    • References
    • Index.
    Resources for
    Type
    Errata
    Size: 63.36 KB
    Type: application/pdf
    Author Website
    Maple_Worksheet.zip
    Size: 431.41 KB
    Type: application/zip
    Instructors Manual
    Size: 92.75 KB
    Type: application/zip
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