A First Course in General Relativity
A First Course in General Relativity
$70.99
USDClarity, readability and rigor combine in the second edition of this widely-used textbook to provide the first step into general relativity for undergraduate students with a minimal background in mathematics. Topics within relativity that fascinate astrophysical researchers and students alike are covered with Schutz's characteristic ease and authority - from black holes to gravitational lenses, from pulsars to the study of the Universe as a whole. This edition now contains discoveries by astronomers that require general relativity for their explanation; a revised chapter on relativistic stars, including new information on pulsars; an entirely rewritten chapter on cosmology; and an extended, comprehensive treatment of modern detectors and expected sources. Over 300 exercises, many new to this edition, give students the confidence to work with general relativity and the necessary mathematics, whilst the informal writing style makes the subject matter easily accessible. Selected solutions for instructors are available under Resources.
- Provides the first step into general relativity for undergraduate students with a minimal background in mathematics
- Over 300 exercises, many new to this edition, with password protected solutions available at www.cambridge.org/9780521887052
- New material includes recent discoveries by astronomers as well as updates on what is currently known about pulsars, modern detectors of gravitational waves, black holes, acceleration of the universe and more
Reviews & endorsements
"Schutz has done a masterful job of incorporating … new developments into a revised edition, which is sure to become a new “classic.” I look forward to teaching out of the second edition of “first course.”
Clifford M Will, McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University, St Louis
"This new edition retains all of the original's clarity and insight into the mathematical foundations of general relativity, but thoroughly updates the accounts of the application of the theory in astrophysics and cosmology, which have moved on considerably … The result is an indispensable volume for anyone wishing to develop a deep and physically well-motivated understanding of relativistic gravitation, and this new edition will no doubt become a classic text in its own right."
Mike Hobson, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
"Schutz has updated his eminently readable and eminently teachable A First Course in General Relativity. The result maintains the style of the first edition -- intuitively and physically motivated presentation of the subject. … This text will be appreciated by any upper level undergraduate with an interest in cosmology, astrophysics, or experimentation in gravitational physics."
Richard Matzner, The Center for Relativity, University of Texas at Austin
"Well laid out, developing logically and amply illustrated. Absolutely recommended."
Times Higher Education Supplement
Product details
July 2009Adobe eBook Reader
9780511537028
0 pages
0kg
1 b/w illus. 327 exercises
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- Preface
- 1. Fundamental principles of 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 a curved spacetime
- 8. The Einstein field equations
- 9. Gravitational radiation
- 10. Spherical solutions for stars
- 11. Schwarzschild geometry and black holes
- 12. Cosmology
- References
- Index.
