عنوان

Relativity, gravitation, and cosmology :

0198529562 (alk. paper)

0198529570 (pbk. : alk. paper)

dltt

Relativity, gravitation, and cosmology :

[Book]

a basic introduction /

Ta-Pei Cheng.

xiii, 339 pages :

illustrations ;

26 cm.

Particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology

11.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [330]-334) and index.

Part I. Relativity: metric description of spacetime. Introduction and overview. Relativity as a coordinate symmetry ; GR as a gravitational field theory -- Special relativity and the flat spacetime. Coordinate symmetries ; The new kinematics of space and time ; Geometric formulation of SR -- The principle of equivalence. Newtonian gravitation potential: a review ; EP introduced ; Implications of the strong EP -- Metric description of a curved space. Gaussian coordinates ; Metric tensor ; Curvature -- GR as a geometric theory of gravity: I. Geometry as gravity ; Geodesic equation as GR equation of motion ; The curvature of spacetime -- Spacetime outside a spherical star. Description of Schwarzschild spacetime ; Gravitational lensing ; Precession of Mercury's perihelion ; Black holes -- Part II. Cosmology. The homogeneous and isotropic universe. The cosmos observed ; The cosmological principle ; The Robertson-Walker metric -- The expanding universe and thermal relics. Friedmann equations ; Time evolution of model universes ; Big bang cosmology ; Primordial nucleosynthesis ; Photon decoupling and the CMB -- Inflation and the accelerating universe. The cosmological constant ; The inflationary epoch ; CMB anisotropy and evidence for k = 0 ; The accelerating universe in the present epoch ; The concordant picture -- Part III. Relativity: full tensor formulation. Tensors in special relativity. General coordinate systems ; Four-vectors in Minkowski spacetime ; Manifestly covariant formalism for E&M ; Energy-momentum tensors -- Tensors in general relativity. Derivatives in a curved space ; Parallel transport ; Riemannian curvature tensor -- GR as a geometric theory of gravity: II. The principle of general covariance ; Einstein field equation ; The Schwarzschild exterior solution ; The Einstein equation for cosmology -- Linearized theory and gravitational waves. The linearized Einstein theory ; Plane waves and the polarization tensor ; Gravitational wave detection ; Evidence for gravitational wave -- Supplementary notes. The twin paradox ; A glimpse of advanced topics in black hole physics ; False vacuum and hidden symmetry ; The problem of [lambda] as quantum vacuum energy -- Answer keys to review questions -- Solutions of selected problems.

0

Cosmology.

General relativity (Physics), Textbooks.

Gravity.

Space and time.

Cheng, Ta-Pei.

20060127151732.0

rda

[Book]

Y