Gravitation: foundations and frontiers

Description

Covering all aspects of gravitation in a contemporary style, this advanced textbook is ideal for graduate students and researchers in all areas of theoretical physics. The 'Foundation' section develops the formalism in six chapters, and uses it in the next four chapters to discuss four key applications - spherical spacetimes, black holes, gravitational waves and cosmology. The six chapters in the 'Frontier' section describe cosmological perturbation theory, quantum fields in curved spacetime, and the Hamiltonian structure of general relativity, among several other advanced topics, some of which are covered in-depth for the first time in a textbook. The modular structure of the book allows different sections to be combined to suit a variety of courses. Over 200 exercises are included to test and develop the reader's understanding. There are also over 30 projects, which help readers make the transition from the book to their own original research. The modular structure of the book allows different sections to be combined to suit a variety of courses. Over 225 exercises are included to test and develop the readers' understanding. There are also over 30 projects, which help readers make the transition from the book to their own original research.  Read more... Abstract: Covering all aspects of gravitation in a contemporary style, this advanced textbook is ideal for graduate students and researchers. Its modular structure allows different sections to be combined to suit a variety of courses. There are more than 200 exercises and over 30 in-depth projects.  Read more... Content: 1. Special relativity 2. Scalar and electromagnetic fields in special relativity 3. Gravity and spacetime geometry: the inescapable connection 4. Metric tensor, geodesics and covariant derivative 5. Curvature of spacetime 6. Einstein's field equations and gravitational dynamics 7. Spherically symmetric geometry 8. Black holes 9. Gravitational waves 10. Relativistic cosmology 11. Differential forms and exterior calculus 12. Hamiltonian structure of general relativity 13. Evolution of cosmological perturbations 14. Quantum field theory in curved spacetime 15. Gravity in higher and lower dimensions 16. Gravity as an emergent phenomenon Notes Index