ENGLISH

The Geometry of Spacetime: An Introduction to Special and General Relativity

By James J. Callahan (auth.)

Book information

Publisher
Springer-Verlag New York
Year
2000
ISBN
978-1-4419-3142-9, 978-1-4757-6736-0
DOI
10.1007/978-1-4757-6736-0
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
13 MB (13405496 bytes)
Series
Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics
Edition
1
Pages
463\480
Orientation
yes
Scanned
yes
Time added
2013-08-01 04:00:00
Classical and Quantum GravitationRelativity Theory;Quantum Physics;Quantum InformatSpintronics;Differential Geometry

Description

In 1905, Albert Einstein offered a revolutionary theory - special relativity - to explain some of the most troubling problems in current physics concerning electromagnetism and motion. Soon afterwards, Hermann Minkowski recast special relativity essentially as a new geometric structure for spacetime. These ideas are the subject of the first part of the book. The second part develops the main implications of Einstein's general relativity as a theory of gravity rooted in the differential geometry of surfaces. The author explores the way an individual observer views the world and how a pair of observers collaborates to gain objective knowledge of the world. He has tried to encompass both the general and special theory by using the geometry of spacetime as the unifying theme of the book. To read it, one needs only a first course in linear algebra and multivariable calculus and familiarity with the physical applications of calculus.

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