Basic Relativity [Hardcover]

Richard A. Mould (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0387941886 | ISBN-13: 978-0387941882 | Publication Date: November 1, 2001 | Edition: First

This is a comprehensive textbook for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students in physics or astrophysics, developing both the formalism and the physical ideas of special and general relativity in a logical and coherent way. The book is in two parts. Part one focuses on the special theory and begins with the study of relativistic kinematics from three points of view: the physical (the classic gedanken experiments), the algebraic (the Lorentz transformations), and the graphic (the Minkowski diagrams). Part one concludes with chapters on relativistic dynamics and electrodynamics. Part two begins with a chapter introducing differential geometry to set the mathematical background for general relativity. The physical basis for the theory is begun in the chapter on uniform accelerations. Subsequent chapters cover rotation, the electromagnetic field, and material media. A second chapter on differential geometry provides the background for Einstein's gravitational-field equation and Schwarzschild's solution. The physical significance of this solution is examined together with the challenges to the theory that have been successfully met inside the solar system. Other applications follow in the final chapters on astronomy and cosmology: These include black holes, quasars, and gravity waves as well as the relativistic features of an expanding universe ¿ including a section on the inflationary model.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 452 pages
• Publisher: Springer; First edition (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387941886
• ISBN-13: 978-0387941882
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,273,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A SOLID, WELL-DONE TEXTBOOK FOR STUDENTS OF PHYSICS., October 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Basic Relativity (Hardcover)

Am teaching 8 weeks of Special Relativity out of PART I of this book--for the third time. This book is well-suited for juniors and seniors in Physics. It is a balanced, careful treatment which contains everything I look for in a text on SR: a dollop of 19th century history, gedanken experiments, lorentz algebra, Minkowski diagrams, mechanics, AND electromagnetism (which is hard to find in lower-level treatments.)--all in less than 175 pages!

The math is kept as simple as possible --Euclidean metric--by stratagem of using imaginary 4th- components in 4-vectors. The Lorentz transform reduces to the familiar orthogonal transform.

But teachers, students, and mathematical purists, BEWARE!! The notation, Physics style, can be very casual and often slow or difficult to write or word-process, or even downright misleading. I need to give my students several pages of improved notations so that we can express ourselves and communicate easily. Some things needing help: proper time, 3-vectors,4-vectors, their components, as well as matrices, and their transposes or inverses. But, once this is cleared up, the book is enlightening and worth the effort. An excellent selection of exercises is provided at backs of chapters--do as many as you have time for.

Even an afficionado of the subject will have to sweat some. I very much doubt that a complete novice in relativity should attempt this book.

I have no comments on the PART II of the book, which covers general relativity.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good discussion of covarience and contravarience, June 17, 2011

By 

Ulfilas (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Basic Relativity (Paperback)

Mould's book is basically half special relativity and half general relativity, with a chapter on differential geometry bridging the gap. The discussion of special relativity gives a good geometrical motivation for this topic. The 44-page chapter on differential geometry is especially good, with the best treatment of covariance and contravariance that I have ever read.

I include the JPEG files for two pages corresponding to section 7.4 (pp.183-184), which includes a diagram (Fig.7.3) for what the author calls "the rectilinear case". In Fig.7.3a we see that contravariant coordinates are measured parallel to the coordinate axes, while in Fig.7.3b covariant coordinates are measured perpendicular to the coordinate axes.