General relativity resources

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General relativity
G_{\mu \nu} + \Lambda g_{\mu \nu}= {8\pi G\over c^4} T_{\mu \nu}\,
Einstein field equations
Introduction to...
Mathematical formulation of...
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Contents

[edit] Books

[edit] Popular

  • Geroch, Robert (1981). General Relativity from A to B. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-28864-1.  Leisurely pace, provides superb intuition for Schwarzschild geometry.
  • Wald, Robert M. (1992). Space, Time, and Gravity: the Theory of the Big Bang and Black Holes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-87029-4.  Covers much more ground, while remaining concise and readable.
  • Thorne, Kip S. (1995). Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-31276-3.  A delightful romp through the physics of black holes. Features many personal anecdotes from the author's distinguished career.

[edit] Textbooks

[edit] Beginning undergraduate level
  • Rindler, Wolfgang (2001). Relativity: Special, General, and Cosmological. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-850836-0.  This book is an expanded version of an earlier book by the same author, Essential Relativity, but covers more topics in greater detail. The physics of general relativity is developed with great care, followed by an introduction to the usual formalism and some more advanced topics.
  • Schutz, Bernard F. (2003). Gravity from the ground up. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-45506-5.  A more elementary treatment than Rindler's, this book uses no more than a little algebra and trigonometry to explore Einstein's theory of gravity. A good book to develop an intuitive understanding of general relativity, underpinned by helpful back-of-the-envelope type calculations.

[edit] Advanced undergraduate level
  • Cheng, Ta-Pei (2005). Relativity, Gravitation and Cosmology: a Basic Introduction. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198529570.  Full tensor formulation of GR is postponed till the last of the three parts of the book. Particularly suitable for an introductory GR course with an emphasis on cosmology.
  • P.A.M.Dirac, General Theory of Relativity (1975), Princeton University Press, quick presentation of the bare essentials of GTR. ISBN 0-691-01146-X
  • d'Inverno, Ray (1992). Introducing Einstein's Relativity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-859686-3.  Readable, well illustrated, fairly comprehensive without becoming encyclopedic.
  • Hughston, L. & Tod, K. P. (1991). Introduction to General Relativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33943-X.  Clearly written, short and sweet; covers less ground than the others but much cheaper.
  • Schutz, Bernard F. (1985). A First Course in General Relativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-27703-5.  Features an outstanding treatment of tensor calculus and the stress-energy tensor, a key topic which beginners often have trouble grasping. The treatment of linearized gravitational waves and stellar models is also outstanding.

[edit] Graduate level
  • Grøn, Øyvind; Hervik, Sigbjørn (2007). Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-69199-2. . A chapter on special relativity, five chapters on differential geometry, three on general relativity and three on cosmology, all on a graduate level. Advanced topics contain five chapters including a chapter on anisotropic universe models, Israel's metric junction method, a chapter on Brane-worlds and one on Kaluza-Klein theory. Lots of examples and problems with titles and separate lists of examples and problems.
  • Stephani, Hans (1990). General Relativity: An Introduction to the Theory of the Gravitational Field,. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37941-5.  Clear and very well organized. Features excellent treatment of far-field and weak-field expansions and linearized gravitational waves, including multipole moments. Offers more on solution techniques than other introductory textbooks.
  • Wald, Robert M. (1984). General Relativity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-87033-2.  Often cited as the definitive graduate level textbook. Features an outstanding introduction to tensors (with a clear distinction between abstract indices and particular indices, overlooked by most other authors), as well as the basic singularity, stability, and uniqueness theorems, quantum field theory on curved spacetimes, and black hole thermodynamics. Much valuable material is clearly explained in a series of superb appendices. In general, this book focuses more on developing insight into mathematical formalism and techniques than on developing physical insight.
  • Landau, Lev D. & Lifshitz, Evgeny F. (1980), The Classical Theory of Fields (4th ed.), London: Butterworth-Heinemann, ISBN 0-7506-2768-9  A unique textbook straddling the modern and pre-modern eras in general relativity, this offers a dual introduction to Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism and Einstein's theory of gravitation. Noteworthy topics include a good treatment of multipole moments and background material needed for the BKL conjecture.
  • Weinberg, Steven (1972). Gravitation and Cosmology: Principles and Applications of the General Theory of Relativity. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-92567-5.  Demanding but full of valuable physical insight and techniques. No pictures, in marked contrast to the textbook by Misner, Thorne & Wheeler. Excellent treatment of topics related to PPN formalism, weak field approximations, gravitons, as well as applications of particle physics to cosmology. No exercises.

[edit] Special topics
  • Poisson, Eric (2004). A Relativist's Toolkit: The Mathematics of Black Hole Mechanics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-83091-5.  Don't be fooled by the subtitle; this book explains many key concepts and techniques which are needed by all contemporary graduate students, but are not adequately explained elsewhere. Essential topics covered here include congruences (expansion, vorticity, and shear), optical scalars, junction conditions for matching interior solutions to exterior solutions, thin shells (including null shells), spatial hyperslices, and energy conditions.
  • Stephani, Hans; Kramer, Dietrich; MacCallum, Malcom; Hoenselaers, Cornelius; Hertl, Eduard (2003). Exact Solutions to Einstein's Field Equations (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-46136-7.  This awesome monograph attempts to provide an up-to-date survey of many of the tens of thousands of known exact solutions, plus solution techniques and essential background such as Newman-Penrose formalism.
  • Stewart, John (1993). Advanced General Relativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44946-4.  Not easy to read, but one of the few textbooks to offer an introduction to the important Newman-Penrose formalism. Also features much material on gravitational waves.
  • De Felice, F.; and Clarke, C. J. (1992). Relativity on Curved Manifolds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42908-0.  This book is billed as an introductory textbook, but has no exercises and may be hard to read. Unique features include a chapter on measurement theory for general relativity, plus an introduction to tetrad formalism.
  • Lightman, Alan P.; Press, William H.; Price, Richard H. & Teukolsky, Saul A. (1975), Problem Book in Relativity and Gravitation, Princeton: Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-08162-X  A collection of excellent problems, with sketch solutions in the back. Test your skills!
  • Grøn, Øyvind & Hervik, Sigbjørn (2007), Einstein's General Theory of Relativity with Modern Applications in Cosmology, Springer, ISBN 978-0-387-69199-2 

[edit] External links

[edit] Popular

[edit] Online tutorials

[edit] Webcourses

  • Rappoport, Saul. Relativity (Fall 2003). MIT OpenCourseWare. Retrieved on May 29, 2005. An elementary introduction to relativistic physics, including a smattering of gtr.
  • Brown, Kevin. Reflections on relativity. Mathpages.com. Retrieved on May 29, 2005. An online book providing extensive discussion of various aspects of special and general relativity.

[edit] Collection of review articles

  • Living Reviews in Relativity. Electronic journal which features about 50 review articles (and counting) about various subjects of relativistic physics, which are regularly updated by their authors.

[edit] Special topics

[edit] Reading lists