Relativity Demystified

Description

Providing a way to learn the essentials and formulas of Einstein's theories, this book includes problems at the end of the chapters. It helps readers learn the formulas and principles of special and general relativity; use mathematical tools for solving relativity problems; and receive explanations for Schwarzhild spacetimes, and black holes.

Author description

David McMahon works as a researcher at Sandia National Laboratory, a Department of Energy facility. His research involves work on nuclear fusion and the design of nuclear-powered spacecraft. He has a master's degree in physics and a bachelor's in applied mathematics, both from the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in theoretical physics in the areas of quantum field theory and the use of general relativity. Mr. McMahon is a published author. Previous work includes two books on computer programming: Rapid Application Development with Visual Basic 6 and Rapid Application Development with Visual C++. He also wrote Quantum Mechanics Demystified, and was a contributing writer to Ace the Technical Interview. All of his books are published by McGraw-Hill. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Table of contents

Part One: The Mathematical Tools of Relativity 1 Vectors 2 One Forms and Tensors 3 More on Tensors, Tensor Algebra 4 The Metric 5 The Connection 6 Covariant Derivatives 7 Tensor Calculus Continued 8 The Riemann Tensor and other important quantities 9 Tensor Identities, Equations and more important Quantities 10 Killing Vectors Part Two: The Physics of Relativity 11 Overview of Special Relativity I 12 Overview of Special Relativity II 13 The Basic Structure of General Relativity 14 Schwarzchild Spacetimes Part One 15 Schwarzchild Spacetimes Part Two 16 Introducting Black Holes 17 Black Holes: Part Two 18 Gravitational Radiation 19 Cosmological Models