General Relativity by Robert M. Wald (PDF)

Description

Wald’s book is clearly the first textbook on general relativity with a totally modern point of view; and it succeeds very well where others are only partially successful. The book includes full discussions of many problems of current interest which are not treated in any extant book, and all these matters are considered with perception and understanding.—S. Chandrasekhar “A tour de force: lucid, straightforward, mathematically rigorous, exacting in the analysis of the theory in its physical aspect.”—L. P. Hughston, Times Higher Education Supplement”Truly excellent. . . . A sophisticated text of manageable size that will probably be read by every student of relativity, astrophysics, and field theory for years to come.”—James W. York, Physics Today

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: About the Author Robert M. Wald is professor in the Department of Physics and the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago. He is the author of Space, Time, and Gravity: The Theory of the Big Bang and Black Holes, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I have owned this book (the paper version) for over twenty years. It is the best “modern” textbook on general Relativity. Differently from other books, the derivations are both clear AND rigorous. The book presents a complete discussion of the Schwarzschild solution and the derivation of results that can be used to test GR. Modern tests, like the slowing down of radar signals (first tested in experiments using the Mariner space probe), are discussed in detail. However, this text is not up to date. It needs to be complemented by a more modern book. “Modern General Relativity: Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, and Cosmology 1st Edition by Mike Guidry (Author)” is a possible choice.

⭐The first book I use for GR was Schutz, that is a wonderful book on its own but is only as it is named “A first course”. Then I went through Carroll, to be honest GR has never been an easy one for me. Having said that I believe to had acquire a better mathematical and physical maturation for when I decided to pick Wald. I like the tensorial notation used, also it has the best derivation of Einstein’s equations I have come across so far, I would say much, much better than Carroll’s one, it is also self contained and I like the mathematical level used throughout. It consists of two parts, part one called FUNDAMENTALS has 6 chapters, part two titled ADVANCED TOPICS continues from chapter 7 till 14, I have studied chapters 1-13: Introduction, Manifolds and Tensor Fields, Curvature, Einstein’s Equations, Homogeneous Isotropic Cosmology, The Schwarszchild Solution, Methods for Solving Einstein’s Equations, Casual Structure, Singularities, The Initial Value Formulation, Asymptotic Flatness, Black Holes, Spinors. The only chapter I have not read yet because of lack of time is the last Chapter 14 “Quantum Effects in Strong Gravitational Fields”. What I most like of this book is the crystal clear explanatory level that R. Wald shows through out the entire material making evident that he is a brilliant expositor and teacher, for example, is the first time that I really understood the singularity theorems of Penrose and Hawking (mathematically), also for the Initial Value Formulation chapter, he provides and explains what is needed in the theory of partial differential equations which motivated me even further to look at another book to go more in depth into partial differential equations and their relations with GR; and just for the last example the “Spinors” chapter is a tour de force which after going through it made me (I believe) understood everything about the representations of the Poincare group and things like why the Klein Gordon equation describes a unitary representation of the Poincare group acting on physical states of spin zero, Dirac’s equation acts on particles of spin 1/2, Maxwell’s acts on particles of spin 1 and (linearized) gravity on particles of spin 2. As if this were not enough it also brings 6 Appendices which complement the whole book! All in all the best book on GR I have come across so far, I also prefer it much more rather than Weinberg.

⭐I had already bought the book General Relativity, by Robert Wald, the paper edition (purchased from Amazon). I found the book excellent. One of the best books I know on the subject. When it appeared the Kindle version I was curious how Amazon solve problems involving the visualization of mathematical equations in ebooks. So I bought the Kindle edition. I was disappointed with the result. The Kindle edition does not seem the work of professionals. Several equations are presented both wrong in their own Kindle (I use the Kindle touch) as the iPad or PC, while others appear incorrectly when viewed on the Kindle, but not when viewed on the iPad or PC.Examples of errors:Geroch (1978a) and Wald (1977a) — paper edition (page 4), the Kindle appears as Geroch (197 $ a) and Wald (191 $ a);In issue 8 (page 54) the numbers 3 and 2 are, when viewed on Kindle as $;In formula (4.2.35), page 65, the first of formula S $ appears as in Kindle.These misconceptions are repeated throughout the book.There is also the fact of not having a pattern to the formulas: while some are presented in text, others (which could also be in text mode) is placed as images, such as formula (4.3.23), page 72, that is an image, while the formula (4.3.22), on the same page, and with the same mathematical symbols, is in text mode.—————————————————————————————————Original review in Portuguese:Eu já havia comprado o livro General Relativity, de Robert Wald, na edição em papel (comprado da Amazon). Achei o livro excelente. Um dos melhores livros, que eu conheço, sobre o assunto. Quando apareceu a versão para Kindle fiquei curioso de como a Amazon resolveria os problemas que envolvem a visualização de equações matemáticas em ebooks. Por isso comprei a edição para Kindle. Fiquei decepcionado com o resultado. A edição para Kindle não parece o trabalho de profissionais. Diversas equações são apresentadas erradamente tanto no próprio Kindle (eu uso o Kindle touch) quanto no iPad ou no PC, enquanto outras aparecem de forma errada quando visualizadas no Kindle, mas não quando visualizadas no iPad ou no PC .Alguns exemplos de erros:Geroch (1978a) and Wald (1977a) — edição em papel (página 4); no Kindle aparece como Geroch (197$ a) and Wald (191$ a);No problema 8 (página 54) os números 3 e 2 estão, quando vistos no Kindle, como $;Na formula (4.2.35), página 65, o primeiro S da fórmula aparece como um $, no Kindle.Esses equivocos se repetem ao longo de todo o livro.Há ainda o fato de não se ter um padrão nas fórmulas: enquanto algumas se apresentam em texto, outras (que também poderiam estar em modo texto) são colocadas como imagens, como por exemplo a fórmula (4.3.23), na página 72, que é uma imagem, enquanto a fórmula (4.3.22), na mesma página, e com os mesmos símbolos matemáticos, está em modo texto.

⭐This book does a nice mathematical treatment of GR. I would not call this an intro book on GR. Highly advised that you have worked through an intro book on GR for undergrads like, Schutz, Cheng, or Bohmer BEFORE tackling this book. I have read the latter two books cover to cover and have done some additional reading through parts of Schutz, so reading through Wald’s book is not intimidating for me. I have gotten comfortable with tensor analysis reading through the former books mentioned and did supplemental reading on tensor analysis using AJ McConnell’s and Sokolnikoff’s books; these are both older, classic texts. I always found the older texts do a much better job of explaining a topic than the newer texts when I was an undergrad physics student long ago. Get very comfortable with tensors, which you need for GR study. Once you’re comfortable with GR, then you’re ready to tackle studies in Cosmology, which I am reading now concurrently with Wald.

⭐MAKE no mistake: this is not a book for the beginner. But it is a superb summary of studies in General Relativity applicable to the second half of twentieth century. (Most really cover the first half!) if you want a more gentle intro try Hobson et al (GR: An intro for physicists..) But Wald is for the reader who has mastered the basics of GR!

⭐The book covers a wide range of different topics in General Relativity, from Einstein’s Equation and gravitational waves, to black holes, passing trough Cosmology and differents types of universes and their evolution.The book begins with three chapters with preliminary mathematics (Riemann geometry, manifolds and tensors) deep but too short, so one should complete this part with another book on Tensor Calculus.The treatment of the topics is formal but too abstrac and it has no examples or worked problems, so if it’s the first time you read something on General Relativity it would be too hard for you.So, it’s a good book, but you need a solid basis to a good understanding.

⭐Comprehensive text.

⭐Great book with lots of mathematical details. Also, it is not for the beginner, but for the person/student who already posses some maturity.

⭐Good book Good quality

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