Introducing Einstein’s Relativity by Ray d’Inverno (PDF)

Description

There is little doubt that Einstein’s theory of relativity captures the imagination. It is unrivalled in forming the basis of the way we view the universe and the many surprises that the theory has in store — the characteristics of black holes, the prospect of detecting gravitational waves, and the sheer scope and profundity of current cosmology excite all students of relativity. The aim of this textbook is to provide students with a sound mathematical introduction coupled to an understanding of the physical insights needed to explore the subject. The book follows Einstein in that it introduces the basic field equations by discussing the relativistic theory of gravitation from a physics point of view, and the structure on the resulting equations is discussed carefully before going on to their solution in simple settings. The book is designed with two objectives: to familiarize students with the basic ideas and equations of the theory, and to cover three main topics: black holes,gravitational waves, and cosmology. Throughout, the author has included numerous exercises (of varying degrees of difficulty) to illustrate and extend the ideas covered. As a result, this book will make an excellent first course for any student coming to the subject for the first time.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review `Ray d’Inverno’s Introducing Einstein’s Relativity seems to have done a wonderful job of taming what many undergraduates consider a ferocious course. The book has a large, reader-friendly format, with a lot of illustrations. Important equations are highlighted in boxes and the reader does not have to wade through an undifferentiated mass of tensor calculus.’ New Scientist’The visually stunning dust jacket cloaks exceptionally well-presented text and figures, making reading irresistible. This is a fine book which I have added to the recommended bibliography for my courses; colleagues at other universities are advised not to overlook it.’ Times Higher Education Supplement’This book is designed to explain the theory in terms which many students will find easier to digest.’ Aslib Book Guide, Vol. 58, No. 1, January 1993’a highly accessible undergraduate text book packaged in a reader-friendly style … a comprehensive and accessible book’ Felicity Mellor, The Observatory, Vol. 113, No. 1114’a very readable and well illustrated treatment of general relativity, gravitational waves, black holes and cosmology’ Australian & New Zealand Physicist, Volume 30, Number 3, March 1993’The great experience of teaching Relativity is reflected by an excellent presentation of the material in the book … It is a highly recommended introduction to the mathematical foundations as well as physical ideas underlying Einstein’s Relativity. The text is concise and clear but nevertheless of a high level. The author has succeeded in writing a beautiful self-contained text … very useful for students and graduates who want to become familiar with Einstein’s theory of Relativity … it can be unreservedly recommended as a good tool for preparing examinations in relativity. In all respects it is a pleasure to read this distinguished textbook.’ D. Kramer, Class. Quantum Grav. 11 (1994)’an intuitive and motivating presentation with mathematical precision where the latter is needed … Extremely helpful are more than 200 figures, illustrating subjects which in many cases are difficult to imagine … this book is one of the best pedagogical approaches to introduce general relativity and to present a connection to more advanced topics in this field. Hence it is highly recommendable for every student or teacher interested in this subject.’ Bernd Wegner, Mathematics Abstracts, 774/93 About the Author Ray d’Inverno is at University of Southampton.

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

⭐This was one of the books assigned when I took general relativity in college. I found several of the chapters very enjoyable to read. D’Inverno does a great job getting into some of the fascinating physics that lies behind general relativity and its development, like Mach’s principles and a great discussion of the equivalence principle. Much of the book is devoted to teaching you the mathematics, and it does so in a good fashion. He has two nice chapters on tensors with homework problems that are doable. One drawback was the book didn’t have anything on Cartan’s equations or discuss one forms (although he talks about contravariant and covariant vectors). The first half of the book is better than the second half, I found his chapters on special relativity excellent but felt his chapters on black holes and gravity waves were a bit lacking. In any case, I recommend it. Try beefing up your education by reading it along with Schutz so you get some exposure to one forms and all that.

⭐I have read three books on Einstein’s theories of relativity but have never dared to dip my liberal education toe into the mathematics of them. I thought this centennial year of Einstein’s most famous work was the time to do it, and although I ordered it with some trepidation, I am–so far–very pleasantly surprised. Mr. d’invert is an excellent teacher and is taking me step-by-step up a path I never thought I could take. Not an easy climb, but well worth the trip.

⭐This book were in good conditions and it is very useful for me. I needed this book for my course of relativity, my life is easier now.

⭐Overly wordy and chatty. Too much is better than too little, but nevertheless.There are some terrible derivations of the Lorentz equations in the SR intro. I am not a fan of “ict”.Good insights sprinkled throughout, but occasionally some gaps in logic and inconsistency in the level of rigor.I finally found it too annoying to read and sold it.

⭐D’Inverno writes: “I had in mind the aspiration that the book would provide a small stepping-stone to Hawking and Ellis.” (And, in my opinion, that aspiration is achieved). Exercises are straightforward, hints are provided and full solutions to many are offered (pages 360-369). D’Inverno organizes the textbook thus:Part A: Special Relativity…k-calculus–a first encounter, Einstein’s approach–second encounter. Final encounter, Lagrangians pages 96 and 116. Another positive attribute of this textbook: the spiral approach. You get material at multiple encounters, progressively more advanced.Part B: Tensors…Here, each and every exercise should be completed. Exercises are fairly straightforward. The section of the relevant text, to which that exercise refers, is placed alongside as hint to its solution. Excellent pedagogy !Part C: General Relativity… A thoughtful six-part summary appears (page 142) which encapsulates chapters nine and ten. The highlight: chapter eleven–General Relativity From Variational Principle. A nice complement to Dirac’s terse lecture-book published 1975. Another highlight: chapter thirteen, the structure of the Einstein equations. Excellent pedagogy !Part D: Black Holes…A superb discussion of various different coordinate systems. Reissner-Nordstrom solution presented analogous to Kerr solution whose “solution structure is in many ways similar.” (page 239). Excellent pedagogy ! A highlight: chapter nineteen, Rotating Black Holes (tetrads introduced, null congruences introduced).Part E: Gravitational Waves…We learn “two colliding, impulsive gravitational waves give rise to a singularity.” (page 284). The initial fifteen page discussion of gravitational radiation is easy-to-digest and discussed at an elementary vantage. Following which, another excellent fifteen-page discussion, at a more advanced vantage. Spiral approach !Part F: Cosmology…Here, a nice discussion of “spaces of constant curvature”(pages 317-321). Again, initial approach presented chapter 22, leading up to the more advanced discussion (that is, the various Models elucidated chapter 23).In Conclusion: Excellent exercises (with accompanying solutions) makes this a fine resource for self-study.I reiterate: Excellent for self-study. As precursor to study of Hawking and Ellis’ advanced monograph,The Large Scale Structure Of Space-Time, Ray D’Inverno has achieved his stated goal– and more.

⭐Tha mun ge it! t’s summat oreight

⭐Still reading. I think Einsteins thought experiments with trains and light clocks is intuitvely simpler than the k calculus. Got a lot more to read yet.

⭐Very good book on principles of general relativity. Very comprehensive but a little hard to understandfor beginners

⭐Shipment date on time and quality book according expectation

⭐This book is devoted to teaching you the mathematics, and it does so in a very good fashion. This contain two nice chapters on tensors and has good excersice problems.This is South Asia Edition and it contains all the contents same as the original edition. So , don’t hesitate to buy this if you looking for buying the book.

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