Related papers: Relativity
Einstein's theory of general relativity describes gravity as the interaction of particles with space-time geometry, as opposed to interacting with a physical fluid, as in the old gravitational aether theories. Moreover, any theoretical…
This is an English translation of the Italian version of an encyclopedia chapter that appeared in the Italian Encyclopedia of the Physical Sciences, edited by Bruno Bertotti (1994). Following requests from colleagues we have decided to make…
We explain in a very concise way the basic principles that lead from Galilean to General Relativity to make them understandable to students or general audience, even with little knowledge in physics and mathematics.
This Resource Letter provides some guidance on issues that arise in teaching general relativity at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Particular emphasis is placed on strategies for presenting the mathematical material needed for…
The aim of this work is to use the notions of Riemann's geometry introduced in Part I, to analyze the foundations of Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR) provides the best available description of gravity. The recent detection of gravitational waves and the first picture of a black hole have provided spectacular confirmations of GR, as well as…
This text aims to explain general relativity to geometers who have no knowledge about physics. Using handwritten notes by Michel Vaugon, we construct the bases of the theory.
These notes give a concise introduction to General Relativity at the advanced undergraduate level, starting from the weak field limit and gravitational waves, then introducing curved manifolds and Riemannian geometry. The nonlinear…
A modest aim of this pedagogical presentation is to analyze, critically, certain fundamental physical concepts to illustrate the physical principles behind the special theory of relativity and, hence, to also illustrate the limitations of…
This is a pedagogical introduction to the treatment of general relativity as a quantum effective field theory. Gravity fits nicely into the effective field theory description and forms a good quantum theory at ordinary energies.
In these notes we give an introductory unified treatment to the topics of special relativity, Lorentz transformations and the Lorentz group, Einstein velocitiy addition, and gyrogroups and gyrovector spaces. An effort has been made to…
The purpose of this article is to draw attention to some fundamental issues in General Relativity. It is argued that these deep issues cannot be resolved within the standard approach to general relativity that considers {\em every} solution…
General Relativity is the modern theory of gravitation. It has replaced the newtonian theory in the description of the gravitational phenomena. In spite of the remarkable success of the General Relativity Theory, the newtonian gravitational…
Lecture notes on selected topics in the theory of gravitation.
In these lectures general relativity is outlined as the classical field theory of gravity, emphasizing physical phenomena rather than mathematical formalism. Dynamical solutions representing traveling waves as well as stationary fields like…
The purpose of these lectures is to discuss in some detail a new, non-perturbative approach to quantum gravity. I would like to present the basic ideas, outline the key results that have been obtained so far and indicate where we are headed…
A theory of gravitation is presented. This theory does not relate gravitation to curvature of space-time. It explains the three standard results of general relativity in agreement with observations and suggests new experiments.
Was Einstein wrong? This paper provides a detailed technical review of Einstein's special and general relativity from an astrophysical perspective, including the historical development of the theories, experimental tests, modern…
The more precise definition and the more fundamental understanding of the concepts of time, energy, entropy and information are building upon the new, relativistic foundation of gravity. This lecture is an attempt to explain the basic…
There is no doubt that both the special and general theories of relativity capture the imagination. The anti-intuitive properties of the special theory of relativity and its deep philosophical implications, the bizzare and dazzling…