General Relativity: With Applications to Astrophysics [Paperback]

The foundations are thoroughly developed together with the required mathematical background from differential geometry developed in Part III.

The author also discusses the tests of general relativity in detail, including binary pulsars, with much space is devoted to the study of compact objects, especially to neutron stars and to the basic laws of black-hole physics.

This well-structured text and reference enables readers to easily navigate through the various sections as best matches their backgrounds and perspectives, whether mathematical, physical or astronomical.

Very applications oriented, the text includes very recent results, such as the supermassive black-hole in our galaxy and first double pulsar system

Physics and mathematics students are as eager as ever to become acquainted withthefoundationsofgeneralrelativityandsomeofitsmajorapplicationsin astrophysics and cosmology. I hope that this textbook gives a comprehensive and timelyintroduction toboth aspectsof thisfascinating?eld,and willturn out to be useful for undergraduate and graduate students. This book is a complete revision and extension of my previous volume GeneralRelativityandRelativisticAstrophysicsthatappearedabouttwenty years ago in the Springer SeriesTexts and Monographs in Physics; however, it cannot be regarded just as a new edition. In Part I the foundations of general relativity are thoroughly developed. Some of the more advanced topics, such as the section on the initial value problem, can be skipped in a ?rst reading. Part II is devoted to tests of general relativity and many of its app- cations. Binary pulsars  our best laboratories for general relativity  are studied in considerable detail. I have included an introduction to gravi- tional lensing theory, to the extend that the current literature on the subject should become accessible. Much space is dl#Ä