Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC)
Library,Documentation and Information Science Division

“A research journal serves that narrow

borderland which separates the known from the unknown”

-P.C.Mahalanobis


Image from Google Jackets

Special relativity in general frames : from particles to astrophysics / Eric Gourgoulhon.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Graduate texts in physicsPublication details: Berlin : Springer, 2013.Description: xxx, 784 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9783642372759
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 530.11 23 G715
Contents:
1. Minkowski spacetime -- 2. Worldlines and proper time -- 3. Observers -- 4. Kinematics 1 : motion with respect to an observer -- 5. Kinematics 2 : change of observer -- 6. Lorentz group -- 7. Lorentz group as a Lie group -- 8. Inertial observers and Poincaré group -- 9. Energy and momentum -- 10. Angular momentum -- 11. Principle of least action -- 12. Accelerated observers -- 13. Rotating observers -- 14. Tensors and alternate forms -- 15. Fields on spacetime -- 16. Integration in spacetime -- 17. Electromagnetic field -- 18. Maxwell equations -- 19. Energy-momentum tensor -- 20. Energy-momentum of the electromagnetic field -- 21. Relativistic hydrodynamics -- 22. What about relativistic gravitation?
Summary: Special relativity is the basis of many fields in modern physics: particle physics, quantum field theory, high-energy astrophysics, etc. This theory is presented here by adopting a four-dimensional point of view from the start. An outstanding feature of the book is that it doesn't restrict itself to inertial frames and to considering accelerated and rotating observers. It is thus possible to treat physical effects such as the Thomas precession or the Sagnac effect in a simple yet precise manner. In the final chapters, more advanced topics like tensorial fields in spacetime, exterior calculus and relativistic hydrodynamics are addressed. In the last, brief chapter the author gives a preview of gravity and shows where it becomes incompatible with Minkowsky spacetime. Well illustrated and enriched by many historical notes, this book also presents many applications of special relativity, ranging from particle physics (accelerators, particle collisions, quark-gluon plasma) to astrophysics (relativistic jets, active galactic nuclei), and including practical applications (Sagnac gyrometers, synchrotron radiation, GPS). In addition, the book provides some mathematical developments, such as the detailed analysis of the Lorentz group and its Lie algebra. The book is suitable for students in the third year of a physics degree or on a masters course, as well as researchers and any reader interested in relativity. Thanks to the geometric approach adopted, this book should also be beneficial for the study of general relativity. A modern presentation of special relativity must put forward its essential structures, before illustrating them using concrete applications to specific dynamical problems.
Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Minkowski spacetime --
2. Worldlines and proper time --
3. Observers --
4. Kinematics 1 : motion with respect to an observer --
5. Kinematics 2 : change of observer --
6. Lorentz group --
7. Lorentz group as a Lie group --
8. Inertial observers and Poincaré group --
9. Energy and momentum --
10. Angular momentum --
11. Principle of least action --
12. Accelerated observers --
13. Rotating observers --
14. Tensors and alternate forms --
15. Fields on spacetime --
16. Integration in spacetime --
17. Electromagnetic field --
18. Maxwell equations --
19. Energy-momentum tensor --
20. Energy-momentum of the electromagnetic field --
21. Relativistic hydrodynamics --
22. What about relativistic gravitation?

Special relativity is the basis of many fields in modern physics: particle physics, quantum field theory, high-energy astrophysics, etc. This theory is presented here by adopting a four-dimensional point of view from the start. An outstanding feature of the book is that it doesn't restrict itself to inertial frames and to considering accelerated and rotating observers. It is thus possible to treat physical effects such as the Thomas precession or the Sagnac effect in a simple yet precise manner. In the final chapters, more advanced topics like tensorial fields in spacetime, exterior calculus and relativistic hydrodynamics are addressed. In the last, brief chapter the author gives a preview of gravity and shows where it becomes incompatible with Minkowsky spacetime. Well illustrated and enriched by many historical notes, this book also presents many applications of special relativity, ranging from particle physics (accelerators, particle collisions, quark-gluon plasma) to astrophysics (relativistic jets, active galactic nuclei), and including practical applications (Sagnac gyrometers, synchrotron radiation, GPS). In addition, the book provides some mathematical developments, such as the detailed analysis of the Lorentz group and its Lie algebra. The book is suitable for students in the third year of a physics degree or on a masters course, as well as researchers and any reader interested in relativity. Thanks to the geometric approach adopted, this book should also be beneficial for the study of general relativity. A modern presentation of special relativity must put forward its essential structures, before illustrating them using concrete applications to specific dynamical problems.

There are no comments on this title.

to post a comment.
Library, Documentation and Information Science Division, Indian Statistical Institute, 203 B T Road, Kolkata 700108, INDIA
Phone no. 91-33-2575 2100, Fax no. 91-33-2578 1412, ksatpathy@isical.ac.in