内容简介
Einstein的广义相对论是现代物理的基石。它包括了大量讲述时空的前沿话题,黑洞、重力波以及宇宙学。随着广义相对论越来越成为同时代物理和天文学的中心,其在本科教育中的地位也显得尤为重要。这本全新的教材很适合本科生作为了解该课程的基础理论。物理优先、数学理论尽可能少、大量的应用实例,作者为物理学家和对该学科感兴趣的读者自然顺畅的讲述了这门学科。
读者对象:《引力》适用于物理专业的本科生,研究生以及对该学科感兴趣的广大读者。
目次:(第一部分)牛顿物理和狭义相对论中的时空:引力物理;几何作为物理;牛顿物理中的空间;时间和引力;狭义相对论原理;狭义相对论力学; (第二部分)广义相对论的弯曲时空:引力作为几何;弯曲时空的描述;测地线;球形星体外的几何;广义相对论的太阳系检验;实用相对论引力;引力坍缩和黑洞;天体物理学黑洞;微小转动;旋转黑洞;引力波;宇宙观察;宇宙学模型;什么是宇宙以及为什么;(第三部分)Einstein方程:数学部分;曲率和Einstein方程;曲率源;引力波发射;相对论星体。
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目录
Preface
PART I SPACE AND TIME IN NEWTONIAN PHYSICS AND SPECIAL RELATIVITY
1 Gravitational Physics
2 Geometry as Physics
2.1 Gravity Is Geometry
2.2 Experiments in Geometry
2.3 Different Geometries
2.4 Specifying Geometry
2.5 Coordinates and Line Element
2.6 Coordinates and Invariance
3 Space, Time, and Gravity in Newtonian Physics
3.1 Inertial Frames
3.2 The Principle of Relativity
3.3 Newtonian Gravity
3.4 Gravitational and Inertial Mass
3.5 Variational Principle for Newtonian Mechanics
4 Principles of Special Relativity
4.1 The Addition of Velocities and the Michelson-Morley Experiment
4.2 Einsteins Resolution and Its Consequences
4.3 Spacetime
4.4 Time Dilation and the Twin Paradox
4.5 Lorentz Boosts
4.6 Units
5 Special Relativistic Mechanics
5.1 Four-Vectors
5.2 Special Relativistic Kinematics
5.3 Special Relativistic Dynamics
5.4 Variational Principle for Free Particle Motion
5.5 Light Rays
5.6 Observers and Observations
PART Ⅱ THE CURVED SPACETIMES OF GENERAL RELATIVITY
6 Gravity as Geometry
6.1 Testing the Equality of Gravitational and Inertial Mass
6.2 The Equivalence Principle
6.3 Clocks in a Gravitational Field
6.4 The Global Positioning System
6.5 Spacetime Is Curved
6.6 Newtonian Gravity in Spacetime Terms
7 The Description of Curved Spacetime
7.1 Coordinates
7.2 Metric
7.3 The Summation Convention
7.4 Local Inertial Frames
7.5 Light Cones and World Lines
7.6 Length, Area, Volume, and Four-Volume for Diagon Metrics
7.7 Embedding Diagrams and Wormholes
7.8 Vectors in Curved Spacetime
7.9 Three-Dimensional Surfaces in Four-Dimensional Spacetime
8 Geodesics
8.1 The Geodesic Equation
8.2 Solving the Geodesic Equation——-Symmetries and Conservation Laws
8.3 Null Geodesics
8.4 Local Inertial Frames and Freely Falling Frames
9 The Geometry Outside a Spherical Star
9.1 Schwarzschild Geometry
9.2 The Gravitational Redshift
9.3 Particle Orbits——Precession of the Perihelion
9.4 Light Ray Orbits——The Deflection and Time Delay of Light
10 Solar System Tests of General Relativity
10.1 Gravitational Redshift
10.2 PPN Parameters
10.3 Measurements of the PPN Parametery
10.4 Measurement of the PPN Parameter B-Precession of Mercurys Perihelion
11 Relativistic Gravity in Action
11.1 Gravitational Lensing
11.2 Accretion Disks Around Compact Objects
11.3 Binary Pulsars
12 Gravitational Collapse and Black Holes
12.1 The Schwarzschild Black Hole
12.2 Collapse to a Black Hole
12.3 Kruskal-Szekeres Coordinates
12.4 Nonspherical Gravitational Collapse
13 Astrophysical Black Holes
13.1 Black Holes in X-Ray Binaries
13.2 Black Holes in Galaxy Centers
13.3 Quantum Evaporation of Black Holes——Hawking Radiation
14 A Little Rotation
14.1 Rotational Dragging of Inertial Frames
14.2 Gyroscopes in Curved Spacetime
14.3 Geodetic Precession
14.4 Spacetime Outside a Slowly Rotating Spherical Body
14.5 Gyroscopes in the Spacetime of a Slowly Rotating Body
14.6 Gyros and Freely Falling Frames
15 Rotating Black Holes
15.1 Cosmic Censorship
15.2 The Kerr Geometry
15.3 The Horizon of a Rotating Black Hole
15.4 Orbits in the Equatorial Plane
15.5 The Ergosphere
16 Gravitational Waves
16.1 A Linearized Gravitational Wave
16.2 Detecting Gravitational Waves
16.3 Gravitational Wave Polarization
16.4 Gravitational Wave Interferometers
16.5 The Energy in Gravitational Waves
17 The Universe Observed
17.1 The Composition of the Universe
17.2 The Expanding Universe
17.3 Mapping the Universe
18 Cosmological Models
18.1 Homogeneous, Isotropic Spacetimes
18.2 The Cosmological Redshift
18.3 Matter, Radiation, and Vacuum
18.4 Evolution of the Flat FRW Models
18.5 The Big Bang and Age and Size of the Universe
18.6 Spatially Curved Robertson-Walker Metrics
18.7 Dynamics of the Universe
19 Which Universe and Why?
19.1 Surveying the Universe
19.2 Explaining the Universe
PART III THE EINSTEIN EQUATION
20 A Little More Math
20.1 Vectors
20.2 Dual Vectors
20.3 Tensors
20.4 The Covariant Derivative
20.5 Freely Falling Frames Again
21 Curvature and the Einstein Equation
21.1 Tidal Gravitational Forces
21.2 Equation of Geodesic Deviation
21.3 Riemann Curvature
21.4 The Einstein Equation in Vacuum
21.5 Linearized Gravity
22 The Source of Curvature
22.1 Densities
22.2 Conservation
22.2 Conservation of Energy-Momentum
22.3 The Einstein Equation
22.4 The Newtonian Limit
23 Gravitational Wave Emission
23.1 The Linearized Einstein Equation with Sources
23.2 Solving the Wave Equation with a Source
23.3 The General Solution of Linearized Gravity
23.4 Production of Weak Gravitational Waves
23.5 Gravitational Radiation from Binary Stars
23.6 The Quadrupole Formula for the Energy Loss in Gravitational Waves
23.7 Effects of Gravitational Radiation Detected in a Binary Pulsar
23.8 Strong Source Expectations
24 Relativistic Stars
24.1 The Power of the Pauli Principle
24.2 Relativistic Hydrostatic Equilibrium
24.3 Stellar Models
24.4 Matter in Its Ground State
24.5 Stability
24.6 Bounds on the Maximum Mass of Neutron Stars
APPENDIXES
A Units
A.1 Units in General
A.2 Units Employed in this Book
B Curvature Quantities
C Curvature and the Einstein Equation
D Pedagogical Strategy
D.1 Pedagogical Principles
D.2 Organization
D.3 Constructing Courses
Bibliography
Index
前言/序言
~Einsteins relativistic theory of gravitation——general relativity——will shortly be acentury old. At its core is one of the most beautiful and revolutionary conceptionsof modem science——the idea that gravity is the geometry of four-dimensionalcurved spacetime. Together with quantum theory, general relativity is one of thetwo most profound developments of twentieth-century physics. General relativity has been accurately tested in the solar system. It underliesour understanding of the universe on the largest distance scales, and is centralto the explanation of such frontier astrophysical phenomena as gravitational col-lapse, black holes, X-ray sources, neutron stars, active galactic nuclei, gravita-tional waves, and the big bang. General relativity is the intellectual origin of manyideas in contemporary elementary particle physics and is a necessary prerequisiteto understanding theories of the unification of all forces such as string theory. An introduction to this subject, so basic, so well established, so central to sev-eral branches of physics, and so interesting to the lay public is naturally a partof the education of every undergraduate physics major. Yet teaching general rel-ativity at an undergraduate level confronts a basic problem. The logical order ofteaching this subject (as for most others) is to assemble the necessary mathemati-cal tools, motivate the basic defining equations, solve the equations, and apply thesolutions to physically interesting circumstances. Developing the tools of differ-ential geometry, introducing the Einstein equation, and solving it is an elegant andsatisfying story. But it can also be a long one, too long in fact to cover both thatand introduce the many con~~temporary applications in the time that is typicallyavailable for an introductory undergraduate course. Gravity introduces general relativity in a different order. The principles onwhich it is based are discussed at greater length in Appendix D, but essentiallythe strategy is the following: The simplest physically relevant solutions of theEinstein equation are presented first, without derivation, as spacetimes whose ob-servational consequences are to be explored by the study of the motion of testparticles and light rays in them. This brings the student to the physical phenom-ena as quickly as possible. It is the part of the subject most directly connected toclassical mechanics, and requires the minimum of new mathematical ideas. TheEinstein equation is introduced later and solved to show how these geometriesoriginate. A course for junior or senior level physics students based on these principlesand the first two parts of this book has been part of the undergraduate curriculumat the University of California, Santa Barbara for over twenty-five years. It works.~
好的,以下是一本关于爱因斯坦广义相对论导论的图书的简介,该简介旨在详细描述该领域的核心概念和发展脉络,但不直接引用原书的特定章节或内容: --- 书名:时空织锦的几何学:广义相对论原理与探索 简介: 本书旨在为读者构建一个清晰而深刻的框架,用以理解和掌握爱因斯坦广义相对论这一二十世纪物理学的基石理论。我们所栖居的时空,并非牛顿力学中那个被动、绝对的背景,而是一个可以被物质和能量塑形的动态实体。广义相对论正是对这种“物质决定时空几何,时空几何决定物质运动”深刻洞察的数学化表达。 全书从宏观概念的铺陈出发,逐步深入到其精妙的数学结构。我们首先回顾狭义相对论的成就与局限,尤其是它在处理引力问题时的不足。正是这种对等效原理的探索,驱使爱因斯坦超越了时间和空间的绝对性,将引力场这一概念,重新诠释为时空弯曲的体现。 一、 几何学的重生:从欧几里得到黎曼 广义相对论的数学核心在于非欧几里得几何,特别是黎曼几何的引入。本书将详尽介绍这些必要的数学工具,但会以物理直觉为导向。我们将探讨什么是流形(Manifolds),张量(Tensors)如何在不同参考系下保持其物理意义的协变性,以及度规张量(Metric Tensor)如何精确地编码了时空的几何结构——即我们所感知的“距离”和“时间间隔”。 读者将理解,运动的物体(包括光线)遵循的是“测地线”(Geodesics),这是在弯曲时空中两点间最短(或最长)的路径,这完全取代了牛顿引力中的“力”的概念。我们不会仅仅停留在公式的罗列,而是深入解析为何速度、质量和动量被统一在同一张描述时空扭曲的“画布”之上。 二、 核心方程的物理内涵:爱因斯坦场方程 全书的核心驱动力是爱因斯坦场方程——一个将物质/能量分布(由能量动量张量描述)与其产生的时空曲率(由爱因斯坦张量描述)联系起来的微分方程组。我们将逐项解析方程的各个组成部分:里奇张量、里奇标量、以及宇宙学常数。 场方程的精妙之处在于其内在的张力:左边描述“几何如何弯曲”,右边描述“物质如何存在”。本书将重点阐述如何从这个简洁的张量方程中,自然而然地推导出牛顿引力定律在弱场、低速极限下的精确回归,这不仅是理论自洽的标志,也是检验任何新引力理论的起点。 三、 经典检验与宇宙学图景 广义相对论的伟大不仅在于其理论的优雅,更在于它对一系列经典实验现象的惊人预言和精确解释。我们将详细分析三个奠基性的检验: 1. 水星近日点的进动: 这一微小但无法用牛顿理论解释的现象,是广义相对论首次取得的重大胜利。 2. 光线的弯曲: 描述了光线在太阳引力场中偏折的角度,这一预言在1919年的日食观测中得到了证实,使爱因斯坦名声大噪。 3. 引力红移: 解释了光子在爬升或下降引力势能井时频率的变化,这是时空弯曲对时间流逝影响的直接体现。 此外,本书也将带领读者进入宏大的宇宙尺度。广义相对论是现代宇宙学的语言。我们将探讨由弗里德曼、勒梅特等人基于场方程得出的宇宙学模型,理解宇宙膨胀的几何基础,以及黑洞这一极端时空几何结构的诞生。黑洞,作为时空被无限扭曲的终极形态,其事件视界(Event Horizon)和奇点(Singularity)的概念,将从纯粹的数学解中浮现,挑战我们对空间和时间的直觉认知。 四、 进阶的探索方向 最后,本书将触及广义相对论前沿研究的一些关键领域,为有志于深入探索的读者指明方向: 引力波: 时空本身的涟漪。我们将讨论引力波的产生机制,它们在早期理论中的预言,以及近年来通过LIGO等先进设备探测到的实际信号,这标志着我们进入了“引力波天文学”的新时代。 标量-张量理论与替代性引力模型: 探讨除爱因斯坦场方程之外,物理学家为解决暗能量、暗物质等当前宇宙学难题所提出的修正引力理论框架。 量子引力的挑战: 简要介绍将广义相对论与量子场论统一所面临的巨大障碍,这是二十一世纪理论物理学最大的未解之谜之一。 本书力求以严谨而不失启发性的笔调,引导读者跨越数学的障碍,直达广义相对论的物理核心。它不仅是一门关于引力的学问,更是一部关于我们如何理解宇宙结构和自身在其中位置的哲学性探索。阅读完毕后,读者将不再将引力视为一种神秘的“力”,而是理解为时空本身的动态属性,一个由物质刻画的、宏伟的几何艺术品。