Gravitation: Foundations And Frontiers

Description:
Covering all aspects of gravitation in a contemporary style, this advanced textbook is ideal for graduate students and researchers in all areas of theoretical physics. The 'Foundation' section develops the formalism in six chapters, and uses it in the next four chapters to discuss four key applications - spherical spacetimes, black holes, gravitational waves and cosmology. The six chapters in the 'Frontier' section describe cosmological perturbation theory, quantum fields in curved spacetime, and the Hamiltonian structure of general relativity, among several other advanced topics, some of which are covered in-depth for the first time in a textbook. The modular structure of the book allows different sections to be combined to suit a variety of courses. Over 200 exercises are included to test and develop the reader's understanding. There are also over 30 projects, which help readers make the transition from the book to their own original research.

Table of Contents:
1. Special relativity; 2. Scalar and electromagnetic fields in special relativity; 3. Gravity and spacetime geometry: the inescapable connection; 4. Metric tensor, geodesics and covariant derivative; 5. Curvature of spacetime; 6. Einstein's field equations and gravitational dynamics; 7. Spherically symmetric geometry; 8. Black holes; 9. Gravitational waves; 10. Relativistic cosmology; 11. Differential forms and exterior calculus; 12. Hamiltonian structure of general relativity; 13. Evolution of cosmological perturbations; 14. Quantum field theory in curved spacetime; 15. Gravity in higher and lower dimensions; 16. Gravity as an emergent phenomenon; Notes; Index.

Author Biography:
T. Padmanabhan is a Distinguished Professor and Dean of Core Academic Programmes at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune. He is a renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist with nearly 30 years of research and teaching experience both in India and abroad. Professor Padmanabhan has published over 200 research papers and nine books, including six graduate-level textbooks. These include the Structure Formation in the Universe and Theoretical Astrophysics, a comprehensive 3-volume course. His research work has won prizes from the Gravity Research Foundation (USA) five times, including the First Prize in 2008. In 2007 he received the Padma Shri, the medal of honour from the President of India, in recognition of his achievements.