Table of Contents
Publisher's Note vii
Introduction Roger Penrose ix
Special Preface xvii
Feynman's Preface xxiii
1 Vectors 1
1-1 Symmetry in physics 1
1-2 Translations 2
1-3 Rotations 5
1-4 Vectors 9
1-5 Vector algebra 12
1-6 Newton's laws in vector notation 15
1-7 Scalar product of vectors 18
2 Symmetry in Physical Laws 23
2-1 Symmetry operations 23
2-2 Symmetry in space and time 24
2-3 Symmetry and conservation laws 29
2-4 Mirror reflections 30
2-5 Polar and axial vectors 35
2-6 Which hand is right? 38
2-7 Parity is not conserved! 40
2-8 Antimatter 43
2-9 Broken symmetries 46
3 The Special Theory of Relativity 49
3-1 The principle of relativity 49
3-2 The Lorentz transformation 53
3-3 The Michelson-Morley experiment 54
3-4 Transformation of time 59
3-5 The Lorentz contraction 63
3-6 Simultaneity 63
3-7 Four-vectors 65
3-8 Relativistic dynamics 66
3-9 Equivalence of mass and energy 68
4 Relativistic Energy and Momentum 73
4-1 Relativity and the philosophers 73
4-2 The twin paradox 77
4-3 Transformation of velocities 79
4-4 Relativistic mass 83
4-5 Relativistic energy 88
5 Space-Time 93
5-1 The geometry of space-time 93
5-2 Space-time intervals 97
5-3 Past, present, and future 99
5-4 More about four-vectors 102
5-5 Four-vector algebra 106
6 Curved Space 111
6-1 Curved spaces with two dimensions 111
6-2 Curvature in three-dimensional space 123
6-3 Our space is curved 125
6-4 Geometry in space-time 128
6-5 Gravity and the principle of equivalence 129
6-6 The speed of clocks in a gravitational field 131
6-7 The curvature of space-time 137
6-8 Motion in curved space-time 137
6-9 Einstein's theory of gravitation 141
Index 145
About Richard Feynman 153