A Relativist's Toolkit: The Mathematics of Black-Hole Mechanics

by Eric Poisson

Overview

This textbook fills a gap in the existing literature on general relativity by providing the advanced student with practical tools for the computation of many physically interesting quantities. The context is provided by the mathematical theory of black holes, one of the most successful and relevant applications of general relativity. Topics covered include congruences of timelike and null geodesics, the embedding of spacelike, timelike and null hypersurfaces in spacetime, and the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of general relativity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521830911
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/06/2004
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	7.13(w) x 10.04(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

Eric Poisson is Professor of Physics at the University of Guelph.

Table of Contents

Preface; Notation and conventions; 1. Fundamentals; 2. Geodesic congruences; 3. Hypersurfaces; 4. Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulation of general relativity; 5. Black holes; References; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"This book amply fulfills its promise: its coverage is sufficiently complete to enable a dedicated reader to undertake sophisticated calculations with confidence and it even provides a reference to a handy computer package for tensor manipulations... an elegant, thoughtful, useful and altogether commendable timely publication." Contemporary Physics

From the Publisher