This primer brilliantly exposes concepts related to special and general relativity for the absolute beginner. It can be used either as an introduction to the subject at a high school level or as a useful compass for undergraduates who want to move the first steps towards Einstein's theories.The book is enhanced throughout with many useful exercises and beautiful illustrations to aid understanding.The topics covered include: Lorentz transformations, length contraction and time dilation, the twin paradox (and other paradoxes), Minkowski spacetime, the Einstein equivalence principle, curvature of space and spacetime, geodesics, parallel transport, Einstein's equations of general relativity, black holes, wormholes, cosmology, gravitational waves, time machines, and much more.

Autorentext

Daniel R. Mayerson received his PhD in theoretical high energy physics from the University of Amsterdam in 2015. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan from 2015 to 2018. Since Fall 2018 he is a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institut de Physique Théorique at the CEA Saclay in France. His main research interests are using string theory to understand black holes and their interior.

Anthony M. Charles received his PhD in theoretical high energy physics from the University of Michigan in 2018. Since Fall 2018 he is a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at KU Leuven in Belgium. His research is on various aspects of black holes, string theory, and supergravity, with a focus on understanding black hole entropy.

Joseph E. Golec received his BS in physics in 2017 and is currently a PhD student at the University of Michigan. His research is in observational cosmology, specifically the observation of the anisotropy and polarization of the cosmic microwave background.

Inhalt
1 Introduction.- 2 Fundamentals of Math & Classical Mechanics.- 3 Special Relativity.- 4 General Relativity.- A Quick Reference.- B Answer to Select Problems.