Gravitational physics has now become a mainstream topic in physics and physics teaching. In particular cosmology and gravitational wave physics are at the focus of a great deal of current research. Thus it is important to introduce students to General Relativity as soon as reasonable. This textbook offers a brief but comprehensive treatment accessible to advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and any physicist or mathematician interested in understanding the material in a short time. The author, an experienced teacher of the subject, has included numerous examples and exercises to help students consolidate the ideas they have learned.

Autorentext

Ronald Adler has worked mainly in theoretical particle physics and general relativity. His experience also includes work in experimental particle physics, experimental general relativity, experiments in high temperature superconductivity, satellite and orbital launch systems, and digital image analysis. He is the co-author of a classic textbook on general relativity and has devoted over half a century to teaching physics students at a number of universities. He is also the author of many research publications, and is currently working on fundamental physics problems including the nature of dark matter and dark energy, properties of black holes and gravitational waves, the birth of the universe, and physics at the Planck scale. In his free time he enjoys mountaineering and hiking.