Landsman, Klaas
(2022)
Foundations of General Relativity: From Einstein to Black Holes (Second corrected edition).
Radboud University Press, Nijmegen.
ISBN 9789083178929
Abstract
This book is a second, mathematically oriented course in general relativity, with extensive references and occasional excursions in the history and philosophy of gravity, including a relatively lengthy historical introduction. As such, it omits standard physics material like the classical tests etc. But the material is developed in such a way that through the last two chapters the reader may acquire a taste of the modern mathematical study of black holes initiated by Penrose, Hawking, and others, so that successful readers might be able to begin reading research papers in this direction, especially in mathematical physics and in the philosophy of physics. This focus comes with an introduction to what is called causal theory, but alas, it also implies that in order to keep the book medium-sized I had to omit applications like cosmology and gravitational waves. In any case I hope the book appeals to mathematicians, physicists, and philosophers-perhaps even historians-of physics alike. The book grew out of lecture notes for my master's courses on general relativity and on singularities and black holes taught at Radboud University (Nijmegen). These notes were originally intended for our students with a double bachelor degree in mathematics and physics, but in its final form the book is intended for all students of general relativity of any age and orientation who have a background including at least first courses in special and general relativity, differential geometry, and topology. Logically speaking, the material is even developed from scratch, and indeed the first course in this direction that I taught was optimistically offered also to mathematics students without any physics background. But experience shows that the material makes little sense without some prior exposure to both special and general relativity.
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