Overview
- Remarkably rich coverage of special relativity showing the full formal mathematical derivation of results which are elsewhere only motivated by Gedanken experiments
- Special relativity of accelerated observers is treated in detail
- Endorsed by Thibault Damour, the well-known French professor in theoretical physics and expert in general relativity
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Graduate Texts in Physics (GTP)
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Table of contents (22 chapters)
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Front Matter
Keywords
- Limits of special relativity
- Minkowski spacetime
- Relativistic Hydrodynamics
- Special Relativity - geometric approach
- Special Relativity in astrophysics
- Special Relativity in general rest frames
- Special Relativity in particle physics
- Special Relativity with accelerated observers
- Special Relativity with rotating observers
- fluid- and aerodynamics
About this book
Special relativity is the basis of many fields in modern physics: particle physics, quantum field theory, high-energy astrophysics, etc. This theory is presented here by adopting a four-dimensional point of view from the start. An outstanding feature of the book is that it doesn’t restrict itself to inertial frames but considers accelerated and rotating observers. It is thus possible to treat physical effects such as the Thomas precession or the Sagnac effect in a simple yet precise manner. In the final chapters, more advanced topics like tensorial fields in spacetime, exterior calculus and relativistic hydrodynamics are addressed. In the last, brief chapter the author gives a preview of gravity and shows where it becomes incompatible with Minkowsky spacetime.
Well illustrated and enriched by many historical notes, this book also presents many applications of special relativity, ranging from particle physics (accelerators, particle collisions, quark-gluon plasma) to astrophysics (relativistic jets, active galactic nuclei), and including practical applications (Sagnac gyrometers, synchrotron radiation, GPS). In addition, the book provides some mathematical developments, such as the detailed analysis of the Lorentz group and its Lie algebra.
The book is suitable for students in the third year of a physics degree or on a masters course, as well as researchers and any reader interested in relativity.
Thanks to the geometric approach adopted, this book should also be beneficial for the study of general relativity.
“A modern presentation of special relativity must put forward its essential structures, before illustrating them using concrete applications to specific dynamical problems. Such is the challenge (so successfully met!) of the beautiful book by Éric Gourgoulhon.” (excerpt from the Foreword by Thibault Damour)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
The astrophysicists Éric Gourgoulhon is CNRS Senior Scientist (directeur de recherche) at the Laboratoire Univers et Théorie LUTH of the Observatoire de Paris. He was awarded the CNRS silver medal 2012 for "the originality, quality and importance of his work, of both national and international repute". A specialist in special and general relativity, an experienced lecturer and author of two books on those subjects, Éric Gourgoulhon works on black holes, neutron stars, gravitational waves, Einstein's equations and numerical relativity.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Special Relativity in General Frames
Book Subtitle: From Particles to Astrophysics
Authors: Éric Gourgoulhon
Series Title: Graduate Texts in Physics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37276-6
Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-642-37275-9Published: 02 September 2013
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-662-52083-3Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-642-37276-6Published: 20 August 2013
Series ISSN: 1868-4513
Series E-ISSN: 1868-4521
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXX, 784
Number of Illustrations: 159 b/w illustrations, 19 illustrations in colour
Additional Information: Original French edition published by EDP Sciences, 2010
Topics: Theoretical, Mathematical and Computational Physics, Astrophysics and Astroparticles, Particle Acceleration and Detection, Beam Physics, Classical and Quantum Gravitation, Relativity Theory, Fluid- and Aerodynamics, Applications of Mathematics