Gravitation (book)

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The book Gravitation deals with Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity . Authors are Charles W. Misner , Kip S. Thorne, and John A. Wheeler . Originally published in 1973 by WH Freeman and Company, the current edition (as of 2020) will be published by Princeton University Press. Due to its high level of popularity, the book is often abbreviated as MTW (first letters of the surnames Misner, Thorne and Wheeler). The title page was drawn by Kenneth Gwin and shows an apple with indentations that illustrate the geodesics on the apple surface.

The book consists of ten parts with a total of 44 chapters, and the extensive bibliography contains numerous original sources. The book gives a very comprehensive overview of the general theory of relativity (as of 1973) and, due to its size, is only suitable as an introductory text to a limited extent. Despite its partial obsolescence, it is still a valuable reference for advanced students and scientists.

content

Gravitation begins with a representation of the physics of flat space-time ( special theory of relativity ). Seldom treated topics are also discussed, such as the analysis of accelerated observers in the context of special relativity. This is followed by an introduction to the mathematics and physics of curved space-time, the domain of general relativity. This includes in particular Einstein's field equations , their consequences and experimental tests as well as alternative theories of gravity . Excursions clarify the historical genesis of the general theory of relativity, and the fundamental nature of space-time is also questioned. The back of the book is devoted to topics related to astrophysics , such as relativistic stars , black holes, and gravitational waves . However, neither the large area of gravitomagnetism nor the relationships between general relativity and quantum field theory are discussed.

The book is divided into two so-called “tracks”: Track 1 contains the core topics (“ the key physical ideas ”), while Track 2 contains in-depth, often more demanding material. (Changes between the tracks take place not only from chapter to chapter, but also within the chapter.) Track 1 can be read independently of track 2, but not vice versa. The main text of both track 1 and track 2 is supplemented by many text boxes with additional information, and both tracks contain numerous exercises.

The necessary mathematics, mainly tensor analysis and differential forms in curved spacetime, will also be developed. This also includes introductory chapters on the special topics of spinors and the Regge calculus . Numerous ideas of higher mathematics are illustrated with illustrations.

The authors try to use simple, understandable language, especially analogies to everyday objects. For example, tensors are called "machines with slots" ( slots designated). The application of the tensors to vectors corresponds in this picture to the introduction of the vectors into the slots.

Sign and unit conventions

MTW uses the sign convention and advises against using the alternative (with an imaginary time coordinate ). At the beginning of the book, the signing conventions of numerous other authors are systematically listed.

The book uses geometric units : the gravitational constant and the speed of light are set equal to 1. At the end of the book numerous physical quantities are given in the CGS system of units and in geometric units.

Editions and translations

The book has appeared in both hard and softcover editions in 24 editions and has been translated into numerous other languages, including Russian, Chinese and Japanese. The original edition is

  • Charles W. Misner, Kip S. Thorne, John A. Wheeler: Gravitation , WH Freeman and Company, San Francisco 1973, ISBN 978-0-7167-0344-0 .

The current edition (as of 2020) was published on October 24, 2017:

  • Charles W. Misner, Kip S. Thorne, John A. Wheeler: Gravitation . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2017, ISBN 978-0-691-17779-3 .

Reviews

The book is still considered a standard work among physicists, with mostly positive reviews. However, the length of the book and the way it is presented is occasionally criticized.

Ed Ehrlich writes: “ 'Gravitation' is such a prominent book on relativity that the initials of its authors MTW can be used by other books on relativity without explanation. ”( Ed Ehrlich )

James Hartle , on the other hand, writes in his book: “ Over thirty years since its publication, Gravitation is still the most comprehensive treatise on general relativity. An authoritative and complete discussion of almost any topic in the subject can be found within its 1300 pages. It also contains an extensive bibliography with references to original sources. Written by three twentieth-century masters of the subject, it set the style for many later texts on the subject, including this one. ”( James Hartle )

Sean M. Carroll comments in his own introductory text: “ The book that educated at least two generations of researchers in gravitational physics. Comprehensive and encyclopedic, the book is written in an often-idiosyncratic way that you will either like or not. "( Sean M. Carroll )

Pankaj Sharan states: “ This large sized (20cm × 25cm), 1272 page book begins at the very beginning and has everything on gravity (up to 1973). There are hundreds of diagrams and special boxes for additional explanations, exercises, historical and bibliographical asides and bibliographical details. ”( Pankaj Sharan )

And Ray D'Inverno weighs up: “ I would also recommend looking at the relevant sections of the text of Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler, known for short as 'MTW'. MTW is a rich resource and is certainly worth consulting for a whole string of topics. However, its style is not perhaps for everyone (I find it somewhat verbose in places and would not recommend it for a first course in general relativity). MTW has a very extensive bibliography. ”( Ray D'Inverno )

Gravitation is cited in many other books and articles on general relativity, such as George Efstathiou et al., Bernard F. Schutz , James Foster et al., Robert Wald and Stephen Hawking et al.

H. Goldstein writes in his prominent work Classical Mechanics (2nd edition): “ This massive treatise (1279 pages! (The pun is irresistible)) is to be praised for the great efforts made to help the reader through the maze. The pedagogic apparatus includes separately marked tracks, boxes of various kinds, marginal comments, and cleverly designed diagrams. ”( Herbert Goldstein )

The third edition of Goldstein's book describes gravity as an excellent resource for field theorists.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ JC Baez et al .: Are There Any Good Books on Relativity Theory? MTW . University of California 1998, accessed July 15, 2020.
  2. ↑ E. Ehrlich: Gravitation - Book Review . Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ JB Hartle: Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity . Addison-Wesley , 2003, ISBN 978-0-8053-8662-2 , p. 563.
  4. ^ S. Carroll: Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity . Addison-Wesley, 2003, ISBN 978-0-8053-8732-2 , p. 496.
  5. ^ P. Sharan: Spacetime, Geometry and Gravitation . Springer, 2009, ISBN 978-3-7643-9970-2 , p. 34.
  6. ^ R. D'Inverno: Introducing Einstein's Relativity . Clarendon Press , 1992, ISBN 978-0-19-859686-8 , p. 371.
  7. ↑ General Relativity: An Introduction for Physicists . Cambridge University Press , 2006, ISBN 978-0-521-82951-9 , p. 555.
  8. ↑ B. Protection: A First Course in General Relativity . Cambridge University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-521-27703-5 , p. 362.
  9. ^ J. Foster, JD Nightingale: A Short Course in General Relativity , 2nd edition, Springer, 1995, ISBN 0-03-063366-4 , p. 222.
  10. ↑ RM Wald: General Relativity . Chicago University Press, 1984, ISBN 978-0-226-87033-5 , p.  479 .
  11. ^ Three Hundred Years of Gravitation . Cambridge University Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-521-37976-2 , p. 327.
  12. ^ H. Goldstein: Classical Mechanics , 2nd edition, Addison-Wesley, 1980, ISBN 0-201-02918-9 , p. 333.
  13. ↑ H. Goldstein et al. Classical Mechanics . 3rd edition, Addison-Wesley, 2002, ISBN 0-201-31611-0 , p. 629.