Book Description
Part of the reissued Oxford Classic Texts in the Physical Sciences series, this book was first published in 1983, and has swiftly become one of the great modern classics of relativity theory. It represents a personal testament to the work of the author, who spent several years writing and working-out the entire subject matter. The theory of black holes is the most simple and beautiful consequence of Einstein's relativity theory. At the time of writing there was no physical evidence for the existence of these objects, therefore all that Professor Chandrasekhar used for their construction were modern mathematical concepts of space and time. Since that time a growing body of evidence has pointed to the truth of Professor Chandrasekhar's findings, and the wisdom contained in this book has become fully evident.
Customer Reviews:
A goldmine of information.......2003-09-12
First of all let me say that this book is a member of the hypersonic suppository school of presentation. I wish those that attempt to learn the tetrad and Newman-Penrose methods from this book only good luck. That said, this book contains the most extensive treatment of black holes I have seen anywhere. Period. The section in this book on Kerr black holes inspired me to seek and find a physically meaningful interior solution for the Kerr black hole. I have to admit it: the tetrad and Newman-Penrose treatments inspired me to master these techniques. In the long run that is what this book has done - inspired me. Anything by S. Chandrasekhar does that to me.
Thorough.......2002-08-10
I cannot give this book 5 stars because it is written in such a dry fashion that it is terrible reading, certain to put you to sleep. Nonetheless, I recommend it if you are a serious student of relativity because it contains everything you need to know about black holes and the mathematical formalism of relativity in general (i.e. good for study of gravity waves etc). While to read it from cover to cover would be an exercise in torture, it makes an excellent reference book.
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- Frolov and Novikov's Black Hole Physics
|
Black Hole Physics - Basic Concepts and New Developments (Fundamental Theories of Physics)
V. Frolov , and
I. Novikov
Manufacturer: Springer
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The Quantum Theory of Fields
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Modern Cosmology
ASIN: 0792351460 |
Book Description
This volume on black holes can be seen as a sequel to Physics of Black Holes, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1989. The authors are recognised experts in their field, and have many years' experience in teaching courses on general relativity and black holes.
Customer Reviews:
Frolov and Novikov's Black Hole Physics.......2000-04-09
I referenced these authors and also Klapdor-Kleingrothaus and Zuber (see my review of their book) in my paper on Quantum Gravity delivered before Professor Kursunoglu's Orbis Scientiae Quantum Gravity conference in December, 1999 (see my review of Kursunoglu). The Editor has summarized the book in his usual excellent way, and here I should just add that there is much material in this book not covered in others, including relationships with 2+1 dimensional quantum gravity (see my review of Carlip, black holes inside monopoles, dilatons, quantum hair, etc. Everyone should buy this book and, if necessary, hire a consultant or tutor to translate it into more simple English.
Book Description
Writing for the general reader or student, Wald has completely revised and updated this highly regarded work to include recent developments in black hole physics and cosmology. Nature called the first edition "a very readable and accurate account of modern relativity physics for the layman within the unavoidable constraint of almost no mathematics. . . . A well written, entertaining and authoritative book."
Customer Reviews:
Cosmology .......2006-04-28
This book is similar to Hawking's A brief History of Time, yet it includes some of the equations and a little bit of math, it's a great reading for people trying to get a feeling on how the universe began. Yet again I feel that some very deep philosophical and religious approaches will enrich the view even more, like The Sefer Yetzirah of Aryeh Kaplan or The Structure of Creation by Weiss.
Good book, but not for everybody.......2000-04-10
Robert M. Wald is more known by his (very technical) book "General Relativity", where he explains Einstein's theory using a somewhat (sometimes too much) hard mathematical description. The main problem with this book, "Space, Time and Gravity" seems to be, for me, also its hardness; it is a clear and well written book, but maybe with language and focus some steps too high for the general public. Let give me an example: the book has ten chapters; the three first ones give a beautiful logical description of how space and time are viewed in Physics, but the next chapter becomes a bit too complicated, having a simple description of the Singularity Theorem, which for me seems a technical matter not very appealing. The final five chapters give an interesting account of the theory of black holes, but again this account seems to lack some taste, reminding me of a breakfast made of a superb toast served without jam or butter or anything to drink... However, I would recommend this book for undergraduate students of physics. For readers with a not-so-good mathematical background I would also suggest "Flat and Curved Space-Times" by G.F.R. Ellis and R.M. Williams (unhappily out of stock). The general public probably would enjoy more the reading of Einstein's "Relativity : The Special and the General Theory" (Paperback - May 1995) (a very recommendable book!) or the lengthy "Black Holes and Time Warps : Einstein's Outrageous Legacy", by Kip S. Thorne, et al. (Paperback - January 1995).
Book Description
Over the last decade the physics of black holes has been revolutionized by developments that grew out of Jacob Bekenstein's realization that black holes have entropy. Steven Hawking raised profound issues concerning the loss of information in black hole evaporation and the consistency of quantum mechanics in a world with gravity. For two decades these questions puzzled theoretical physicists and eventually led to a revolution in the way we think about space, time, matter and information. This revolution has culminated in a remarkable principle called "The Holographic Principle", which is now a major focus of attention in gravitational research, quantum field theory and elementary particle physics. Leonard Susskind, one of the co-inventors of the Holographic Principle as well as one of the founders of String theory, develops and explains these concepts.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful exposé!.......2007-03-05
Indeed, I agree with the previous reviewer: this book is certainly not for laymen, however it is a wonderful exposé of the "holographic universe", i.e. information contained not in volumina of objects but in their surfaces, such as black holes, which are maximum-entropy objects. In order to understand the book, you'll need a BSc in physics or mathematics with a keen interest in physics. Knowledge of Einstein's theory of general relativity might be of use, but not strictly neccesary. It's written nicely, it is up to date, and a pleasure to study.
Not for people with just a curiosity for string theory!.......2006-04-07
You will probably need a BA or BS degree in physics for this book to be understandable to you. If you are just curious about string theory then you will be LOST in this book. I have never seen so many physic/math proofs and formulas in my life! It only made me realize how much other people are smarter than myself. Buy Steven Hawking's A Briefer History in Time for a lay person's guide to string theory and other interesting theories if you don't want to spend a gigantic amount of brain power.
Exploring the Holographic Multiverse.......2005-09-01
"Black Holes, Information and the String Theory Revolution: The Holographic Universe"
Lenny and I worked together with Johnny Glogower on quantum phase and time operators at Cornell in 1964 .Lenny's densely mathematical book is not a popular book. It is incomprehensible to the general reader and it is not easy going for the professional theoretical physicist not in the sub-field. However, it has moments of great clarity and if it is wrong, as George Chapline thinks, it is brilliantly wrong. Certainly pieces of Lenny's thesis will survive. So, to really see what the book is about, it's best to read the end of the book first and then go back to the beginning. Lenny emphasizes the key role on nonlocality (e.g. nonlocality of gravity energy?) in black hole complementarity.
"In order to reconcile the equivalence principle with the rules of quantum mechanics the rules of locality must be massively modified."
I like the idea of the blackhole as a string since I already published in 1974 the explanation of the Regge slope alpha' (for strings)
J ~ alpha'E^2
alpha' ~ (1Gev)^-2
as rotating Kerr black hole Wheeler "micro with effective strong gravity G* ~ 10^40G in Herbert Frohlich's "Collective Phenomena". Indeed, that's why Abdus Salam invited me to ICTP Trieste, Italy 1973-74 (e.g. contact Jagdish Mehra).
What will survive is the IR/UV duality. What about LIF/LNIF complementarity? Intriguing. What is completely missing in Lenny's theory is Vacuum ODLRO. For example, Lenny never considers a Bose-Einstein condensate in the vacuum in which there is a macroscopic eigenvalue of the first reduced density matrix. All eigenvalues must be less than 1 in Lenny's theory. Second, Lenny used a positive energy density to derive some of his key results when in fact negative zero point energy density would describe dark matter. Third, Lenny's ADS model has the wrong sign of the actually observed small post-inflation cosmological constant. How fatal this is I do not know yet. Perhaps he analytically continues to the DS model? That is ADS is "dark matter" with negative zero point energy density and positive pressure. DS is "dark energy" with positive zero point energy density and negative pressure. Furthermore, Lenny's equation for p the power of t in the FRW scale factor a(t) ~ t^p breaks down in the most important case, i.e. p -> infinity when w -> -1, which is the case for zero point energy. One nice idea is that the D3 brane of M-theory is the kind of 3+1 space-time we live in with the 6 extra space-time dimensions as "scalar fields". This fits well with Gennady Shipov's torsion field theory extension of 1915 GR. Indeed, if we interpret these scalar fields as vacuum ODLRO Higgs-Goldstone fields associated with the local gauging of the Lorentz group O(1,3) then the vacuum order parameter space is SU(2)xSU(2) consistent with the Hedgehog anomaly centered at Sun seen in the TWO NASA Pioneer Space Probes where a_g = - cH(t). All stars may have this property, i.e. part of stellar formation? Maybe even galaxies have it? That is vacuum ODLRO topological defects as seeds for early galaxy formation explaining galactic halos as well?
He opens up with the math of black holes in different coordinate representations. But you need to remember (or look up) your high school logarithms and the trigonometry formula for the tangent of the half-angle to show from eqs (1.1.2) to (1.1.4) that a signal from the black hole surface horizon never reaches the distant observers. The Penrose diagram makes that instantly obvious of course.
Comment 1
Lenny: "The paradox was discovered by Jacob Bekenstein and turned into a serious crisis by Stephen Hawking. ... Bekenstein realized that if the second law of thermodynamics was not to be violated in the presence of a black hole, the black hole must possess an intrinsic entropy. ... How and why a classical solution of field equations should be endowed with thermodynamical attributes has remained obscure."
Jack: The black hole is a property of Einstein's vacuum equation
Ruv = 0
However, this equation is a c-number emergent field theory from vacuum ODLRO. George Chapline, Jr and I have both arrived at this general idea quite independently. Let the vacuum ODLRO order parameter be
psi = |psi|e^iargpsi
suppress internal symmetry indices, but think of SU(2)hypercharge that has a neutral VEV in the standard model (evidence from NASA Pioneer anomaly a_g = -cH(t) as a hedgehog topological defect centered at Sun).
Let the Einstein-Cartan 1-form be
e = 1 + B
My ansatz is
B = (hG/c^3)^1/2d(argtheta)
with "string" branch cuts in argtheta
Therefore, there is no gravity and inertia when h -> 0 and c -> infinity even when G =/= 0. There is still some residual "normal fluid" fluctuations around the stiff vacuum order parameter psi that obeys the rules of micro-quantum theory as given by Lenny. The ratio of normal to superfluid obviously has a temperature parameter T. Therefore, Lenny's question is answered.
Comment 2
Lenny: "Eventually the black hole must completely evaporate. Hawking then raised the question of what becomes of the quantum correlations between matter outside the black hole and matter that disappears behind the horizon. ... Hawking then made arguments that there is no way, consistent with causality, for the correlations to be carried by the outgoing evaporation products."
Jack: So much the worse for causality, which here means no space-like influences outside the local light cones. Bell's theorem shows that such space-like influences are needed and they are locally random in micro-quantum theory consistent with the blackbody radiation.
Lenny: "Thus, according to Hawking, the existence of black holes inevitably causes a loss of quantum coherence and breakdown of one of the basic principles of quantum mechanics - the evolution of pure states into pure states."
Jack: So much the worse for micro-quantum mechanics. It's time to slaughter that Sacred Cow. Global special relativity of 1905 is violated by the necessity of gravity and inertia in local general relativity of 1915 where it is relegated to a purely local tangent space by the equivalence principle. In the same way micro-quantum mechanics is not complete, but merely corresponds to nonlocally entangled small fluctuations about the stiff macro-quantum vacuum ODLRO coherent order parameter that provides the local fabric of space-time via
B = (hG/c^3)^1/2d(argVacuum ODLRO).
Lenny: "Hawking further argued that once the loss of quantum coherence is permitted in black hole evaporation, it becomes compulsory in all processes involving the Planck scale. The world would behave as if it were in a noisy environment which continuously leads to a loss of coherence. The trouble with this is that there is no known way to destroy coherence without at the same time violating energy conservation by heating the world."
Jack: I need to see the math of the above argument. Why does not the expansion of the universe cool down this alleged heating effect? Also total energy is not necessarily conserved in curved space-time because of the breakdown of time translation symmetry. Presumably the book will explain this argument in more detail. Lenny wants to hold on to micro-quantum unitarity at all costs and I think this is the basic error in his thesis, but I could be wrong. The macro-quantum vacuum ODLRO order parameter does not obey a unitary time evolution. You cannot think of |psi|^2 as a Born quantum probability density like you can for micro-quantum wave functions.
Indeed the space integral of |psi(x)|^2 need not be a constant of the motion at all. For example, you have a pot of superfluid helium at almost T = 0 at t = 0 and then you slowly heat it. As you heat the superfluid it turns to normal fluid completely disappearing at the lambda point. In the case of vacuum ODLRO the "normal fluid" is the dark energy!
Comment 3
Lenny's Chapter 1 implicitly clearly shows why Hal Puthoff's PV alternative to the black hole is not a useful theory for metric engineering the fabric of space-time to reach the stars and other galaxies in a short time through wormholes held open by dark energy. Hal uses isotropic coordinates inside the event horizon where they are not appropriate. He says he can do that because his exponential metric does not have an event horizon. But in that case his solution does not obey Einstein's vacuum GR equation Ruv = 0. Therefore, PV theory conflicts with GR. Indeed, PV theory is not consistent with Diff(4) tensors and therefore, it violates the equivalence principle. In spite of that Hal Puthoff claims he is not offering a theory different from GR but only an "engineer's" way to do it. This, of course, is self-contradictory. Note that in George Chapline's "dark star" theory there is dark energy behind the event horizon, i.e. not Ruv = 0, but the same equation I use
Guv + /\zpfguv = 0
We do seem to need Gennady Shipov's torsion field beyond 1915 GR to allow
/\zpf^,v =/= 0 at the event horizon boundary because the Bianchi identities without torsion demand /\zpf^,v = 0.
Jack Sarfatti
Easy to understand - very simple, no-nonsense style........2005-07-06
The title of the book reminds me of the classic physics question: yes, this equation can be expanded for small values of the parameter. But before you whip out that expansion, first tell me what "small" means in this context?
I would venture to say that the title of the book is a misnomer on some level. This is a technical book, there's no question about that. If you are not a physicist, you will not understand a single page. When I say "technical", what I specifically mean is you should have:
* A course on general relativity. The first page dumps the Schwarzschild metric on you. You should be familiar with, say, the Faraday tensor (which any decent GR or even SR course should cover).
* A course on quantum field theory. The book very quickly goes into the massless free Klein-Gordon equation in a Schwarzschild background. You should know the basics of string theory. After all, that's what the book is partially about!
* A course on thermo/statistical mechanics. The book delves into black hole entropy. Be prepared to blow the dust off your partition functions.
In that sense, this book is not an introduction, and is CERTAINLY not for the layperson. Now that I've disparaged this book enough, I'll tell you why this is a phenomenal book that deserves a place on your bookshelf (again, for certain values of "you").
This book is a gentle introduction to the classical and quantum mechanical principles of blackholes. It was beautifully written. It may very well be one of my favorite books. When I say "beautiful", I don't mean beautiful like Wald's classic but impenetrable book on GR. Imagine David Griffiths or Matt Visser writing a book for mid-level grad students going into high energy physics. They go deeply into the different coordinates used for blackhole spacetimes and Penrose diagrams, but in a hand-holding way that emphasizes knowing-by-visualization rather than knowing-by-calculation. Yes, the calculations are all there, but the authors are not content with that. They go into the nitty-gritty type of understanding that seems to be absent in most books on this subject.
Which brings me to the next point: diagrams. This book may contain more diagrams than any other comprable book I've seen (except for the behemoth called "Gravitation", but with the case of the telephone book, half the diagrams are wasteful; do we REALLY need to see a picture of firecracker's world line or yet another picture of Newton?). The diagrams are numerous and effective. Kudos. I wish more authors paid as much attention to visualization.
The authors took a very difficult subject and wrote an extremely accessible and well written book on it. If you are a student of high energy physics, or simply want to see someone masterfully write on the subject, this book deserves a place on your bookshelf. Again, for certain values of "you".
I'm still in the process of reading this book, but one fault I can find is that I wish the index was a bit more extensive. However, that's small-fry compared to what makes this book great.
Define "Introduction".......2005-05-06
If you're into reading about physics but don't have the maths to back it up, this isn't the book for you. This "introduction" is probably aimed at university physics students. I am without a university physics education and am finding the book almost as hard as reading a Japanese newspaper. As with reading a Japanese newspaper, the pictures help a lot. I don't feel I'm getting enough to "rate" the book, but I can warn others as innumerate as myself.
Update: I've made it ~halfway through. There's a great deal of uncertainty as to what I'm actually understanding as opposed to what I'm just filling-in with intuitive fictions. But I can live with that (as we all must at some point).
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Selected Papers, Volume 6: The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes and of Colliding Plane Waves (Selected Papers, Vol. 6)
S. Chandrasekhar
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
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ASIN: 0226101010 |
Book Description
This is the first of six volumes collecting significant papers of the distinguished astrophysicist and Nobel laureate S. Chandrasekhar. His work is notable for its breadth as well as for its brilliance; his practice has been to change his focus from time to time to pursue new areas of research. The result has been a prolific career full of discoveries and insights, some of which are only now being fully appreciated.
Chandrasekhar has selected papers that trace the development of his ideas and that present aspects of his work not fully covered in the books he has periodically published to summarize his research in each area.
Book Description
This book provides a special interest theory of protection, developing a full general equilibrium theory that explains the distribution of income with goods markets, factor markets, lobbies, political parties, and voters all pursuing their self interest. This probabilistic voting model shows how well-organized groups can use seemingly irrational government policies to exploit poorly organized groups. Given rational predatory behavior between these groups, protection or any other redistributive policy that improves the chances of election of a party increases political efficiency. This can create an economic black hole, conditions under which an entire economy can disappear into lobbying. Paradoxically, the tariff rates accompanying an economic black hole are very low. The economic waste is confined to lobbying costs. The book contains both theoretical and empirical work explaining protection in the United States (1900-1988) and levels of protection in about sixty foreign countries in the 1980s.
Customer Reviews:
loved it.......2000-06-07
I never would have been able to understand this kind of technology if i didn't read the book!
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The Analysis of Space-Time Singularities (Cambridge Lecture Notes in Physics)
C. J. S. Clarke
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521437962 |
Book Description
The theorems of Hawking and Penrose show that space-times are likely to contain incomplete geodesics. Such geodesics are said to end at a singularity if it is impossible to continue the space-time and geodesic without violating the usual topological and smoothness conditions on the space-time. In this book the different possible singularities are defined, and the mathematical methods needed to extend the space-time are described in detail. The results obtained (many appearing here for the first time) show that singularities are associated with a lack of smoothness in the Riemann tensor. While the Friedmann singularity is analysed as an example, the emphasis is on general theorems and techniques rather than on the classification of particular exact solutions.
Book Description
The book extends Special Relativity to include (Superluminal) transformations to reference frames moving at relative velocities greater than the speed of light. Tachyons are shown to exist within Black Holes. Tachyons of any spin can be defined and second quantized. Further considerations lead to the ElectroWeak Theory for one generation of leptons and quarks. Thus the general form of ElectroWeak theory, including a rationale for the form of parity violation, SU(2) x U(1), and left-handed doublets and right-handed singlets, is derived.
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Quantum Non-linear Sigma-Models: From Quantum Field Theory to Supersymmetry, Conformal Field Theory, Black Holes and Strings (Theoretical and Mathematical Physics)
Sergei V. Ketov
Manufacturer: Springer
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 3540674616 |
Book Description
The book is considered a systematic presentation of the modern quantum field theory of non-linear sigma-models. The contents is based on original papers. Geometrical properties and renormalization of a generic non-linear sigma-model are considered in detail, and illustrated by explicit multi-loop calculations in perturbation theory. Some non-perturbative results are derived for the conformally invariant non-linear sigma-model. Supersymmetric extensions are given for most contructions, with emphasis on their relation to complex geometry. Applications of non-linear sigma-models in conformal theory, gauge theory, string theory, and general relativity are given. The book addresses graduate sutdents and researchers in physics and mathematics.
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- Pretentious book
- Not a good buy at all.
- One of the best books to teach you formal particle physics and related topics.
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Mathematical Perspectives on Theoretical Physics: A Journey from Black Holes to Superstrings
Nirmala Prakash
Manufacturer: Imperial College Press
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ASIN: 1860943640 |
Book Description
This book presents the basics of mathematics that are needed for learning the physics of today. It describes briefly the theories of groups and operators, finite- and infinite-dimensional algebras, concepts of symmetry and supersymmetry, and then delineates their relations to theories of relativity and black holes, classical and quantum physics, electroweak fields and Yang-Mills. It concludes with a chapter on (the complex theory of) strings and superstrings and their link to black holes — an idea that fascinates both the physicist and the mathematician.
Customer Reviews:
Pretentious book.......2006-12-31
This book attempts to cover the amount of theory that would require a shelf of books to cover adequately. As a result, it basically only gives the definitions and results (theorems without proofs) in each topic, something that one could get for free from online encyclopedias. There are problems with partial solutions, but they are not problems that a student who is exposed to the topics for the first time can solve. Since there are no proofs of theorems or examples, one cannot solve those problems from studying from this book alone, so why even put those problems in?
To me this seems like a book that the author wrote to summarize the author's knowledge (if the author has really indeed memorized this plethora of information???), while there is no way of understanding what the topics are about if you are reading the topics for the very first time. To master all the topics in this book would require years of serious studying, so you are better off buy books that specialize in these topics.
Not a good buy at all........2005-03-25
Why did I by this book?
Because I gave a look at the first pages using the "view inside" option. The first pages seemed great and in the index there was a big chapter on string theory. I thought: "ok, great, it seems I've found one more book covering string theory. If the formalism is the same as in introduction it it a good book to have to add to GSW and Polchinski". The formalism is not the same. If fact each chapter seems to be disconnected to the others. And last but not the least: the last chapter is a copy/paste version, really copy/paste version, of green, schwartz, witten. Even the images are the same! How could it be connected to the previous chapters... And the author dares to say in the intro: "this book grew from the author's conviction...". No. At least the last chapter, it grew from copying another book. And that is not mentioned in the intro when the chapter is introduced. Only in the awknoledgments schwartz is cited among many others. In the string theory chapter where everything is copied from GSW the green book is not even cited! I was never so escandalised in my live. At least never in a matter related to physics.
One of the best books to teach you formal particle physics and related topics........2004-08-30
This is indeed one of the excellent books you can buy to learn formal particle physics and advanced mathematical methods used in theoretical high energy physics papers. It does not assume more than undergraduate background both in math and physics. The only missing thing in it is that it does not cover any serious material related to supergravity or grand unified theories, otherwise it's complete. Don't hesitate to buy it.
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- History: Fiction or Science
- Microbiology: A Human Perspective w/ARIS bind in card
- Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language
- The Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing and Other Songs Cowboys Sing
- How to Read Your Child Like a Book
- Everyone's guide to trees of South Africa
An Introduction to the Study of Stellar Structure
The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics)
General Relativity
Problem Book in Relativity and Gravitation
Spinors and Space-Time (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics)
