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An Introduction to Gravity

Authors

Joel Franklin
, Reed College, Oregon
Published 2024

Description

Einstein's theory of gravity can be difficult to introduce at the undergraduate level, or for self-study. One way to ease its introduction is to construct intermediate theories between the previous successful theory of gravity, Newton's, and our modern theory, Einstein's general relativity. This textbook bridges the gap by merging Newtonian gravity and special relativity (by analogy with electricity and magnetism), a process that both builds intuition about general relativity, and indicates why it has the form that it does. This…

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Key features

  • Moves step-by-step through intermediate theories and introduces interesting predictions of GR early, motivating students to learn the mathematics needed to understand and solve the full field equations
  • Uses multiple approaches to study the same physical effect, allowing students to appreciate results from easier methods before tackling the more challenging ones
  • Introduces differential geometry in a simpler flat spacetime setting rather than a fully abstract introduction, to help students understand what is involved in developing a covariant divergence, Laplacian, etc
  • A variety of 225 end-of-chapter exercises – with solutions for instructors – invite students to further explore the physical implications of GR
  • Supported by a highly focused symbolic package for calculating differential geometric quantities, allowing students to concentrate on solving Einstein's equation, compare solutions in different coordinate systems, and consider modifications of general relativity

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