Introducing Relativity
A Graphic Guide
Published on 5. June 2014
176 pages
978-1-84831-770-3 (ISBN)
Description
It is now more than a century since Einstein's theories of Special and General Relativity began to revolutionise our view of the universe. Beginning near the speed of light and proceeding to explorations of space-time and curved spaces, "Introducing Relativity" plots a visually accessible course through the thought experiments that have given shape to contemporary physics. Scientists from Newton to Hawking add their unique contributions to this story, as we encounter Einstein's astounding vision of gravity as the curvature of space-time and arrive at the breathtakingly beautiful field equations. Einstein's legacy is reviewed in the most advanced frontiers of physics today - black holes, gravitational waves, the accelerating universe and string theory. This is a superlative, fascinating graphic account of Einstein's strange world and how his legacy has been built upon since.
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Persons
Bruce Bassett is a cosmologist and lecturer at the University of Cape Town and the South African Astronomical Observatory.
Ralph Edney trained as a mathematician, and has worked as a teacher, journalist, illustrator and political cartoonist. He has illustrated a number of Introducing titles.
Content
- Intro
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- The Conditions of Space and Time
- Newton's Classical Laws of Physics
- The Law of Gravity
- Maxwell's Theory of Electromagnetism
- Problems in Classical Physics
- Puzzle of the Atom
- A Major Mystery
- The Modern Background
- Decisive Events
- A Time of Motion
- Lorentz Transformations
- The Effect of Length Contraction
- Time Dilation
- Observing Muons
- Energy is Mass, Mass Energy
- Planck's Constant h and Quantum Effects
- Quantum and Classical Physics
- Dirac's Idea of Anti-Matter
- The Michelson-Morley Experiment
- Constancy of the Speed of Light
- The Problem of Simultaneity
- Slicing Spacetime Differently
- The Need for General Relativity
- Another Viewpoint
- Out of the Impasse
- Resolving Acceleration
- The Building-Blocks of General Relativity
- An Infinite Number of Dimensions
- A Thought Experiment
- Infinity and Configuration Space
- Slicing Spacetime
- How to View Spacetime
- Simultaneity is Relative
- Einstein's Tasks
- Suspending Gravity
- The Equivalence Principle
- Gravitational and Inertial Mass
- Extending Newton's First Law
- A Brainteaser
- Geodesics
- Spacelike, Null, Timelike
- Finding the Distance
- Geodesics and the Metric
- Finding the Metric
- The Metric .
- The Metric in Four Dimensions
- Spacetime Geodesics
- Including Time
- The Dragon's Tail
- The Missing Ingredient
- The Dragon Bites its Tail
- Tensors
- Einstein's Field Equations
- Types of Curvature
- Positive Curvature
- Negative Curvature
- Triangles in Curved Space
- Positively Curved ...
- Negatively Curved ...
- Intrinsic Curvature
- Extrinsic Curvature
- Normal Vectors
- Spatial Slices
- Space and Time vs. Spacetime
- Testing GR in Nature
- The Bending of Light
- The Eclipse
- The Equivalence Principle Again
- The Best-tested Theory
- Black Holes
- Time-varying Acceleration
- Shaking a Mass
- The Rubber-Sheet Analogy
- Gravity's Weakness
- Stargazing
- Interferometric Observation
- How it Works
- Interference Patterns
- Sizing Up the Universe
- The Copernican Principle
- Simplifying the Field Equations
- "FLRW"
- Static or Expanding Universes?
- The Fate of the Universe
- The Critical Density: First Model
- Second Model
- Third Model
- Explaining Redshift
- Einstein's Static Universe
- The Accelerating Universe
- Endless Expansion
- Negative Pressure
- Dark Matter
- Beyond General Relativity
- The Cosmic Microwave Background
- Further Satellite Probes
- The Homogeneity Mystery
- The "Goldilocks" Expansion Rate
- The Flatness Problem
- The Inflation Phase
- Using Einstein's Constant
- Singularity Theorems
- The Result of Singularity Theorems
- The Invalidation of Einstein's Equations
- Extra Dimensions
- Superstring Theory
- Extending Einstein's Dream
- Adding More Dimensions
- Further Reading
- About the Author and Artist
- Acknowledgements
- Index
