Special Relativity, Tensors, and Energy Tensor: With Worked Problems

Datta, Somnath

World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd（2021/03発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 384 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9789811228117
• DDC分類 530.11

Full Description

This book takes the reader from the preliminary ideas of the Special Theory of Relativity (STR) to the doorsteps of the General Theory of Relativity (GTR).The first part explains the main concepts in a layman's language, including STR, the Lorentz transformation, relativistic mechanics. Thereafter the concept of tensors is built up in detail, especially Maxwell's stress tensor with illustrative examples, culminating in the energy-momentum conservation in electromagnetic fields. Mathematical structure of Minkowski's space-time is constructed and explained graphically. The equation of motion is formulated and then illustrated by the example of relativistic rocket. The principle of covariance is explained with the covariant equations of classical electrodynamics. Finally, the book constructs the energy tensor which constitutes the source term in Einstein's field equation, which clears the passage to the GTR.In the book, the concepts of tensors are developed carefully and a large number of numerical examples taken from atomic and nuclear physics. The graphs of important equations are included. This is suitable for studies in classical electrodynamics, modern physics, and relativity.

Contents

Einsteinean Relativity: What Is Relativity?; Einstein's Postulates, Their Paradoxes, and How to Resolve Them; Lorentz Transformation; Relativistic Mechanics; Amazing Power of Tensors: Let Us Know Tensors; Maxwell's Stress Tensor; Physics in Four Dimensions: Space-Time and its Inhabitants; Four Vectors of Relativistic Mechanics; Relativistic Rocket; Magnetism as a Relativistic Effect; Principle of Covariance with Application in Classical Electrodynamics; 4-Momentum Conservation in Continuous Media: The Energy Tensor; Appendix;