General Relativity

This is a list of my recommended books on General Relativity and its applications. It will be updated as I read more books. Ordering is based on my favorite books.

Foundations

A basics introduction to this subject.

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Gravitation and Cosmology: Principles and Applications of the General Theory of Relativity
By Steven Weinberg

It offers a Nobel laureate's perspectives on the wealth of data technological developments have brought to expand upon Einstein's theory. Unique in basing relativity on the Principle of Equivalence of Gravitation and Inertia over Riemannian geometry, this book explores relativity …

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Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity
By Sean M. Carroll

It is an introductory textbook on general relativity, specifically aimed at students. Using a lucid style, Carroll first covers the foundations of the theory and mathematical formalism, providing an approachable introduction to what can often be an intimidating subject. Three major …

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General Relativity
By Robert M. Wald

It is aimed at beginning graduate students and researchers. It is divided into two parts. Part I covers the fundamentals of the subject and Part II the more advanced topics such as causal structure, and quantum effects. The book uses the abstract index notation for tensors. It treats …

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Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity
By James B. Hartle

Einstein's theory of general relativity is a cornerstone of modern physics. It also touches upon a wealth of topics that students find fascinating – black holes, warped spacetime, gravitational waves, and cosmology. Now reissued by Cambridge University Press, this ground-breaking text …

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Sidney Coleman's Lectures on Relativity
By David J. Griffiths (Editor), David Derbes (Editor), Richard B. Sohn (Editor)

Sidney Coleman (1937–2007) earned his doctorate at Caltech under Murray Gell-Mann. Before completing his thesis, he was hired by Harvard and remained there his entire career. A celebrated particle theorist, he is perhaps best known for his brilliant lectures, given at Harvard and in a …

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Gravitation
By Charles W. Misner, Kip S. Thorne, John Archibald Wheeler

It is a landmark graduate-level textbook that presents Einstein’s general theory of relativity and offers a rigorous, full-year course on the physics of gravitation. With an emphasis on geometric interpretation, this masterful and comprehensive book introduces the theory of relativity; …

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Gravitation: Foundations and Frontiers
By Thanu Padmanabhan

Covering all aspects of gravitation in a contemporary style, this advanced textbook is ideal for graduate students and researchers in all areas of theoretical physics. The 'Foundation' section develops the formalism in six chapters, and uses it in the next four chapters to discuss four key …

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Cosmology

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Cosmology
By Steven Weinberg

This book is unique in the detailed, self-contained, and comprehensive treatment that it gives to the ideas and formulas that are used and tested in modern cosmological research. It divides into two parts, each of which provides enough material for a one-semester graduate course.

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Physical Foundations of Cosmology
By Viatcheslav Mukhanov

Inflationary cosmology has been developed over the last twenty years to remedy serious shortcomings in the standard hot big bang model of the universe. Taking an original approach, this textbook explains the basis of modern cosmology and shows where the theoretical results come from. The …

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Cosmology and String Theory
By Horaţiu Năstase

Cosmology describes the evolution of the Universe and is based on a description of its beginning from quantum fluctuations. String theory is the only known consistent theory of quantum gravity that can deal with the highest energy scales near the Planck energy, relevant for cosmology's …

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Foundations of Quantum Cosmology
By Martin Bojowald

This book lays the foundations of quantum cosmology, developing classical cosmology and quantum physics based on general principles without requiring detailed background knowledge in these fields. Throughout the book, the discussion focuses on the physical meaning of space–time – classical …

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Astrophysics

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Lectures on Astrophysics
By Steven Weinberg

It provides an account of classic and contemporary aspects of astrophysics, with an emphasis on analytic calculations and physical understanding. It introduces fundamental topics in astrophysics, including the properties of single and binary stars, the phenomena associated with …

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Black Hole

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The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes
By S. Chandrasekhar

This volume has become one of the modern classics of relativity theory. When it was written in 1983 there was little physical evidence for the existence of black holes. Recent discoveries have only served to underscore the elegant theory developed here, and the book remains one of the …

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The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time
By Stephen W. Hawking, George F. R. Ellis

First published in 1973, this influential work discusses Einstein's General Theory of Relativity to show how two of its predictions arise: first, that the ultimate fate of many massive stars is to undergo gravitational collapse to form 'black holes'; and second, that there was a …

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An Introduction to Black Holes, Information And The String Theory Revolution
By Leonard Susskind, James Lindesay

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. Stephen Hawking raised profound issues concerning the loss of information in black hole evaporation and the consistency of …

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Gravitational Waves

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Analysis of Gravitational-Wave Data
By Piotr Jaranowski, Andrzej Krolak

Research in this field has grown considerably in recent years due to the commissioning of a world-wide network of large-scale detectors. This network collects a very large amount of data that is currently being analyzed and interpreted. This book introduces researchers entering the field, …

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Theory of Gravitational Interactions
By Maurizio Gasperini

It is a modern, self-contained introduction to the theory of gravitational interactions. It includes more details on gravitational waves of cosmological origin, the so-called brane world scenario, and gravitational time-delay effects. The first part of the book follows the traditional …

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Mathematical Relativity

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Formulations of General Relativity
By Kirill Krasnov

This monograph describes the different formulations of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Unlike traditional treatments, Cartan's geometry of fibre bundles and differential forms is placed at the forefront, and a detailed review of the relevant differential geometry is presented. …

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Techniques of Differential Topology in Relativity
By Roger Penrose

It acquaints the specialist in relativity theory with some global techniques for the treatment of space-times and will provide the pure mathematician with a way into the subject of general relativity.

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Spinors and Space-Time: Volume 1 - Two-Spinor Calculus and Relativistic Fields
By Roger Penrose, Wolfgang Rindler

This volume introduces and systematically develops the calculus of 2-spinors. This is the first detailed exposition of this technique which leads not only to a deeper understanding of the structure of space-time, but also provides shortcuts to some very tedious calculations. Many results …

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Spinors and Space-Time: Volume 2 - Spinor and Twistor Methods in Space-Time Geometry
By Roger Penrose, Wolfgang Rindler

Spinor and Twistor Methods in Space-Time Geometry introduces the theory of twistors, and studies in detail how the theory of twistors and 2-spinors can be applied to the study of space-time. Twistors have, in recent years, attracted increasing attention as a mathematical tool and as a …

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Numerical Relativity

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3+1 Formalism in General Relativity: Bases of Numerical Relativity
By Éric Gourgoulhon

This graduate-level, course-based text is devoted to the ADM Hamiltonian formalism of general relativity, which also constitutes the theoretical foundations of numerical relativity. The book starts by establishing the mathematical background (differential geometry, hypersurfaces embedded …

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Numerical Relativity: Solving Einstein's Equations on the Computer
By Thomas W. Baumgarte, Stuart L. Shapiro

Aimed at students and researchers entering the field, this pedagogical introduction to numerical relativity will also interest scientists seeking a broad survey of its challenges and achievements. Assuming only a basic knowledge of classical general relativity, the book develops the …

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Published on Jul 1, 2023

Last revised on Sep 24, 2023

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