General Relativity

“Wald’s book is clearly the first textbook on general relativity with a totally modern point of view; and it succeeds very well where others are only partially successful. The book includes full discussions of many problems of current interest which are not treated in any extant book, and all these matters are considered with perception and understanding.”—S. Chandrasekhar

“A tour de force: lucid, straightforward, mathematically rigorous, exacting in the analysis of the theory in its physical aspect.”—L. P. Hughston, Times Higher Education Supplement

“Truly excellent. . . . A sophisticated text of manageable size that will probably be read by every student of relativity, astrophysics, and field theory for years to come.”—James W. York, Physics Today

Table of Contents

PART I. FUNDAMENTALS

1. Introduction

2. Manifolds and Tensor Fields

3. Curvature

4. Einstein’s Equation

5. Homogeneous, Isotropic Cosmology

6. The Schwarzschild Solution

PART II ADVANCED TOPICS

7. Methods for Solving Einstein’s Equation

8. Causal Structure

9. Singularities

10. The Initial Value Formulation

11. Asymptotic Flatness

12. Black Holes

13. Spinors

14. Quantum Effects in Strong Gravitational Fields

About the Author

Robert M. Wald is professor in the Department of Physics and the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago. He is the author of Space, Time, and Gravity: The Theory of the Big Bang and Black Holes, also published by the University of Chicago Press.