Concise Guide to General Relativity

This book offers a concise introduction to General Relativity for advanced undergraduate students, assuming prior knowledge of special relativity and electromagnetism. It develops the subject from the weak-field limit and gravitational waves to curved spacetime and Riemannian geometry, culminating in the derivation of Einstein’s nonlinear field equations.Applications to black holes and cosmology are presented, alongside selected advanced topics such as Rindler and Hawking radiation and an introduction to gravitational wave detection. With an emphasis on physical insight and clarity, the text includes problems ranging from in-class exercises to more challenging assignments, making it well suited for both self-study and coursework.

James Cline is a professor of theoretical physics at McGill University. He earned his Ph.D. in particle physics at Caltech, held postdoctoral positions at Ohio State University, McGill, and University of Minnesota, and has been a frequent sabbatical visitor at CERN. His research contributions, numbering over 200, have focused on elementary particle theory and its links to cosmology and astrophysics. He has taught at advanced schools including Les Houches and TASI.