狄拉克的这本《广义相对论》是一本短小精悍的介绍广义相对论入门的教程,对想了解该学科的学生十分有用。全书分为三十五个小节,内容包括:狭义相对论;斜轴;曲线坐标;非张量;曲线空间;平行移动;Christoffel符号;测地线;测地线的定态性质;共变微分;曲线张量;平坦空间条件;牛顿逼近;引力红移;Schwarzchild解;黑洞;张量密度;Gauss和Stokes定理;调和坐标轴;电磁场;爱因斯坦方程的修正等。每小节介绍一个论题,内容浅显易懂,过渡自然流畅。
1.Special Relativity
2.Oblique Axes
3.Curvilinear Coordinates
4.Nontensors
5.Curved Space
6.Parallel Displacement
7.Christoffel Symbols
8.Geodesics
9.The Stationary Property of Geodesics
10.Covariant Differentiation
11.The Curvature Tensor
12.The Condition for Flat Space
13.The Bianci Relations
14.The Ricci Tensor
15.Einstein's Law of Gravitation
16.The Newtonian Approximation
17.The Gravitational Red Shift
18.The Schwarzchild Solution
19.Black Holes
20.Tensor Densities
21.Gauss and Stokes Theorems
22.Harmonic Coordinates
23.The Electromagnetic Field
24.Modification of the Einstein Equations by the Presence of Matter
25.The Material Energy Tensor
26.The Gravitational Action Principle
27.The Action for a Continuous Distribution of Matter
28.The Action for the Electromagnetic Field
29.The Action for Charged Matter
30.The Comprehensive Action Principle
31.The Pseudo-Energy Tensor of the Gravitational Field
32.Explicit Expression for the Pseudo-Tensor
33.Gravitational Waves
34.The Polarization of Gravitational Waves
35.The Cosmological Term
Index