Lecture Notes on the General Theory of Relativity

Newton’s law of universal gravitation.- The force law of gravitation.- Newton’s law of gravitation in local form.- Tidal forces.- The principle of equivalence.- The general principle of relativity.- The covariance principle.- Mach’s principle.- The special theory of relativity.- Coordinate systems and Minkowski diagrams.- Synchronization of clocks.- The Doppler effect.- Relativistic time-dilation.- The relativity of simultaneity.- The Lorentz contraction.- The Lorentz transformation.- The Lorentz invariant interval.- The twin paradox.- Hyperbolic motion.- Energy and mass.- Relativistic increase of mass.- Tachyons.- Magnetism as a relativistic second order effect.- Vectors, tensors and forms.- Vectors.- Four-vectors.- Tangent vector fields and coordinate vectors.- Coordinate transformations.- Structure coefficients.- Tensors.- Transformation of tensor components.- Transformation of basis 1-forms.- The metric tensor.- Forms.- Rotating and accelerated reference frames.- Rotating reference frames.- The spatial metric tensor.- Angular acceleration of the rotating frame.- Gravitational time dilation.- Path of photons emitted from the axis in a rotating frame.- The Sagnac effect.- Uniformly accelerated reference frames.- Covariant differentiation.- Differentiation of forms.- Exterior differentiation.- Covariant derivative.- The Christoffel symbols.- Geodetic curves.- The covariant Euler-Lagrange equations.- Application of the Lagrange formalism to free particles.- Equation of motion from Lagrange’s equations.- Geodesic worldliness in spacetime.- Gravitational Doppler effect.- The Koszul connection.- Connection coefficients and structure coefficients in a Riemannian (torsion free) space.- Covariant differentiation of vectors, forms and tensors.- Covariant differentiation of a vector field in an arbitrary basis.- Covariant differentiation of forms.- Generalization for tensors of higher rank.- The Cartan connection.- Curvature.- The Riemann curvature tensor.- Differential geometry of surfaces.- Surface curvature using the Cartan formalism.- The Ricci identity.- Bianchi’s 1st identity.- Bianchi’s 2nd identity.- Einstein’s field equations.- Energy-momentum conservation.- Newtonian fluid.- Perfect fluids.- Einstein’s curvature tensor.- Einstein’s field equations.- The 'geodesic postulate' as a consequence of the field equations.- The Schwarschild spacetime.- Schwarzschild’s exterior solution.- Radial free fall in Schwarzschild spacetime.- Light cones in Schwarzschild spacetime.- Analytical extension of the Schwarzschild coordinates.- Embedding of the Schwarzschild metric.- Deceleration of light.- Particle trajectories in Schwarzschild 3-space.- Motion in the equatorial plane.- Classical tests of Einstein’s general theory of relativity.- The Hafele-Keating experiment.- Mercury’s perihelion precession.- Deflection of light.- Black holes.- 'Surface gravity': gravitational acceleration on the horizon of a black hole.- Hawking radiation: radiation from a black hole.- Rotating black holes: The Kerr metric.- Zero-angular-momentum-observers.- Does the Kerr space have a horizon?.- Schwarzschild’s interior solution.- Newtonian incompressible star.- The pressure contribution to the gravitational mass of a static, spherically symmetric system.- The Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equation.- An exact solution for incompressible stars – Schwarzschild’s interior solution.- Cosmology.- Comoving coordinate system.- Curvature isotropy – the Robertson-Walker metric.- Cosmic dynamics.- Hubble’s law.- Cosmological redshift of light.- Cosmic fluids.- Isotropic and homogeneous universe models.- Some cosmological models.- Radiation dominated model.- Dust dominated model.- Transition from radiation to matter dominated universe.- Friegmann-Lemaître model.- Inflationary cosmology.- Problems with the Big Bang models.- Cosmic inflation.