Gen. Relativ. Gravit. (2006) 38(2): 393394 DOI 10.

1007/s10714-005-0228-3

BOOK REVIEW

Kjell Rosquist

Hans Stephani (ed.): Relativity, an introduction to special and general relativity, 3rd edition Cambridge University Press, 2004, 416 p., Hardback: GBP80.00 USD110.00, ISBN 0-521-81185-6. Paperback: GBP30.00 USD60.00, ISBN 0-521-01069-1
Published online: 24 January 2006 C Springer-Verlag 2005

The third edition of Stephanis introductory book on general relativity is significantly expanded from the previous editions. In particular, it now starts with a ninetyve-pages comprehensive introduction to special relativity. Like the previous editions, the book is easily accessible in the sense that you can readily consult any section of the book without having to go through a number of previous sections to understand notations and conventions. The special relativity part (Part I) of the book is rather thorough and contains, for example, the denition of the electromagnetic eld Lagrangian. It also includes a section on the algebraic classication of the electromagnetic eld tensor. This latter topic, which is not usually treated in textbooks, is a good-to-have background for electromagnetic problems in general relativity. Also useful for general relativistic applications is the discussion of energy-momentum tensors. The following part (Part II) is a general treatment of (pseudo-)Riemannian geometry. This part contains most of the standard denitions and tools which are needed for general relativity. In particular, the author has included a discussion of spinors and the Newman-Penrose formalism. Differential forms are not treated, however. A somewhat tricky issue for all writers of introductions to general relativity is how to deal with the frame (tetrad) formulation. Frames are of course essential from the physical point of view and also very useful for curvature calculations based on Cartans differential forms method. However, it is an extra complication in the mathematical treatment, which leads some authors to excluding frames completely. Stephani has chosen a compromise solution by including a special section on tetrads while using a pure coordinate formulation in the rest of the book. Although the way of dealing with this problem is to some extent a

K. Rosquist (B) Department of Physics, Stockholm University, Alba Nova University Center, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden E-mail: kr@physto.se

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Book Review

matter of taste, there is always the risk when using only coordinate frames that readers can get confused about what is or is not gauge dependent. Einsteins eld equations are treated in Part III. As for computing the curvature, in Part III the author specializes to the spherically symmetric case and derives the Schwarzschild solution and also proves Birkhoffs theorem. Here, the cumbersome computations when using the coordinate frames are of course evident. At least a pointer to other ways of computing curvature would have been nice to see (Cartans form method, computer programs). Part III also contains a discussion of some of the standard tests of general relativity. Gravitational lenses are also included in this part as well as the interior Schwarzschild solution. Unfortunately, there is no treatment of the GPS system, something which I think nowadays should be obligatory in any textbook of general relativity as being its only technical application so far. Part IV contains the linearized theory including gravitational waves and a short discussion of the current efforts to detect them. Although the chapter on gravitational waves is rather short, it is still welcome in view of the enormous activity in connection with the newly built detectors and others which are planned. In Part V, there is a more systematic treatment of symmetries of spacetimes and the corresponding conservation laws which apply to solutions of the Einstein equations with symmetries. The algebraic (Petrov) classication of the curvature tensor is also included. Gravitational collapse and black holes are discussed in Part VI. It includes elementary discussions of singularities and critical masses of stars. Collapsing spherically symmetric dust is treated more extensively. The section on black holes contains a discussion of the Kerr metric but its charged counterpart (Kerr-Newman) is unfortunately missing. This makes the discussion of black holes somewhat incomplete in view of the important black hole uniqueness theorems. The following section contains a treatment of black hole thermodynamics. There is also a discussion of the Hawking radiation which is unusually detailed for a textbook at this level. The last section of this part is an account of the conformal structure at innity, also a subject which should have a natural place in every textbook of this kind. The nal part (Part VII) is about cosmology. This part is not so useful, being rather sketchy, and moreover it does not include the currently most popular dark energy models with cosmological constant. However, to study cosmology, having become the broad subject that it now is, would in any case require a dedicated book so I do not consider this a major drawback for this book. As a whole, the book is well written and contains a fair selection of topics for a beginning student of general relativity. Although there are some omissions as I mentioned above, the exposition of the many subjects which are included is generally very clear. Most chapters have a few exercises at the end. If used as a course book, a teacher might need to add some exercises. Besides being a textbook, because of its standard notation and clear style it can also be used as a reference (I have sometimes used it in this way myself), limited of course by the selection of topics. As one of many achievements before his untimely passing, Hans Stephani has produced a ne textbook of general relativity in the classical tradition.