Gravitation: Foundations and Frontiers

Padmanabhan, T.

Cambridge University Press, 2010.

The book can be ordered from this site: CUP

This is a comprehensive advanced level textbook on Gravitation. The front matter (table of contents etc.) is available here as a pdf file.

Covering all aspects of gravitation in a contemporary style, this advanced textbook is ideal for graduate students and researchers in all areas of theoretical physics. The 'Foundation' section develops the formalism in six chapters, and uses it in the next four chapters to discuss four key applications - spherical spacetimes, black holes, gravitational waves and cosmology. The six chapters in the 'Frontier' section describe cosmological perturbation theory, quantum fields in curved spacetime, and the Hamiltonian structure of general relativity, among several other advanced topics, some of which are covered in-depth for the first time in a textbook. The modular structure of the book allows different sections to be combined to suit a variety of courses. Over 200 exercises are included to test and develop the reader's understanding. There are also over 30 projects, which help readers make the transition from the book to their own original research.

• Develops the formalism and uses it to discuss four key applications - spherical spacetimes, black holes, gravitational waves and cosmology.

• Describes several advanced topics, some of which are covered in-depth for the first time in a textbook.

• Different sections can be easily combined to meet the needs of a variety of courses.