Theory of Gravitational Interactions: 2017 (UNITEXT for Physics)

This is the second edition of a well-received book that is a modern, self-contained introduction to the theory of gravitational interactions. The new edition includes more details on gravitational waves of cosmological origin, the so-called brane world scenario, and gravitational time-delay effects. The first part of the book follows the traditional presentation of general relativity as a geometric theory of the macroscopic gravitational field, while the second, more advanced part discusses the deep analogies (and differences) between a geometric theory of gravity and the gauge theories of the other fundamental interactions. This fills a gap within the traditional approach to general relativity which usually leaves students puzzled about the role of gravity. The required notions of differential geometry are reduced to the minimum, allowing room for aspects of gravitational physics of current phenomenological and theoretical interest, such as the properties of gravitational waves, the gravitational interactions of spinors, and the supersymmetric and higher-dimensional generalization of the Einstein equations. This textbook is primarily intended for students pursuing a theoretical or astroparticle curriculum but is also relevant for PhD students and young researchers. Maurizio Gasperini is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Physics Department of the University of Bari, Italy. He has already published six books with Springer and is the author of more than 200 publications on gravitational theory, high-energy physics, and cosmology. He has twice won an “Award for Essays on Gravitation” from the Gravity Research Foundation (1996 and 1998). His former posts include a permanent position in the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of Turin and three appointments as Scientific Associate at CERN, Theory Division (1993, 1996, and 2005). Here, in collaboration with Gabriele Veneziano, he formulated and developed an early-cosmology scenario based on the symmetries of string theory. Elementary Notions of Relativistic Field Theory.- Towards a Relativistic Theory of Gravity.- Tensor Calculus in a Riemann Manifold.- Maxwell Equations and Riemann Geometry.- Test Bodies and Signals in a Riemann Space-Time.- Geodesic Deviation and Curvature Tensor.- The Einstein Equations for the Gravitational Field.- The Weak-Field Approximation.- Gravitational Waves.- The Schwarzschild Solution.- The Kasner Solution.- Vierbeins and Lorentz Connection.- The Dirac Equation in a Gravitational Field.- Supersymmetry and Supergravity.- Appendix A The Language of Differential Forms.- Appendix B Higher-Dimensional Gravity.- References.- Index.