Skip to main content

Introduction to General Relativity

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
  • 1157 Accesses

Abstract

The principle of special relativity states that all optically isotropic frames of reference are equivalent for the description of physical phenomena. In other words, two optically isotropic observers I and \(I^{\prime }\) register the same results when they carry out measurements by identical experimental devices in the same physical conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    A broad analysis of the debate about the principle of general relativity can be found in [114]. See also the interesting discussion in Fock [57].

  2. 2.

    In the Lagrangian or Hamiltonian formalism of classical mechanics, arbitrary Lagrangian or symplectic coordinates are used to simplify the solution of a problem. However, the solution thus obtained is meaningless if we don’t know how the coordinates in which we solved the problem are related to the coordinates of which the physical meaning is known. For instance, the Arnold–Liouville theorem states the existence of coordinates in the phase space in which the solution of a completely integrable system is trivial but the relation of these coordinates to the physical ones is not given. To overcome this problem, the angle-action variables are introduced.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonio Romano .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Romano, A., Mango Furnari, M. (2019). Introduction to General Relativity. In: The Physical and Mathematical Foundations of the Theory of Relativity. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27237-1_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics