This book helps readers learn relativity at the speed of light! Now anyone can grasp Einstein's great theory of relativity - without formal training, unlimited time, or a genius IQ. In "Relativity Demystified", theoretical physicists (and student-savvy authors) David McMahon and Paul Ansing provide an effective, illuminating, and entertaining way to learn the essentials and formulas of Einstein's theories. With "Relativity Demystified", you master the subject one step at a time - at your own speed. This unique self-teaching guide offers problems at the end of each chapter and part to pinpoint weaknesses, and a 100-question final exam to reinforce the entire book.This fast and entertaining self-teaching course makes it much easier to: master theoretical physics at your own pace; learn the formulas and principles of special and general relativity from hundreds of worked examples; use practical mathematical tools for solving relativity problems; receive layperson's explanations for Schwarzhild spacetimes, black holes, gravitational radiation, and actual current research; perform better in one of the scariest courses of all; and, take a final exam and grade it yourself!Simple enough for beginners but challenging enough for those who already know something about relativity, "Relativity Demystified" is the best self-teaching tool or brush-up you can find!

Table of Contents

Part One: The Mathematical Tools of Relativity 1 Vectors 2 One Forms and Tensors 3 More on Tensors, Tensor Algebra 4 The Metric 5 The Connection 6 Covariant Derivatives 7 Tensor Calculus Continued 8 The Riemann Tensor and other important quantities 9 Tensor Identities, Equations and more important Quantities 10 Killing Vectors Part Two: The Physics of Relativity 11 Overview of Special Relativity I 12 Overview of Special Relativity II 13 The Basic Structure of General Relativity 14 Schwarzchild Spacetimes Part One 15 Schwarzchild Spacetimes Part Two 16 Introducting Black Holes 17 Black Holes: Part Two 18 Gravitational Radiation 19 Cosmological Models

About the Author

David McMahon works as a researcher at Sandia National Laboratory, a Department of Energy facility. His research involves work on nuclear fusion and the design of nuclear-powered spacecraft. He has a master's degree in physics and a bachelor's in applied mathematics, both from the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in theoretical physics in the areas of quantum field theory and the use of general relativity. Mr. McMahon is a published author. Previous work includes two books on computer programming: Rapid Application Development with Visual Basic 6 and Rapid Application Development with Visual C++. He also wrote Quantum Mechanics Demystified, and was a contributing writer to Ace the Technical Interview. All of his books are published by McGraw-Hill. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.