Table of Contents

Survey of General Relativity Theory.- 0. Introduction.- 1. Quasi-Historical, Empirical Motivation of the General Theory of Relativity.- 2. A Constructive-Axiomatic Approach to General Relativity Theory.- 3. Kinetic Theory.- 4. Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics.- 5. The Transition from Maxwell’s Equations to Geometrical Optics.- 6. Note on the Dynamics of Extended Bodies.- 7. Approximation Methods.- 8. Spherically Symmetric Spacetimes.- References.- Observational Contacts of General Relativity.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Fundamental Properties of Gravity.- 3. Alternative Theories and Solar System Experiments.- 4. Experiments on Gravitational Radiation.- References.- Relativistic Stars, Gravitational Collapse, and Black Holes.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The Relativistic Stellar Structure of Spherical Stars.- 3. Spherically Symmetric Gravitational Collapse.- 4. Non-Spherical Gravitational Collapse and Black Holes.- 5. Black Hole Dynamics.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Cosmology.- 1. Introduction.- 2. General Methods.- 3. The Geometry of the Hot Einstein De Sitter Model.- 4. Evolution of the Hot Einstein De Sitter Model.- 5. Inhomogeneous Models.- 6. Homogeneous Anisotropic Spacetimes.- 7. Conclusion.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Canonical Quantization of Gravity.- 1. Parametrized Theories.- 2. Geometrodynamics.- 3. Quantization.- 4. Midi-superspace.- Acknowledgements.- Differential Geometry from a Modern Standpoint.- 1. Manifolds.- 2. The Tangent Space.- 3. Dual Space of the Tangent Space Tensors.- 4. Commutators and Exterior Derivative of Forms.- 5. Maps between Manifolds.- 6. Lie Groups and Lie Transformation Groups.- 7. The Frame Bundle of a Manifold.- 8. The Lie Derivative.- 9. Covariant Derivative — Linear Connection.- 10. Descriptions of a Linear Connection.-11. Curvature Tensor and Structure Equations.- 12. The Connection Induced by a Metric.- 13. Geodesies.- References.- Index of Subjects.