Gravitation

This primer proposes a journey from Newton''s dynamics to Einstein''s relativity. It constitutes a pedagogical, rigorous, and self-contained introduction to the concepts and mathematical formulation of gravitational physics. In particular, much attention is devoted to exploring and applying the basic tools of differential geometry, that is the language of general relativity. Real-world manifestations of relativity, such as time dilation, gravitational waves, and black holes, are also discussed in detail. This book is designed for third-year bachelor or first-year master students in theoretical physics, who are already familiar with Newton''s physics, possibly had an introductory course on special relativity, and who are seeking to learn general relativity on a firm basis.