Feynman Lectures On Gravitation

Based on the in-class lectures of Richard Feynman, this book covers a wide range of topics in physics and provides a window to the thoughts of a brilliant Nobel laureate.

Informationen zum Autor Richard Feynman Klappentext The Feynman Lectures on Gravitation are based on notes prepared during a course on gravitational physics that Richard Feynman taught at Caltech during the 1962-63 academic year. For several years prior to these lectures, Feynman thought long and hard about the fundamental problems in gravitational physics, yet he published very little. These lectures represent a useful record of his viewpoints and some of his insights into gravity and its application to cosmology, superstars, wormholes, and gravitational waves at that particular time. The lectures also contain a number of fascinating digressions and asides on the foundations of physics and other issues.Characteristically, Feynman took an untraditional non-geometric approach to gravitation and general relativity based on the underlying quantum aspects of gravity. Hence, these lectures contain a unique pedagogical account of the development of Einstein's general theory of relativity as the inevitable result of the demand for a self-consistent theory of a massless spin-2 field (the graviton) coupled to the energy-momentum tensor of matter. This approach also demonstrates the intimate and fundamental connection between gauge invariance and the principle of equivalence. Zusammenfassung Based on the in-class lectures of Richard Feynman, this book covers a wide range of topics in physics and provides a window to the thoughts of a brilliant Nobel laureate. Inhaltsverzeichnis Foreword Quantum Gravity Lecture 1 A Field Approach to Gravitation The Characteristics of Gravitational Phenomena Quantum Effects in Gravitation On the Philosophical Problems in Quantizing macroscopic Objects Gravitation as a Consequence of Other Fields Lecture 2 Postulates of Statistical Mechanics Difficulties of Speculative Mechanics The Exchange of One Neutrino The Exchange of Two Neutrinos Lecture 3 The Spine of the Graviton Amplitudes and Polarizations in Electrodynamics, Our Typical Field Theory Amplitudes for Exchange of a Graviton Physical Interpretation of the Terms in the Amplitudes The Lagrangian for the Gravitational Field The Equations for the Gravitational Field Definition of Symbols Lecture 4 The Connection Between the Tensor Rank and the Sign of a Field The Stress-Energy Tensor for Scalar Matter Amplitudes for Scattering (Scalar Theory) Detailed Properties for Plane Waves, Compton Effect Nonlinear Diagrams for Gravitons The Classical Equations of Motion of a Gravitating Particle Orbital Motion of Particle About a Star Lecture 5 Planetary Orbits and the Precession of Mercury Time Dilation in a Gravitational Field Cosmological Effects of the Time Dilation. Machs Principle Machs Principle in Quantum Mechanics The Self Energy of the Gravitational Field Lecture 6 The Bilinear Terms of the Stress-Energy Tensor Formulation of a Theory Correct to All Orders The Construction of Invariants with Respect to Infinitesimal Transformations The Lagrangian of the Theory Correct to All Orders The Einstein Equation for the Stress-Energy Tensor Lecture 7 The Principle of Equivalence Some Consequences of the Principle of Equivalence Maximum Clock Rates in Gravity Fields The Proper Time in General Coordinates The Geometrical Interpretation of the Metric Tensor Curvatures in Two and Four Dimensions The Number of Quantities Invariant under General Transformations Lecture 8 * Transformations of T...

Autorentext
Richard Feynman

Klappentext

The Feynman Lectures on Gravitation are based on notes prepared during a course on gravitational physics that Richard Feynman taught at Caltech during the 1962-63 academic year. For several years prior to these lectures, Feynman thought long and hard about the fundamental problems in gravitational physics, yet he published very little. These lectures represent a useful record of his viewpoints and some of his insights into gravity and its application to cosmology, superstars, wormholes, and gravitational waves at that particular time. The lectures also contain a number of fascinating digressions and asides on the foundations of physics and other issues.Characteristically, Feynman took an untraditional non-geometric approach to gravitation and general relativity based on the underlying quantum aspects of gravity. Hence, these lectures contain a unique pedagogical account of the development of Einstein's general theory of relativity as the inevitable result of the demand for a self-consistent theory of a massless spin-2 field (the graviton) coupled to the energy-momentum tensor of matter. This approach also demonstrates the intimate and fundamental connection between gauge invariance and the principle of equivalence.

Inhalt
Foreword Quantum Gravity Lecture 1 A Field Approach to Gravitation The Characteristics of Gravitational Phenomena Quantum Effects in Gravitation On the Philosophical Problems in Quantizing macroscopic Objects Gravitation as a Consequence of Other Fields Lecture 2 Postulates of Statistical Mechanics Difficulties of Speculative Mechanics The Exchange of One Neutrino The Exchange of Two Neutrinos Lecture 3 The Spine of the Graviton Amplitudes and Polarizations in Electrodynamics, Our Typical Field Theory Amplitudes for Exchange of a Graviton Physical Interpretation of the Terms in the Amplitudes The Lagrangian for the Gravitational Field The Equations for the Gravitational Field Definition of Symbols Lecture 4 The Connection Between the Tensor Rank and the Sign of a Field The Stress-Energy Tensor for Scalar Matter Amplitudes for Scattering (Scalar Theory) Detailed Properties for Plane Waves, Compton Effect Nonlinear Diagrams for Gravitons The Classical Equations of Motion of a Gravitating Particle Orbital Motion of Particle About a Star Lecture 5 Planetary Orbits and the Precession of Mercury Time Dilation in a Gravitational Field Cosmological Effects of the Time Dilation. Machs Principle Machs Principle in Quantum Mechanics The Self Energy of the Gravitational Field Lecture 6 The Bilinear Terms of the Stress-Energy Tensor Formulation of a Theory Correct to All Orders The Construction of Invariants with Respect to Infinitesimal Transformations The Lagrangian of the Theory Correct to All Orders The Einstein Equation for the Stress-Energy Tensor Lecture 7 The Principle of Equivalence Some Consequences of the Principle of Equivalence Maximum Clock Rates in Gravity Fields The Proper Time in General Coordinates The Geometrical Interpretation of the Metric Tensor Curvatures in Two and Four Dimensions The Number of Quantities Invariant under General Transformations Lecture 8 * Transformations of T