New York: John Wiley & Sons. - 1982. - 650 p. In the last decade classical field become have great importance in theoretical physics. The reason for that is the realization by both physicists and mathematicians that gauge fields are just the right mathematical tool for describing particle physics as well as other branches of physics. As a consequence, general relativity theory has become a center of attention from the point of view of gauge fields. The classical theory of fields is no longer a theory of electrodynamics and gravitation as two separate topics which can be formally and technically put together in one text Rather, classical fields should include electrodynamics, gauge fields, and gravitation, and the three fields should be presented with a common physical and mathematical foundation. This book is the first text that undertakes au. n a task in presenting сclassical fields. Tht book is based on lecturer given by the author in two graduate courses at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Stony Brook, New York, where he was a Visiting Professor in 1977-1978, and at the Ben Gurion llnivsrsity thereafter. Approximately half of the material is on gravitation, and the other half deals with classical gauge fields More than half of the content is based on material that has not yet appeared in other books
The book can be used as a text for a one-year graduate course in theoretical physics, as has been done by the author in the last four years. It can also be used as a supplementary book to other texts in graduate courses m classical field theory or mathematical physics. We hope that it can fill the gap of a needed text on the subject, where classical fields arc treated in a modern approach different from available books. The reader will find other aspects of gauge field theory in flat spacetime (Minkowskian and Euclidean) in the author’s other Look Classical Field. Electrodynamics and Gauge Theory, now in preparation.
The Gravitational Field
The Geometry of Curved Spacetinie
The Einstein Field Equations
\The Schwarzschild Metric
Properties of the Gravitational Field
Equations of Motion in General Relativity
Axi.symmetric Solutions of the I instein Field Equations
Splnor Formulation of Gravitation and Gauge Fields
Classification of the Gravitational and Gauge Fields
Gauge Theory of Gravitation and Other Fields
Problems. Suggested References
Extended Bodies in General Relativity