INTRODUCTION TO GENERAL RELATIVITY

Focusing on Einstein's general relativity, this introductory text is tailored for first-year graduate students and advanced undergraduates with a basic grasp of classical Lagrangian mechanics. It uses the mechanics of a point mass on a two-dimensional surface as a foundational example to explore the mathematics and physics of the theory. After a review of special relativity, it presents core principles of general relativity and discusses key applications, concluding with a section on significant current research topics.