Preface | p. ix |
Some basic mathematics | p. 1 |
The space R[superscript n] and its topology | p. 1 |
Mappings | p. 5 |
Real analysis | p. 9 |
Group theory | p. 11 |
Linear algebra | p. 13 |
The algebra of square matrices | p. 16 |
Bibliography | p. 20 |
Differentiable manifolds and tensors | p. 23 |
Definition of a manifold | p. 23 |
The sphere as a manifold | p. 26 |
Other examples of manifolds | p. 28 |
Global considerations | p. 29 |
Curves | p. 30 |
Functions on M | p. 30 |
Vectors and vector fields | p. 31 |
Basis vectors and basis vector fields | p. 34 |
Fiber bundles | p. 35 |
Examples of fiber bundles | p. 37 |
A deeper look at fiber bundles | p. 38 |
Vector fields and integral curves | p. 42 |
Exponentiation of the operator d/d[lambda] | p. 43 |
Lie brackets and noncoordinate bases | p. 43 |
When is a basis a coordinate basis? | p. 47 |
One-forms | p. 49 |
Examples of one-forms | p. 50 |
The Dirac delta function | p. 51 |
The gradient and the pictorial representation of a one-form | p. 52 |
Basis one-forms and components of one-forms | p. 55 |
Index notation | p. 56 |
Tensors and tensor fields | p. 57 |
Examples of tensors | p. 58 |
Components of tensors and the outer product | p. 59 |
Contraction | p. 59 |
Basis transformations | p. 60 |
Tensor operations on components | p. 63 |
Functions and scalars | p. 64 |
The metric tensor on a vector space | p. 64 |
The metric tensor field on a manifold | p. 68 |
Special relativity | p. 70 |
Bibliography | p. 71 |
Lie derivatives and Lie groups | p. 73 |
Introduction: how a vector field maps a manifold into itself | p. 73 |
Lie dragging a function | p. 74 |
Lie dragging a vector field | p. 74 |
Lie derivatives | p. 76 |
Lie derivative of a one-form | p. 78 |
Submanifolds | p. 79 |
Frobenius' theorem (vector field version) | p. 81 |
Proof of Frobenius' theorem | p. 83 |
An example: the generators of S[superscript 2] | p. 85 |
Invariance | p. 86 |
Killing vector fields | p. 88 |
Killing vectors and conserved quantities in particle dynamics | p. 89 |
Axial symmetry | p. 89 |
Abstract Lie groups | p. 92 |
Examples of Lie groups | p. 95 |
Lie algebras and their groups | p. 101 |
Realizations and representations | p. 105 |
Spherical symmetry, spherical harmonics and representations of the rotation group | p. 108 |
Bibliography | p. 112 |
Differential forms | p. 113 |
The algebra and integral calculus of forms | p. 113 |
Definition of volume -- the geometrical role of differential forms | p. 113 |
Notation and definitions for antisy mmetric tensors | p. 115 |
Differential forms | p. 117 |
Manipulating differential forms | p. 119 |
Restriction of forms | p. 120 |
Fields of forms | p. 120 |
Handedness and orientability | p. 121 |
Volumes and integration on oriented manifolds | p. 121 |
N-vectors, duals, and the symbol [epsilon][subscript ij...k] | p. 125 |
Tensor densities | p. 128 |
Generalized Kronecker deltas | p. 130 |
Determinants and [epsilon][subscript ij...k] | p. 131 |
Metric volume elements | p. 132 |
The differential calculus of forms and its applications | p. 134 |
The exterior derivative | p. 134 |
Notation for derivatives | p. 135 |
Familiar examples of exterior differentiation | p. 136 |
Integrability conditions for partial differential equations | p. 137 |
Exact forms | p. 138 |
Proof of the local exactness of closed forms | p. 140 |
Lie derivatives of forms | p. 142 |
Lie derivatives and exterior derivatives commute | p. 143 |
Stokes' theorem | p. 144 |
Gauss' theorem and the definition of divergence | p. 147 |
A glance at cohomology theory | p. 150 |
Differential forms and differential equations | p. 152 |
Frobenius' theorem (differential forms version) | p. 154 |
Proof of the equivalence of the two versions of Frobenius' theorem | p. 157 |
Conservation laws | p. 158 |
Vector spherical harmonics | p. 160 |
Bibliography | p. 161 |
Applications in physics | p. 163 |
Thermodynamics | p. 163 |
Simple systems | p. 163 |
Maxwell and other mathematical identities | p. 164 |
Composite thermodynamic systems: Caratheodory's theorem | p. 165 |
Hamiltonian mechanics | p. 167 |
Hamiltonian vector fields | p. 167 |
Canonical transformations | p. 168 |
Map between vectors and one-forms provided by [characters not reproducible] | p. 169 |
Poisson bracket | p. 170 |
Many-particle systems: symplectic forms | p. 170 |
Linear dynamical systems: the symplectic inner product and conserved quantities | p. 171 |
Fiber bundle structure of the Hamiltonian equations | p. 174 |
Electromagnetism | p. 175 |
Rewriting Maxwell's equations using differential forms | p. 175 |
Charge and topology | p. 179 |
The vector potential | p. 180 |
Plane waves: a simple example | p. 181 |
Dynamics of a perfect fluid | p. 181 |
Role of Lie derivatives | p. 181 |
The comoving time-derivative | p. 182 |
Equation of motion | p. 183 |
Conservation of vorticity | p. 184 |
Cosmology | p. 186 |
The cosmological principle | p. 186 |
Lie algebra of maximal symmetry | p. 190 |
The metric of a spherically symmetric three-space | p. 192 |
Construction of the six Killing vectors | p. 195 |
Open, closed, and flat universes | p. 197 |
Bibliography | p. 199 |
Connections for Riemannian manifolds and gauge theories | p. 201 |
Introduction | p. 201 |
Parallelism on curved surfaces | p. 201 |
The covariant derivative | p. 203 |
Components: covariant derivatives of the basis | p. 205 |
Torsion | p. 207 |
Geodesics | p. 208 |
Normal coordinates | p. 210 |
Riemann tensor | p. 210 |
Geometric interpretation of the Riemann tensor | p. 212 |
Flat spaces | p. 214 |
Compatibility of the connection with volume-measure or the metric | p. 215 |
Metric connections | p. 216 |
The affine connection and the equivalence principle | p. 218 |
Connections and gauge theories: the example of electromagnetism | p. 219 |
Bibliography | p. 222 |
Solutions and hints for selected exercises | p. 224 |
Notation | p. 244 |
Index | p. 246 |
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