An Introduction to General Relativity and Cosmology: Theory, Observations, and Applications

by Steven A. Balbus

Overview

An engaging and authoritative introduction to general relativity and cosmology for graduate students and advanced undergraduates

General relativity has entered a new phase of its development as technical advances have led to the direct detection of gravitational radiation from the merging of single pairs of stellar-sized black holes. The exquisite sensitivity of pulsar signal timing measurements has also been exploited to reveal the presence of a background of gravitational waves, most likely arising from the mergers of supermassive black holes thought to be present at the center of most galaxies. This book demonstrates how general relativity is central to understanding these and other observations while explaining the role of relativity in modern cosmology. An Introduction to General Relativity and Cosmology is an essential entrée to the subject, combining full discussions of underlying principles with detailed derivations as well as an accessible treatment of the mathematical foundations of singularity theorems and more advanced topics.

• Combines rigor with a conversational, highly pedagogical approach
• Emphasizes connections with other areas of physics to sharpen intuition while emphasizing general relativity’s unique contributions to modern theoretical physics
• Presents a novel derivation of the energy flux of gravitational waves
• Provides detailed and explicit derivations of important results, including binary star evolution by gravitational radiation losses
• Features a detailed treatment of the Hellings-Downs formula, key to understanding pulsar timing array results for gravitational radiation
• Provides a reexamination of the equivalence principle for relativistic particles
• Presents new results on the mathematical solutions of the innermost orbits of the gaseous disks that surround black holes
• Includes a wealth of exercises

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691211299
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	01/13/2026
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Steven A. Balbus is the Savilian Professor of Astronomy, Emeritus, at the University of Oxford and a senior research fellow at New College. Recipient of the Shaw Prize in Astronomy, he is a fellow of the Royal Society of London and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Balbus has done a remarkable job of presenting general relativity in a coherent fashion while highlighting its importance in the context of theoretical physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. The topics are very well chosen, the derivations are detailed and easy to follow, and the problems are thought-provoking without being too challenging.”—Emanuele Berti, Johns Hopkins University

“Written by an award-winning astrophysicist, An Introduction to General Relativity and Cosmology includes some more recent and very interesting topics, such as the detection of background gravitational waves using pulsar timing array, and it is relatively short, so one could cover most of the material in a one-semester course.”—Cosmin Ilie, Colgate University

“An Introduction to General Relativity and Cosmology is comprehensive, carefully written, and authoritative. I would personally use it as a reference or supplementary text.”—Jeremy Darling, University of Colorado Boulder