Feynman lectures on gravitation
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 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.
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- Weinberg: Gravitation and Cosmology - The definite reference
Padmanabhan: Gravitation: Foundations and Frontiers - A modern point of view
Feynman: Lectures on Gravitation - Feynmans unique insights are a rare gem
Mukhanov: Introduction to Quantum Effects in Gravity - The best introduction to quantum gravity (and also quantum field theory)
- I've thought that before now, with respect to spooky action. There's an interesting seeming bit in the Feynman Lectures on Gravitation where he kind of demonstrates you can get Einstein type spacetime from the maths of a spin-2 particle though it's remained a bit beyond me to understand it.
I even thought at one point I'd try to write a summary of his argument for Wikipedia but failed. It's not the most simple of things.
The end bit I was thinking was "the fact is that a spin-two field has this geometrical interpretation; this is not something readily explainable--it is just marvelous." In section 8-4. But the math leading up to that is tricky.
- "As the Nobel Prize winner Steven Weinberg showed in 1964, the existence of a spin-2 particle leads inevitably to general relativity"
Huh?!?
spin-2 particle leading to GR was the prime essence of Feynman lectures on Gravitation, 1962
- Feynman lectures on Gravitation, 1962
- I second that and after if you are keen it can be good to look at the Feynman Lectures vol III, Chapter 5 where he talks about spin. He deliberately leaves spin out of QED to keep things simple. Also if curious there's the Feynman lectures on Gravitation where he tries to figure out quantum gravity and fails like everyone else. One thing I like about Feynman is his talks are based on experiments - if you fire electrons at two slits this happens (QED) or if you send them past a magnet that happens (Ch 5). This is in contrast to most popular science books which go on about spooky cats or most academic treatments which launch into a bunch of abstract maths without looking that much at what's going on physically. I find it much easier to get my head around the real experiment approach.
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