CONTENTS Introduction / by Roger Penrose ... ⅶ Special Preface ... xv Feynmans Preface ... xxi ONE : Vectors ... 1 1-1 Symmetry in physics ... 1 1-2 Translations ... 2 1-3 Rotations ... 5 1-4 Vectors ... 9 1-5 Vector algebra ... 12 1-6 Newtons laws in vector notation ... 15 1-7 Scalar product of vectors ... 18 TWO : Symmetry in Physical Laws ... 23 2-1 Symmetry operations ... 23 2-2 Symmetry in space and time ... 24 2-3 Symmetry and conservation laws ... 29 2-4 Mirror reflections ... 30 2-5 Polar and axial vectors ... 35 2-6 Which hand is right? ... 38 2-7 Parity is not conserved! ... 40 2-8 Antimatter ... 43 2-9 Broken symmetries ... 46 THREE : The Special Theory of Relativity ... 49 3-1 The principle of relativity ... 49 3-2 The Lorentz transformation ... 53 3-3 The Michelson-Morley experiment ... 54 3-4 Transformation of time ... 59 3-5 The Lorentz contraction ... 63 3-6 Simultaneity ... 63 3-7 Four-vectors ... 65 3-8 Relativistic dynamics ... 66 3-9 Equivalence of mass and energy ... 68 FOUR : Relativistic Energy and Momentum ... 73 4-1 Relativity and the philosophers ... 73 4-2 The twin paradox ... 77 4-3 Transformation of velocities ... 79 4-4 Relativistic mass ... 83 4-5 Relativistic energy ... 88 FIVE : Space-Time ... 93 5-1 The geometry of space-time ... 93 5-2 Space-time intervals ... 97 5-3 Past, present, and future ... 99 5-4 More about four-vectors ... 102 5-5 Four-vector algebra ... 106 SIX : Curved Space ... 111 6-1 Curved spaces with two dimensions ... 111 6-2 Curvature in three-dimensional space ... 123 6-3 Our space is curved ... 125 6-4 Geometry in space-time ... 128 6-5 Gravity and the principle of equivalence ... 129 6-6 The speed of clocks in a gravitational field ... 131 6-7 The curvature of space-time ... 137 6-8 Motion in curved space-time ... 137 6-9 Einsteins theory of gravitation ... 141 Index ... 145