Steven Carlip Livres

Focusing on (2+1)-dimensional quantum gravity, this volume explores quantum cosmology in closed universes and the mechanics of black holes. It evaluates various approaches to quantum gravity, highlighting the simplicity of three-dimensional general relativity for explicit quantization methods. The book examines classical solutions and presents around fifteen quantization techniques, including canonical quantization and Chern-Simons methods. It also addresses critical issues like topology change and the problem of time, making it a vital resource for graduate students and researchers in the field.

This is a short textbook on general relativity and gravitation aimed at readers with a broad range of interests in physics, from cosmology to high energy physics to condensed matter. The approach is physics first: readers move quickly to the calculation of observational predictions and only then return to mathematical foundations.