GRAVITATIONAL-WAVES AND BLACK-HOLES - AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHYSICS OF GENERAL-RELATIVITY

In these lectures general relativity is outlined as the classical fiel d theory of gravity, emphasizing physical phenomena rather than formal ism. Dynamical solutions representing traveling waves as well as stati onary fields like those of black holes are discussed. Their properties are investigated by studying the geodesic structure of the correspond ing space-times, as representing the motion of point-like test particl es. The interaction between gravitational, electro-magnetic and scalar fields is also considered.