I have a B.S. in physics but I graduated nearly 20 years ago. All this time I’ve kept a copy of Gravitation by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler thinking that I would, one day, get around to going through it. I would now like to do that but I think that I need to first brush up on my math. Actually, I remember that the math in this one was a bit above me as an undergrad so I might need more than just brushing up. Any suggestions on books and/or online courses that would prepare me to really understand Gravitation?
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Related: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/363/2451 – Qmechanic Feb 23 '21 at 22:05
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I like Landau & Lifshitz. It is concise, mathematically straightforward and online. – my2cts Feb 24 '21 at 00:32
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As far as I remember, all the math in MTW is explained, you just need some basic calculus and linear algebra. So I guess, the first step would be to go through some introduction to calculus and linear algebra textbook/course. You do not need anything too fancy, just ability to understand and manipulate integrals, limits, derivatives, partial derivatives and differential equations. The physicist approach is sufficient, no need to go into too much rigor, so I would ask physicists/engineers about some good resources on this topic instead of mathematicians. And while reading, do all the exercises – Umaxo Feb 24 '21 at 15:04
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MTW also includes the two different 'tracks', where you can leave the track 2 stuff out if you're unfamiliar with the mathematics (differential geometry mainly iirc). – Eletie Feb 25 '21 at 11:15