PHYS 7810 Spring 2026 Texts

PHYS 7810 Special Topics: Extreme Energy Spring 2026: Texts

The lectures in this course will be based to a large extent on selected chapters of the proto-book

Relativity & Black Holes
- Kip S. Thorne (1994) Black holes and time warps: Einstein's outrageous legacy (W. W. Norton) 619 pages doi: 10.1063/1.2808700. The best popular book ever.
- Sean M. Carroll (2004) Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity (Addison-Wesley) 513 pages doi: 10.1017/9781108770385. An accessible introduction to general relativity.
- T. (Paddy) Padmanabhan (2010) Gravitation: Foundations and Frontiers (Cambridge University Press) 700 pages doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511807787 .

Cosmology
- Scott Dodelson & Fabian Schmidt (2020) Modern Cosmology, 2nd Ed (Academic Press) 494 pages doi: 10.1016/C2017-0-01943-2. This is a pedagogically written, graduate-level exposition of the pillars of modern cosmology, especially the Cosmic Microwave Background. If you want to learn the subject, this is the book. The second edition is similar to the first (2003), somewhat reorganized, with significant new material on CMB lensing, and on Large Scale Structure.
- Daniel Baumann (2022) Cosmology (Cambridge University Press) 463 pages doi: 10.1017/9781108937092. An accessible exposition of modern cosmology, especially good on inflation.
- Edward W. Kolb & Michael S. Turner (1990) The Early Universe (Addison-Wesley) 547 pagees doi: 10.1201/9780429492860. A classic text that predates the Standard ΛCDM Model of Cosmology, yet discusses early-universe cosmology, including inflation, in a remarkably modern fashion.
- Steven Weinberg (2008) Cosmology (Oxford University Press) 593 pages doi: 10.1007/s10714-008-0728-z. I get the impression that Weinberg is focused more on teaching himself than the reader as he cranks through all the equations in gory detail. On the other hand Weinberg is comprehensive, and his views are magisterial. For example, on page 476 he addresses how quantum fluctuations must somehow decohere to become the classical fluctuations we see today, an issue rarely mentioned elsewhere.

Standard Model
- John C. Baez & John Huerta (2010) The Algebra of Grand Unified Theories Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 47, 483–552 arXiv:0904.1556 doi: 10.1090/S0273-0979-10-01294-2. A pedagogical account of the Standard Model and Grand Unification.
- Michael E. Peskin & Daniel V. Schroeder (1995) An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory (Perseus Books) doi: 10.1201/9780429503559. A canonical textbook on quantum field theory. Simultaneously hand-wavy and thorough.
- Steven Weinberg (1995) The Quantum Theory of Fields, Vols I, II & III (Cambridge University Press) doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139644167. A comprehensive and authoritative set of books. Quintessential Weinberg.

String Theory
- Brian Greene (1999) The Elegant Universe (Vintage Books, New York) 448 pages. This deservedly best-selling popular book on String Theory elevated Brian Greene into a celebrity.
- Becker, Becker & Schwarz (2007) String theory and M-theory: A modern introduction (Cambridge University Press) doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511816086. The most accessible of the graduate-level texts.
- Green, Schwarz & Witten (1987) Superstring Theory, Vols I & II (Cambridge University Press) doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139248563. The classic text.
- Polchinski (1998) String Theory, Vols I & II (Cambridge University Press) doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511816079. Another classic; not the most readable.

Updated 2026 Jan 8