The sky at Einstein's feet / William C. Keel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Keel, W. C. (William C.)

Series:

Springer-Praxis books in popular astronomy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

General relativity (Physics)--Popular works.

Astrophysics--Popular works.

Astrophysics.

General relativity (Physics).

Genre:

Popular works.

Physical Description:

xiii, 246 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : Springer ; Chichester, UK : Published in association with Praxis Publishing, [2006]

Summary:

One Hundred years ago, Albert Einstein published his Special Theory of Relativity. In the century following his breakthrough, his insights have illuminated astronomical discovery. This book shows how deeply relativity has informed our interpretation of the Universe, and how many of the amazing discoveries of the last one hundred years can be interpreted properly only in the light of relativity.

Contents:

1 The sky at Einstein's feet 1

2 Bookkeeping at the speed of light 11

2.1 Looking out is looking back 11

2.2 Looking sideways to catch the light 13

2.3 Echoes in Einstein's Universe 14

2.4 The message of light 21

2.5 Echoes in quasars 26

2.6 What we see and what we get 31

2.7 Faster than light? 37

2.8 Gamma-ray beams - small and large 42

2.9 Microquasars have minijets 52

2.10 The Crab does the wave 64

2.11 Does the Universe lie at the starbow's end? 67

3 Relativistic Matter 71

3.1 White dwarfs 72

3.2 Neutron stars 78

3.3 Atom smashers and radio telescopes 85

3.4 Cosmic rays - particles with punch 90

3.5 Synchrotron radiation from the galaxies 94

4 From shifting stars to multiple quasars 97

4.1 "Lights all askew in the heavens" 98

4.2 The unlikely cast of lensing theorists 102

4.3 Lensing revealed - the double quasar 107

5 Through the gravitational telescope 121

5.1 Quasars double, triple, quadruple, and sextuple 121

5.2 Through the lens of serendipity 125

5.3 Lenses, time, and distance 131

5.4 Dots, arcs, and rings 133

5.5 Galaxies like grains of... putty 137

5.6 Realizing Zwicky's dream 141

5.7 Gravitational microlensing - back to stars 148

6 The stars themselves 165

6.1 Nuclear alchemy - written in the stars 173

7 Extreme spacetime bending: black holes 179

7.1 The river of spacetime 179

7.2 Black holes in the mind's eye 180

7.3 Black-hole hunting I: one star at a time 184

7.4 Black-hole hunting II: the hidden center of the Milky Way 189

7.5 Black-hole hunting III: the black hearts of galaxies 196

8 The shape of Einstein's Universe 205

8.1 Edwin Hubble and the galaxies 209

8.2 Climbing the distance ladder 216

8.3 Old uncertainties and new facts 221

8.4 Deep background 227

8.5 The deceleration is negative 231

9 The view from Einstein's shoulders 237.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0387261303

OCLC:

61424932