100 years of relativity : space-time structure : Einstein and beyond / editor, Abhay Ashtekar.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ashtekar, Abhay.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Relativity (Physics).

Space and time.

Physical Description:

xvi, 510 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Other Title:

One hundred years of relativity

Hundred years of relativity

Place of Publication:

Hackensack, N.J. : World Scientific, [2005]

Summary:

Thanks to Einstein's relativity theories, our notions of space and time underwent profound revisions about a 100 years ago. The resulting interplay between geometry and physics has dominated all of fundamental physics since then. This volume contains contributions from leading researchers, worldwide, who have thought deeply about the nature and consequences of this interplay. The articles take a long-range view of the subject and distill the most important advances in broad terms, making them easily accessible to non-specialists. The first part is devoted to a summary of how relativity theories were born (J. Stachel). The second part discusses the most dramatic ramifications of general relativity, such as black holes (P. Chrusciel and R. Price), space-time singularities (H. Nicolai and A. Rendall), gravitational waves (P. Laguna and P. Saulson), the large scale structure of the cosmos (T. Padmanabhan); experimental status of this theory (C. Will) as well as its practical application to the GPS system (N. Ashby). The last part looks beyond Einstein and provides glimpses into what is in store for us in the 21st century. Contributions here include summaries of radical changes in the notions of space and time that are emerging from quantum field theory in curved space-times (Ford), string theory (T. Banks), loop quantum gravity (A. Ashtekar), quantum cosmology (M. Bojowald), discrete approaches (Dowker, Gambini and Pullin) and twistor theory (R. Penrose). Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I From Newton to Einstein: Paradigm Shifts 1

1 Development of the Concepts of Space, Time and Space-Time from Newton to Einstein / J. Stachel 3

Part II Einstein's Universe: Ramifications of General Relativity 37

2 Gravitational Billiards, Dualities and Hidden Symmetries / H. Nicolai 39

3 The Nature of Spaceime Singularities / A. D. Rendall 76

4 Black Holes - An Introduction / P. T. Chrusciel 93

5 The Physical Basis of Black Hole Astrophysics / R. H. Price 124

6 Probing Space-Time Through Numerical Simulations / P. Laguna 152

7 Understanding Our Universe: Current Status and Open Issues / T. Padmanabhan 175

8 Was Einstein Right? Testing Relativity at the Centenary / C. M. Will 205

9 Receiving Gravitational Waves / P. R. Saulson 228

10 Relativity in the Global Positioning System / N. Ashby 257

Part III Beyond Einstein: Unifying General Relativity with Quantum Physics 291

11 Spacetime in Semiclassical Gravity / L. H. Ford 293

12 Space Time in String Theory / T. Banks 311

13 Quantum Geometry and Its Ramifications / A. Ashtekar 350

14 Loop Quantum Cosmology / M. Bojowald 382

15 Consistent Discrete Space-Time / R. Gambini, J. Pullin 415

16 Causal Sets and the Deep Structure of Spacetime / F. Dowker 445

17 The Twistor Approach to Space-Time Structures / R. Penrose 465.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9812563946

OCLC:

64386077

Publisher Number:

9789812563941