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Proceedings of the 16th Intl Conference held July 15-21, 2001 in Durban, South Africa. For researchers and research students in general relativity, relativistic astrophysics, cosmology, experimental gravity and quantum gravity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

mostly theoretical
Well, we're still looking for gravity waves. This is one of the conclusions from the conference proceedings in 2001, held in South Africa. A fairly small conference, as these things go in science. But the field is very specialised, with no practical applications.

Most of the papers are theoretical. Giving progress into solving Einstein's Field Equations for various astronomical systems. There is one paper co-authored by Kip Thorne, who is probably the best known researcher in this book. The paper speculates on various gravitational wave sources that might be present.

Some papers are experimental. Just a handful. Perhaps reflecting how hard it is to actually detect those waves. ... Read more

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This volume introduces the application of two-component spinorcalculus and fibre-bundle theory to complex general relativity. Areview of basic and important topics is presented, such astwo-component spinor calculus, conformal gravity, twistor spaces forMinkowski space-time and for curved space-time, Penrose transform forgravitation, the global theory of the Dirac operator in Riemannianfour-manifolds, various definitions of twistors in curved space-timeand the recent attempt by Penrose to define twistors as spin-3/2charges in Ricci-flat space-time. Original results include somegeometrical properties of complex space-times with nonvanishingtorsion, the Dirac operator with locally supersymmetric boundaryconditions, the application of spin-loweringand spin-raisingoperators to elliptic boundary value problems, and the Dirac andRarita--Schwinger forms of spin-3/2 potentials applied in realRiemannian four-manifolds with boundary.
This book is written for students and research workers interested inclassical gravity, quantum gravity and geometrical methods in fieldtheory. It can also be recommended as a supplementary graduatetextbook.
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A famous result of Christodoulou and Klainerman is the global nonlinear stability of Minkowski spacetime. In this book, Bieri and Zipser provide two extensions to this result. In the first part, Bieri solves the Cauchy problem for the Einstein vacuum equations with more general, asymptotically flat initial data, and describes precisely the asymptotic behavior. In particular, she assumes less decay in the power of $r$ and one less derivative than in the Christodoulou-Klainerman result. She proves that in this case, too, the initial data, being globally close to the trivial data, yields a solution which is a complete spacetime, tending to the Minkowski spacetime at infinity along any geodesic. In contrast to the original situation, certain estimates in this proof are borderline in view of decay, indicating that the conditions in the main theorem on the decay at infinity on the initial data are sharp. In the second part, Zipser proves the existence of smooth, global solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell equations. A nontrivial solution of these equations is a curved spacetime with an electromagnetic field. To prove the existence of solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell equations, Zipser follows the argument and methodology introduced by Christodoulou and Klainerman. To generalize the original results, she needs to contend with the additional curvature terms that arise due to the presence of the electromagnetic field $F$; in her case the Ricci curvature of the spacetime is not identically zero but rather represented by a quadratic in the components of $F$. In particular the Ricci curvature is a constant multiple of the stress-energy tensor for $F$. Furthermore, the traceless part of the Riemann curvature tensor no longer satisfies the homogeneous Bianchi equations but rather inhomogeneous equations including components of the spacetime Ricci curvature. Therefore, the second part of this book focuses primarily on the derivation of estimates for the new terms that arise due to the presence of the electromagnetic field. ... Read more

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Based upon the proceedings of the First International Conference on the History of General Relativity, held at Boston University's Osgood Hill Conference Center, North Andover, Massachusetts, 8-11 May 1986, this volume brings together essays by twelve prominent historians and philosophers of science and physicists. The topics range from the development of general relativity (John Norton, John Stachel) and its early reception (Carlo Cattani, Michelangelo De Maria, Anne Kox), through attempts to understand the physical implications of the theory (Jean Eisenstaedt, Peter Havas) and to quantize it (Peter G. Bergmann), to elaborations of the theory into a unified theory of electromagnetism and gravitation (Vladimir P. Vizgin, Michel Biezunski), and considerations of its cosmological extensions (Pierre Kerszberg, George F.R. Ellis).

This is the first volume to survey many of the most important questions in the history of general relativity, with many of the contributions drawing upon such original resources as the Einstein Archive. It is hoped that it will stimulate much-needed further research in this hitherto neglected area.

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This volume provides an overview of progress in gravitational physics. Recent theoretical, experimental and observational results are reported in this exciting field. The book is based on the plenary, invited and contributred papers presented at the biennial conference of the Italian Society of General Relativity and Gravitation (SIGRAV) held in Rome, 9 - 12 September 2002. Topics covered include general relativity, quantum gravity, relativistic astrophysics, cosmology and experimental gravitation. ... Read more

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Devoted to the history of general relativity, this text provides reviews from scholars all over the world. Many of the papers originated at the Third International Conference on the History of General Relativity, held at the University of Pittsburgh in the summer of 1991. Topics covered include: disputes with Einstein; the empirical basis of general relativity; variational principles in general relativity; the reception and development of general relativity; and cosmology and general relativity. ... Read more

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Cosmology deals with the nature of the universe. It can be broadly divided into three great ages. The first began in the 6th century BC with the Pythagorean concept of a spherical Earth that is part of a universe in which the motions of the planets are governed by the harmonious relations of natural laws. The second began in the 16th century with the Copernican revolution. This in turn led into Newton's infinite universe. The third began in the early 20th century with Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity and developed into the expanding universe we know today.Einstein's general theory of relativity extended the new space and time concepts of the special theory of relativity from the domain of electric and magnetic phenomena to all of physics and, particularly, to the theory of gravitation. By building on Einstein's previous work on special relativity, general relativity sought to deal with accelerating frames of reference. This in turn led to the principle of equivalence. By dealing with accelerating frames of reference, general relativity provides astronomers with the best theory to predict the effects of gravity.This book examines in detail new and important work in this field. ... Read more

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Because of the vicissitudes of history, the general theory of relativity has never been consistently explored to ascertain whether, in its realm of exact validity, it predicts phenomena which have no counterparts in the Newtonian limit, that is in the limit in which the velocity of light may be considered infinite. Thus, while recent interest in physics has concentrated on such 'frontier areas' as quantum gravity and cosmology, there has also been a quiet but steady progress in the classical domain.The five papers collected in this volume, and presented under the editorship of the famed Nobel Laureate S. Chandrasekhar, illustrate the nature of these advances.Each of them represents developments in areas both of physics and mathematics which disclose unanticipated findings that illustrate the special character of work in these areas.Astrophysicists and mathematical relativists will welcome this unique look at ongoing research. ... Read more

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In 1997, amid much fanfare, Leo Corry announced to theworld that he had uncovered proof that Albert Einstein arrived at thegenerally covariant field equations of gravitation, before DavidHilbert. Leo Corry joined with Juergen Renn and John Stachel andpublished an article in the journal "Science" arguing againstHilbert's priority. Their claims were largely based on a set ofprinter's proofs of David Hilbert's 20 November 1915 Goettingenlecture, which Corry had uncovered. However, in this 1997 article,"Belated Decision in the Hilbert-Einstein Priority Dispute," Corry,Renn and Stachel failed to disclose the fact that these printer'sproofs were mutilated, and are missing a critical part. Fulldisclosure of the facts reveals that even in their mutilated state,these proofs prove that Hilbert had a generally covariant theory ofgravitation before Einstein, and that Einstein plagiarized theseequations from Hilbert. The author of "Albert Einstein: The Incorrigible Plagiarist" focuses in on the general theory of relativity anddiscredits the baseless historical revisionism of Leo Corry, JuergenRenn and John Stachel. The direct comparison of primary sourcematerial demonstrates that Albert Einstein did not originate thetheory of relativity. Formal mathematical proofs explain how Einsteinwas forced to fudge his equations in order to derive the results PaulGerber and Johann Georg von Soldner had published long beforehim. Einstein did not yet have the benefit of plagiarizing DavidHilbert's generally covariant field equations of gravitation and wasoperating under an erroneous assumption. An extensive history of theprinciple of equivalence proves that Einstein plagiarized thisidea. The book reprints the relevant papers by Einstein, Soldner,Gerber, and Hilbert, as well as the remainder of David Hilbert'smutilated printer's proofs of his article "The Foundations ofPhysics". While the book presents the mathematical proofs needed to justify its claims, the non-mathematical reader will find it rich in prose and will be able to follow the arguments and the history presented. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Let sleeping dogs lie
Many people may have been misled by the tactless and prejudiced account of the history of the Hilbert-Einstein equations of gravity published in 1997 by Leo Corry (Cohn Institute, University of Tel-Aviv) and John Stachel (Director of the Center of Einstein Studies, Boston). The "objectivity" of that account is well demonstrated by the fact that Corry and Stachel "forgot" to mention that the set of galley proofs of the fundamental Hilbert's paper that they analyzed was incomplete and was missing a critical part. The wonderful book by Bjerknes is a perfect remedy to Corry and Stachel's "discovery" and their attempt to further cultivate the cult of personality of Einstein at the expense of Hilbert. The book is thoroughly and meticulously documented and leaves only one way to counter it: by silencing it or by labeling the author as Einstein-hater (or worse) and changing the subject. Especially valuable is the section reproducing the original publications, including the (incomplete) galley proofs of the Hilbert's paper. If after having read this book someone still thinks that Corry and Stachel understand physics well enough to write about the history of general relativity then I would recommend the paper by A. A. Logunov et al., "How were the Hilbert-Einstein equations discovered?" Physics-Uspekhi, vol. 47, pp. 607-621 (2004) (in English). ... Read more

Product Description
Cosmology deals with the nature of the universe. It can be broadly divided into three great ages. The first began in the 6th century BC with the Pythagorean concept of a spherical Earth that is part of a universe in which the motions of the planets are governed by the harmonious relations of natural laws. The second began in the 16th century with the Copernican revolution. This in turn led into Newton's infinite universe. The third began in the early 20th century with Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity and developed into the expanding universe we know today. Einstein's general theory of relativity extended the new space and time concepts of the special theory of relativity from the domain of electric and magnetic phenomena to all of physics and, particularly, to the theory of gravitation. By building on Einstein's previous work on special relativity, general relativity sought to deal with accelerating frames of reference. This in turn led to the principle of equivalence. By dealing with accelerating frames of reference, general relativity provides astronomers with the best theory to predict the effects of gravity.This book examines in detail new and important work in this field. ... Read more