17 readable articles give a thorough and self-contained overview of recent developments in relativistic gravity research. The subjects covered are: gravitational lensing, the general relativistic n-body problem, observable effects in the solar system, gravitational waves and their interferometric detection, very-long-baseline interferometry, international atomic time, lunar laser- ranging measurements, measurement ofthe gravitomagnetic field of the Earth, fermion and boson stars and black holes with hair, rapidly rotating neutron stars, matter wave interferometry, and the laboratory test of Newton's law of gravity.Any scientist interested in experimentally or observatio- nally oriented relativistic gravity will read the book with profit. In addition, it is perfectly suited as a complementary text for courses on general relativity and relativistic astrophysics.

This Ph.D. thesis from the University of Birmingham UK opens new research avenues in the use of Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) to study populations of super-massive black hole binaries through gravitational-wave observations. Chiara Mingarelli's work has shown for the first time that PTAs can yield information about the non-linear dynamics of the gravitational field. This is possible because PTAs capture, at the same time, radiation from the same source emitted at stages of its binary evolution that are separated by thousands of years. Dr. Mingarelli, who is the recipient of a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship, has also been amongst the pioneers of the technique that will allow us to probe the level of anisotropy of the diffuse gravitational-wave background radiation from the whole population of super-massive black hole binaries in the Universe. Indeed, future observations will provide us with hints about the distribution of galaxies harboring massive black holes and insights into end products of hierarchical mergers of galaxies.

Observations with X-ray satellite ROSAT over the past 5 years have established supersoft X-ray sources as a new class of objects in our Galaxy and beyond. Optical follow-up observations have revealed the binary nature of several of them. Recent population synthesis calculations have shown that the number of such binaries is expected to be considerably larger than those of the common low- and high-mass X-ray binaries. This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the many recent observational discoveries and theoretical investigations. It describes relations between supersoft sources and other areas in astrophysics. This volume also comprises a complete catalog of presently known supersoft sources including a comprehensive bibliography of observational results.

From June 7-9, 1995, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Max Plank Institut fiir Astrophysik (MPA) jointly held the Workshop on Spiral Galaxies in the Near-IR. This meeting took place at the ESO headquarters in Garching bei Miinchen, Germany. The weather waschanging, with the biergarten closed, but that did not stop 85 people from allover the world from attending the meeting. The three days were intensive, with talks and coffee and posters from 9 am to 6 pm, and very productive indeed for everyone. The topics covered the stellar populations of the Milky Way and other more distant spirals, the role of dust, the dynamics of spiral galaxies, and the nuclear activity seen at near-IR wavelengths. This volume presents the original contributions from the participants, including several papers that review the state-of-the-art knowledge in these various subjects. The editors would like to thank first and foremost Christina Stoffer, for she took care of everything. The meeting would not have been so successful without her expertise and efficiency. We are deeply indebted to the directors of MPA and ESO Science, Simon White and Jacqueline Bergeron, for their support and encouragement. We would also like to thank the other members of the scientific organizing committee: R. Genzel, K. Freeman, A. Moorwood, S. White, M. Rieke and E. Athannasoula, for their advice with the organization of the program. We also thank G. Rieke, R. Genzel, L. Athannasoula, A. Renzini and R.

The idea of a joint ESO / Australia meeting on the large number of exciting new facilities that are, or will soon be, available tihne southern hemisphere arose quite naturally. In the optical and the near-infrared, the Very Large Telescope (VLT) will soon be operational. In the radio, the Australia Telescope Com pact Array is going to be upgraded to higher frequencies (20 and 100 GHz), together with an improvement in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) facil ities. Other major facilities, such as the Large Millimetre Array and the lkT are being planned. Moreover, new deep surveys are underway in the southern hemi sphere: the southern Hubble Deep Field, the ESO Imaging Survey (BIS), pan oramic deep surveys with the UK Schmidt telescope, and the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) 2dF galaxy/QSO redshift survey in the optical; and the Parkes multibeam HI survey and Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST) Wide Field continuum survey at radio wavelengths. With all these new facilities, important progress will be made regarding important issues such as the large scale structure of the universe, the very early universe and the associated first epoch of galaxy formation. The generation of large databases, and the oppor tunity for sensitive follow-up observations in complementary wavebands, mean that coordinated radio, infrared and optical projects in the southern hemisphere are likely to become increasingly attractive and important.

Cosmology has dramatically evolved during the last decade and there has been vast development of, e.g., theories of galaxy formation in connection with the early universe or gravitational lensing. These new developments motivated the editors to organize a school covering all of these ideas and observations in a pedagogical way. The topics covered in the 26 lectures of this summer school include: QSO absorption systems, identification of objects at high redshift, radiogalaxies, galaxy formation and evolution, galaxy number counts, clustering, theories of structure formation, large-scale structure and streaming motions, gravitational lensing, and spectrum and anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation. Observational developments, data analysis, and theoretical aspects are equally treated.

In this volume the full range of astrophysical maser research is covered, with contributions from many of the foremost researchers in the field. The topics include masers in star-forming, circumstellar and extragalactic environments, solar system masers, newly discovered masing transitions, variability, proper-motion studies, and theory. Since this was the first ever conference devoted exclusively to astrophysical masers, these proceedings provide a reference for this field which has not previously been available. "Astrophysical Masers" will be useful both to those who wish to study the physics of masers, and to those who wish to better understand the astrophysically important regions with which they are associated.

Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882-1944) was a key figure in the development of modern astrophysics, who also made important contributions to the philosophy of science and popular science writing. The Arthur Eddington Memorial Trust was set up after his death in order to hold annual lectures on the relationship between scientific thought and aspects of philosophy, religion or ethics. This 2012 collection gathers together six of these lectures, including contributions by Sir Edmund Whittaker, Herbert Dingle, Richard B. Braithwaite, John C. Eccles, Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, and Baroness Mary Warnock, together with Eddington's 1929 Swarthmore Lecture on Science and the Unseen World. A preface written by the Astronomer Royal, Baron Rees of Ludlow, is also included. This is a fascinating book that will be of value to anyone with an interest in the philosophy of science and Eddington's legacy.

Nanodust and nanometer-sized structures are important components of many objects in space. Nanodust is observed in evolved stars, young stellar objects, protoplanetary disks, and dust debris disks. Within the solar system, nanodust is observed with in-situ experiments from spacecraft. Nanometer-sized substructures are found in the collected cometary and interplanetary dust particles and in meteorites. Understanding the growth and destruction of dust, its internal evolution, as well as the optical properties and the detection of nanoparticles is of fundamental importance for astrophysical research. This book provides a focused description of the current state of research and experimental results concerning nanodust in the solar system. It addresses three major questions: What is nanodust? How was it discovered in the solar system? And how do we interpret the observations? The book serves as a self-contained reference work for space researchers and provides solid information on nanodust in cosmic environments for researchers working in astrophysics or in other fields of physics.

For nearly sixty years, radio observations have provided a unique insight into the physics of the active and quiescent solar atmosphere. Thanks to the variety of emission mechanisms and to the large altitude range available to observations, fundamental plasma parameters have been measured from the low chromosphere to the upper corona and interplanetary medium. This book presents current research in solar radio astronomy and shows how well it fits in the exceptional scientific context brought by the current space solar observatories. It essentially contains contributed research and review papers presented during the 2010 Community of European Solar Radio Astronomers (CESRA) meeting, which took place in Belgium in June 2010. This book is aimed at graduate students and researchers working in solar physics and space science. Previously published in Solar Physics journal, Vol. 273/2, 2011.

Astronomy isthemostancientsciencehumanshavepracticedonEarth. Itisascienceofextremesandoflargenumbers:extremesoftime-fromthe big bang to in?nity -, of distances, of temperatures, of density and masses, ofmagnetic?eld,etc.Itisasciencewhichishighlyvisible,notonlybecause stars and planets are accessible in the sky to the multitude, but also - cause the telescopes themselves are easily distinguishable, usually on top of scenic mountains, and also because their cost usually represent a subst- tialproportionofthenation'sbudgetandofthetaxpayerscontributionsto that budget. As such, astronomy cannot pass unnoticed. It touches on the origins of matter, of the Universe where we live, on life and on our destiny. It touches on philosophy as well as on religion. Astronomy is the direct c- tactofhumankindwithitsoriginsandtheimmensityofuniversalnature.It is indeed a science of observation where experimentation is practically - possible and which is ruled by mathematics, physics, chemistry, statistical analysis and modelling, while o?ering the largest number of veri?cations of the most advanced theories of fundamental physics such as general r- st ativity and gravitation. At the beginning of the 21 century astronomy is clearly a multidisciplinary activity touching on all aspects of science. It is therefore logical that in the past and still now, astronomy has attracted the most famous scientists, be they pure observers, mathematicians, physicists, biologists, experimentalists, and even politicians.

Luminous hot stars represent the extreme upper mass end of normal stellar evolution. Before exploding as supernovae, they live out their lives of a few million years with prodigious outputs of radiation and stellar winds, dramatically affecting both their evolution and environments. A detailed introduction to the topic, this book connects the astrophysics of massive stars with the extremes of galaxy evolution represented by starburst phenomena. A thorough discussion of the physical and wind parameters of massive stars is presented. HII galaxies, their connection to starburst galaxies, and the contribution of starburst phenomena to galaxy evolution through superwinds, are explored. The book concludes with the wider cosmological implications, including Population III stars, Lyman break galaxies and gamma-ray bursts, for each of which massive stars are believed to play a crucial role. This book is ideal for graduate students and researchers in astrophysics interested in luminous hot stars and galaxy evolution.

The solar atmosphere, above the Sun's surface layers, reaches mega-kelvin temperatures and high levels of dynamic activity through processes involving a pervading magnetic field. This book explores one of the principal means of understanding the solar atmosphere, its ultraviolet and soft X-ray emission. The ultraviolet and X-ray spectra of the Sun's atmosphere provide valuable information about its nature - the heat and density of its various parts, its dynamics, and chemical composition. The principles governing spectral line and continuous emission, and how spectral studies lead to deductions about physical properties, are described, together with spacecraft instrumentation from Skylab, SolarMax, Yohkoh, SOHO, TRACE, and Hinode. With introductions to atomic physics and diagnostic techniques used by solar spectroscopists, a list of emission lines in ultraviolet and soft X-ray regions, and a glossary of terms, this is an ideal reference for graduate students and researchers in astrophysics and solar physics.

The past two decades have seen remarkable advances in observations of sunspots and their magnetic fields, in imaging of spots and fields in distant stars and in associated theoretical models and numerical simulations. This book provides a comprehensive combined account of the properties of sunspots and starspots. It covers both observations and theory, and describes the intricate fine structure of a sunspot's magnetic field and the prevalence of polar spots on stars. The book includes a substantial historical introduction and treats solar and stellar magnetic activity, dynamo models of magnetic cycles, and the influence of solar variability on the Earth's magnetosphere and climate. This volume is a valuable reference for graduate students and specialists in solar and stellar physics, astronomers, geophysicists, space physicists and experts in fluid dynamics and plasma physics.

Sir Arthur Eddington (1882-1944) was both a key figure in the development of astrophysics during the early part of the twentieth century and a notable philosopher of science. Originally published in 1928, this book contains the substance of the Gifford Lectures which were delivered by Eddington at the University of Edinburgh in January to March 1927. The text discusses the philosophical outcome of fundamental changes in scientific thought related to areas such as the theory of relativity, quantum theory and thermodynamics. This is a highly insightful title that will be of value to anyone with an interest in Eddington, the development of physics and the philosophy of science.

This book is aimed at theoretical and mathematical physicists and mathematicians interested in modern gravitational physics. I have thus tried to use language familiar to readers working on classical and quantum gravity, paying attention both to difficult calculations and to existence theorems, and discussing in detail the current literature. The first aim of the book is to describe recent work on the problem of boundary conditions in one-loop quantum cosmology. The motivation of this research was to under stand whether supersymmetric theories are one-loop finite in the presence of boundaries, with application to the boundary-value problemsoccurring in quantum cosmology. Indeed, higher-loop calculations in the absence of boundaries are already available in the litera ture, showing that supergravity is not finite. I believe, however, that one-loop calculations in the presence of boundaries are more fundamental, in that they provide a more direct check of the inconsistency of supersymmetric quantum cosmology from the perturbative point of view. It therefore appears that higher-order calculations are not strictly needed, if the one-loop test already yields negative results. Even though the question is not yet settled, this research has led to many interesting, new applications of areas of theoretical and mathematical physics such as twistor theory in flat space, self-adjointness theory, the generalized Riemann zeta-function, and the theory of boundary counterterms in super gravity. I have also compared in detail my work with results by other authors, explaining, whenever possible, the origin of different results, the limits of my work and the unsolved problems."

This volume, together with its two companion volumes, originated in a study commis sioned by the United States National Academy of Sciences on behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A committee composed of Tom Holzer, Dimitri Mihalas, Roger Ulrich and myself was asked to prepare a comprehensive review of current knowledge concerning the physics of the sun. We were fortunate in being able to persuade many distinguished scientists to gather their forces for the preparation of 21 separate chapters covering not only. solar physics but also relevant areas of astrophysics and solar-terrestrial relations. In proved necessary to divide the chapters into three separate volumes that cover three different aspects of solar physics. Volumes I and III are concerned with "The Solar Interior" and with "Astrophysics and Solar-Terrestrial Relations." This volume, devoted to "The Solar Atmosphere," covers not only the chromosphere and corona but also the principal phenomena usually referred to as "solar activity." The emphasis is on identifying and analyzing the relevant physical processes, but each chapter also contains a great deal of descriptive material."

Investigation of the interplanetary dust cloud is characterized by contributions from quite different methods and fields, such as research on zodiacal light, meteors, micrometeoroids, asteroids, and comets. Since the earth's environment and interplanetary space became accessible to space vehicles these interrelations are clearly evident and extremely useful. Space measurements by micrometeoroid detectors, for example, provide individual and eventually detailed information on impact events, which however are limited in number and therefore restricted in statistical significance. On the other hand, zodiacal light measurements involve scattered light from many particles and therefore provide global information about the average values of physical properties and spatial distribution of interplanetary grains. Additional knowledge stems from lunar samples and from dust collections in the atmosphere and in deep sea sediments. All these sources of complementary information must be put together into a synoptical synthesis. This also has to take into account dynamical aspects and the results of laboratory investigations concerning physical properties of small grains. Such considerable effort is not merely an academic exercise for a few specialists interested in the solar dust cloud. Since this same cloud exclusively allows direct in-situ acess to investigate extraterrestrial dust particles over a wide range of sizes and materials, it provides valuable information for realistic treatment of dust phenomena in other remote cosmic regions such as in dense molecular clouds, circumstellar dust shells, and even protostellar or protoplanetary systems.

Proceedings of the 83rd Colloquium of the International Astronomical Union held in Rome, Italy, June 11-15, 1984

The next major step in millimetre astronomy, and one of the highest-priority items in radio astronomy today, is a large millimetre array with a collecting area 2 of up to 10 000 m . A project of this scale will almost certainly require inter national collaboration, at least within Europe, and possibly with other major partners elsewhere. In order to establish a focal point for this project within Europe, a study has been undertaken by the Institut de Radio Astronomie Mil Ii met rique (IRAM), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), The Onsala Space Observatory (OSO), and The Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy (NFRA). In the context of this project, a workshop attended by some 100 participants was held at ESO Garching on December 11-13, 1995 to discuss the scientific advances such an array will make possible. Throughout the three days of the workshop the strong enthusiasm for the concept of a large millimetre array in the southern hemisphere (the Large South ern Array, or LSA) was obvious, and it became clear that such a facility would have a profound impact on almost all areas of observational astrophysics. It was particularly clear that, since their main science drivers (cosmology, and the origins of galaxies, stars and planets) are the same, and their angular resolutions and sensitivities similar, the LSA and the VLT would strongly complement each other.

V. DOMINGO Space Science Department, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands The XIVth ESLAB Symposium on 'Physics of Solar Variations' was held in Scheveningen (The Netherlands) on 16-19 September, 1980. The objective of the symposium was to discuss from an interdisciplinary point of view the different types of changing phenomena that occur in the Sun and the effects that such changes may have on the Earth environment with the aim that a global look at the varying phenomena may improve the understanding of the underlying physical processes. Solar physicists of different background, investigators in solar radiometry and atmospheric scientists gathered to review the progress that has been made in the study of the different areas of solar variations. The proceedings of this symposium constitute an up-to-date collection of information on the variations of the Sun. The first and largest section of the proceedings is devoted to the physics of the Sun. An overview of how the observed variations contribute to the development of the theory of the solar structure is followed by several papers on recent results on the study of solar oscillations, a unique probe of Sun's interior. Several papers then summarise the theoretical and experimental efforts in the study of the solar magnetic cycle and its consequences. Finally the expansion of the corona with the formation of the solar wind and some characteristics of solar wind variations are described.

The book contains presentations of recent and ongoing research on inverse problems and its application to engineering and physical sciences. The articles are structured around three closely related topics: Inverse scattering problems, inverse boundary value problems, and inverse spectral problems. The applications range from quantum and electromagnetic scattering to medical imaging, geophysical sounding of the Earth, and non-destructive material evaluation. The book gives an up-to-date presentation of the most recent developments in these rapidlychanging and evolving fields of applied research. The contributors of the volume give extra emphysis to the pedagogical aspects of their presentation to make this collection eysily accessible to graduate students as well as to people working on nearby fields of research.

The enormous amounts of energy radiated from the active nuclei of galaxies vary on short time scales, and the emission regions are difficult to observe. To provide a complete understanding of these phenomena a wide variety of studies is presented in this volume. The contributions are broadly divided between line and continuum variability, with observational results, methodological approaches, and theoretical models accompanying each. The final part is devoted to the important aspect of propagation-induced variability.

This book treats the classical problem of gravitational physics within Einstein's theory of general relativity. It presents basic principles and equations needed to describe rotating fluid bodies, as well as black holes in equilibrium. It then goes on to deal with a number of analytically tractable limiting cases, placing particular emphasis on the rigidly rotating disc of dust. The book concludes by considering the general case using powerful numerical methods that are applied to various models, including the classical example of equilibrium figures of constant density. Researchers in general relativity, mathematical physics, and astrophysics will find this a valuable reference book on the topic. A related website containing codes for calculating various figures of equilibrium is available at www.cambridge.org/9781107407350.

The scope of the book is to give an overview of the history of astroparticle physics, starting with the discovery of cosmic rays (Victor Hess, 1912) and its background (X-ray, radioactivity). The book focusses on the ways in which physics changes in the course of this history. The following changes run parallel, overlap, and/or interact: - Discovery of effects like X-rays, radioactivity, cosmic rays, new particles but also progress through non-discoveries (monopoles) etc. - The change of the description of nature in physics, as consequence of new theoretical questions at the beginning of the 20th century, giving rise to quantum physics, relativity, etc. - The change of experimental methods, cooperations, disciplinary divisions. With regard to the latter change, a main topic of the book is to make the specific multi-diciplinary features of astroparticle physics clear.