This book provides a concise introduction to the special theory of relativity and the general theory of relativity. The format has been chosen to provide the basis for a single semester course that can take the students all the way from the foundations of special relativity to the core results of general relativity: the Einstein equation, and the equations of motion for particles and light in curved spacetime. To facilitate access to the topics of special and general relativity for science and engineering students, without prior training in relativity or geometry, the relevant geometric notions are also introduced.

Prior to the 1920s it was generally thought, with a few exceptions, that our galaxy, the Milky Way, was the entire universe. Based on the work of Henrietta Leavitt with Cepheid variables, astronomer Edwin Hubble was able to determine that others had to lie outside our own. This books looks at 60 of those that possess some unusual qualities that make them of particular interest, from supermassive black holes and colliding galaxies to powerful radio sources.

In the field of particle and astrophysics one of the major unresolved problems is to understand the nature and properties of dark matter, which constitutes almost 80% of the matter content of the universe. This book gives a pedagogical introduction to the field of dark matter in general, and in particular to the model building perspective. This book focuses on teaching the basic tools for model building of dark matter, and it aims to motivate the reader to propose a new dark matter model.

This book provides a unified treatment of the characteristics of telescopes of all types, both those whose performance is set by geometrical aberrations and the effect of the atmosphere, and those diffraction-limited telescopes designed for observations from above the atmosphere. The emphasis throughout is on basic principles, such as Fermat's principle, and their application to optical systems specifically designed to image distant celestial sources.
The book also contains thorough discussions of the principles underlying all spectroscopic instrumentation, with special emphasis on grating instruments used with telescopes. An introduction to adaptive optics provides the needed background for further inquiry into this rapidly developing area.

* Geometrical aberration theory based on Fermat's principle
* Diffraction theory and transfer function approach to near-perfect telescopes
* Thorough discussion of 2-mirror telescopes, including misalignments
* Basic principles of spectrometry; grating and echelle instruments
* Schmidt and other catadioptric telescopes
* Principles of adaptive optics
* Over 220 figures and nearly 90 summary tables

The invention of the semiconductor laser along with silica glass fiber has enabled an incredible revolution in global communication infrastructure of direct benefit to all. Development of devices and system concepts that exploit the same fundamental light-matter interaction continues. Researchers and technologists are pursuing a broad range of emerging applications, everything from automobile collision avoidance to secure quantum key distribution. This book sets out to summarize key aspects of semiconductor laser device physics and principles of laser operation. It provides a convenient reference and essential knowledge to be understood before exploring more sophisticated device concepts. The contents serve as a foundation for scientists and engineers, without the need to invest in specialized detailed study. Supplementary material in the form of MATLAB is available for numerically generated figures.

Black holes entered the world of science fiction and films in the 1960s, and their popularity in our culture remains today. The buzz surrounding black holes was and is due, in large part, to their speculative nature. It is still difficult for the general public to determine fact versus fiction as it pertains to this terrifying idea: something big enough to swallow anything and everything in close proximity, with a gravitational force so strong that nothing, including light, can escape. In the fall of 2015, scientists at the Laser Interferometry Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected the first sounds from black holes, brought to earth by the gravitational waves that emitted from the merging of two black holes 1.4 billion light years away in space. This confirmed the existence of gravitational waves, which Albert Einstein predicted in 1916. In the spring of 2017, physicists and astronomers who were working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project captured the first image of a black hole. This was the supermassive black hole hosted by the galaxy M87 in the constellation Virgo, 53 million light years away, and the image shows the shadow the black hole casts upon the bright light surrounding it. In this book, John Moffat shares the history of black holes and presents the latest research into these mysterious celestial objects, including the astounding results from gravitational wave detection and the shadow of the black hole.

This thesis provides new insights into the seemingly anomalous ubiquity of lithium-rich red giant stars. The theory of stellar evolution, one of the most successful models of modern astrophysics, predicts that red giant stars should display negligible levels of lithium (Li) on their surfaces. However, Li-rich giants, defined as those showing more than three times the Li content of the Sun, are found everywhere astronomers look in apparent defiance of established theory. The author addresses this problem, analyzing the different possible explanations for such an anomaly, which include interaction with a binary companion, the production of Li in the interior of the star with its subsequent transport to stellar exteriors, and the stellar interaction with planets. The author focuses on this last possibility, where the Li enrichment may be due to the ingestion of planets or brown dwarfs as the stars in question grew in size while becoming giants. She shows that this process is indeed able to explain an important fraction of giants with Li levels above the three times solar threshold, but that some other mechanism is needed to explain the remaining fraction. While this is an important discovery in its own right, the result that makes this thesis groundbreaking is its demonstration that the threshold between Li-normal and Li-rich is mass dependent rather than a fixed proportion of the Sun's content. This corrects a fundamental misapprehension of the phenomenon and opens up a new framework in which to understand and solve the problem. Finally, the author presents interesting observational applications and samples with which to test this new approach to the problem of Li enrichment in giants.

The invention of the semiconductor laser along with silica glass fiber has enabled an incredible revolution in global communication infrastructure of direct benefit to all. Development of devices and system concepts that exploit the same fundamental light-matter interaction continues. Researchers and technologists are pursuing a broad range of emerging applications, everything from automobile collision avoidance to secure quantum key distribution. This book sets out to summarize key aspects of semiconductor laser device physics and principles of laser operation.

Our Universe is amazing. This is its story, told in simple language. The story tells how the Universe came to be what it is today. It starts with the Big Bang and describes how stars, black holes, and our solar system developed. It explores the evolution of life on Earth and investigates the possibility of extra-terrestrial life. It peers into the future and wonders about the Universe's likely old age and death, or whatever else may be its end. The challenge the book takes up is to explain all of this, including some of the astonishing concepts we have in science, such as Einstein's theories of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, using virtually no mathematics and without dumbing-down. All are described narratively and explained using examples and anecdotes. The book is written for young people with a thirst for learning about the science of space, as well as for 'grown-ups' who want a better understanding of this fascinating subject.

This book highlights a major advance in low-energy scattering theory: the Multi-Channel Algebraic Scattering (MCAS) theory, which represents an attempt to unify structure and reaction theory. It solves the Lippmann-Schwinger equations for low-energy nucleon-nucleus and alpha-nucleus scattering in momentum space, allowing both the bound and scattering states in the compound nucleus formed to be described. Results of various cases are presented and discussed.

This monograph traces the development of our understanding of how and where energetic particles are accelerated in the heliosphere and how they may reach the Earth. Detailed data sets are presented which address these topics. The bulk of the observations are from spacecraft in or near the ecliptic plane. It is timely to present this subject now that Voyager-1 has entered the true interstellar medium. Since it seems unlikely that there will be a follow-on to the Voyager programme any time soon, the data we already have regarding the outer heliosphere are not going to be enhanced for at least 40 years.

It's happening now-plans are being formulated under the coordination of NASA to launch a permanent, manned space station by the year 1990. Studies surveying user requirements, system attributes, and architectural options have been conducted, and you're on the top of these far-reaching considerations on the next big step taken within space! Now that the Shuttle and Spacelab are realities, NASA has set sights on a new horizon-a permanent, manned space station in the high frontier. The precedents have been set-Skylab hosted human visits for up to 84 days, and the Soviet's Salyut was and is a temporary base for cosmonaut crew. The differences are the term and scope of space station living and the accomplishments that can be realized with a permanent site and continuous experimentation within its facilities. Brian O'Leary, writer, astrophysicist, and former astronaut, describes the "tinkermodules" that will be carried to the earth's orbit to be assembled as a space station. His inside track information also lay

The prospectus of humans living, working, and establishing communities in space can no longer be dismissed as the romantic notions of science fiction writers and space buffs. With the launch of the space shuttle human kind will enter a new era in space exploration, one giant step closer to the goal of human colonization. Our understanding of man's role in space is maturing, and the myths of life in space as a slick Buck Rogers episode or a scene from Star Wars must give way to a realistic plan for human life in other part of the solar system. We are ready now for a factual assessment of the challenges ahead: in Toward Distant Suns, the prospects of space exploration and space colonization have come of age. Here, for the first time, is a realistic look at what humankind must accomplish in order to colonize near space. Based on the most up-to-date research available, Toward Distant Suns tackles the problems of technology and lifestyle that will face those men and women whose mission is to settle space. Here is realistic, in-depth coverage of: space shuttle's role in near space construction, development of new, more versatile rocket fuels and motors, building the large communications platforms, power satellites the "Space Spider," and space colonies, the space workers-how they will be chosen, trained, and transported; life in zero-g-space tourism and space war; "suburbanizing" space earth dwellers; the real future of interstellar colonization. Toward Distant Suns also takes a new look at the tantalizing question: What is our place in the galaxy? It reviews the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence experiments, the latest work on interstellar flight and colonization, and the current scientific information on planetary formation and humanoid development, to reach the startling conclusion: Mankind may be unique and along.

Mass human migrations into outer space may begin this century! Are Earth's inhabitants prepared for this next giant leap? Millions of tax dollars are being employed in NASA and Defense Department research facilities to answer this urgent question. Can humankind migrate to space intelligently, in a civilized manner without real Star Wars? Are these justifiable economic, political, and philosophical reasons for undertaking such a vast project? What legal and institutional implications will surface in distinguishing Earthkind from Spacekind? The immediate and long-range effects of space migration-on earth and its inhabitants, on the solar system and its pioneers-are brought into sharp focus here, within the perspective of the heated debates now taking place in the highest government, scientific, business, and academic circles. From the development of the space shuttle Enterprise and the uses and objectives of the Space Transportation System to the U.S. and Soviet space arsenals of hunter-killer satellites and

The authors of this volume have been intimately connected with the conception of Big Bang model since 1947. They present a picture of what is now believed to be state-of-the-art knowledge about the evolution of the expanding universe and delineate the story of the development of the Big Bang model as they have seen and lived it from their own unique vantage point.

This thesis presents a pioneering method for gleaning the maximum information from the deepest images of the far-infrared universe obtained with the Herschel satellite, reaching galaxies fainter by an order of magnitude than in previous studies. Using these high-quality measurements, the author first demonstrates that the vast majority of galaxy star formation did not take place in merger-driven starbursts over 90% of the history of the universe, which suggests that galaxy growth is instead dominated by a steady infall of matter. The author further demonstrates that massive galaxies suffer a gradual decline in their star formation activity, providing an alternative path for galaxies to stop star formation. One of the key unsolved questions in astrophysics is how galaxies acquired their mass in the course of cosmic time. In the standard theory, the merging of galaxies plays a major role in forming new stars. Then, old galaxies abruptly stop forming stars through an unknown process. Investigating this theory requires an unbiased measure of the star formation intensity of galaxies, which has been unavailable due to the dust obscuration of stellar light.

This book provides detailed calculated values for the thermal radiative and thermodynamic functions of black-body radiation in finite spectral ranges. The results are presented in tabular form. The areas of thermal power generation, infrared medical diagnostics, solar power and nuclear generation, and astrophysics are included. A range of the thermal radiative and thermodynamic functions are calculated by the authors in the finite frequency/wavenumber/wavelength intervals at different temperatures. This book also contains the tables of the chromaticity coordinates and RGB parameters calculated for different color spaces (Rec.709 (HDTV), sRGB, Adobe RGB). A number of the optimization problems is formulated and solved for various thermal black-body radiative and thermodynamic functions in a finite range of frequencies.

This book uses new data from the very low radio frequency telescope LOFAR to analyse the magnetic structure in the giant radio galaxy NGC6251. This analysis reveals that the magnetic field strength in the locality of this giant radio galaxy is an order of magnitude lower than in other comparable systems. Due to the observational limitations associated with capturing such huge astrophysical structures, giant radio galaxies are historically a poorly sampled population of objects; however, their preferential placement in the more rarefied regions of the cosmic web makes them a uniquely important probe of large-scale structures. In particular, the polarisation of the radio emissions from giant radio galaxies is one of the few tools available to us that can be used to measure magnetic fields in regions where the strength of those fields is a key differentiator for competing models of the origin of cosmic magnetism. Low frequency polarisation data are crucial for detailed analyses of magnetic structure, but they are also the most challenging type of observational data to work with. This book presents a beautifully coupled description of the technical and scientific analysis required to extract valuable information from such data and, as the new generation of low frequency radio telescopes reveals the larger population of giant radio galaxies, it offers a significant resource for future analyses.