What are the mysterious numbers that unlock the secrets of the universe? In Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them, leading theoretical physicist and YouTube star Antonio Padilla takes us on an irreverent cosmic tour of nine of the most extraordinary numbers in physics. These include Graham's number, which is so large that if you thought about it in the wrong way, your head would collapse into a singularity; TREE(3), whose finite value could never be reached before the universe reset itself; and 10^{-120}, which measures the desperately unlikely balance of energy the universe needs to exist. . . Leading us down the rabbit hole to the inner workings of reality, Padilla demonstrates how these unusual numbers are the key to unlocking such mind-bending phenomena as black holes, entropy and the problem of the cosmological constant, which shows that our two best ways of understanding the universe contradict one another. Combining cutting-edge science with an entertaining cosmic quest, Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them is an electrifying, head-twisting guide to the most fundamental truths of the universe.

Comet nuclei are the most primitive bodies in the solar system. They have been created far away from the early Sun and their material properties have been altered the least since their formation. Thus, the composition and structure of comet nuclei provide the best information about the chemical and thermodynamic conditions in the nebula from which our solar system formed. In this volume, cometary experts review a broad spectrum of ideas and conclusions based on in situ measurement of Comet Halley and remote sensing observations of the recent bright Comets Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake. The chemical character of comet nuclei suggests many close similarities with the composition of interstellar clouds. It also suggests material mixing from the inner solar nebula and challenges the importance of the accretion shock in the outer nebula. The book is intended to serve as a guide for researchers and graduate students working in the field of planetology and solar system exploration. Several special indexes focus the reader's attention to detailed results and discussions. It concludes with recommendations for laboratory investigations and for advanced modeling of comets, the solar nebula, and the collapse of interstellar clouds.

This volume tries to summarize the status of observational knowledge of the Kuiper Belt. Its recent discovery has revitalized the astromomical study of the Solar System and is beginning to open new and unexpected windows on the physics of planetesimal accretion. With more and better observational data being obtained at the technological limit of current facilities, a new perception of the relationships that exist among the various classes of small Solar System bodies has emerged. The new observations have also motivated a number of fascinating theoretical studies in Solar System dynamics.

Internationally renowned theoretical physicist and bestselling author Lawrence Krauss offers provocative, revelatory answers to the biggest philosophical questions: Where did our universe come from? Why does anything exist? And how is it all going to end? 'Why is there something rather than nothing?' is the question atheists and scientists are always asked,and until now there has not been a satisfying scientific answer. Today, exciting scientific advances provide new insight into this cosmological mystery: not only cansomething arise from nothing, but something willalwaysarise from nothing. A mind-bending trip back to the beginning of the beginning, A Universe from Nothingauthoritatively presents the most recent evidence that explains how our universe evolved - and the implications for how it's going to end. It will provoke, challenge, and delight readers to look at the most basic underpinnings of existence in a whole new way. In the words of Richard Dawkins: this could potentially be the most important scientific book since Darwin's On the Origin of Species.

The open cluster NGC 6791 is now considered both the oldest and the most metal-rich known. Its age is 8 -10 Gyrs, twice as old as the canonical solar-metallicity cluster M67 (Garnavich et al. 1994; Demarque, Green, & Guenther 1992; Tripicco et al. 1995). That its metallicity is significantly above solar is suggested from moderate-resolution spectroscopy and from a mismatch of its color-magnitude diagram (CMD) with solar-metallicity isochrones. Tripicco et al. (1995) find [Fe/H] = +0.27 to +0.44. The cluster population is rich. In addition to about a dozen red giants and two dozen red horizontal-branch stars, the cluster has several very hot HB stars (Kaluzny & Udalski 1992). Liebert et al. (1994) have shown that the extremely blue stars are mostly sdB/sdO stars and at least 3 or 4 are likely cluster members, the first ever discovered in an open cluster. These may provide the key to the puzzling upturn in ultraviolet flux below 1500A seen in many high-metallicity systems (Burstein et al. 1988; Ferguson et al. & Liebert 1993).

This work investigates the theoretical and cosmological implications of modifying Einstein's theory of general relativity. It explores two classes of modifications to gravity: those in which the graviton is given a small mass, and those in which Lorentz invariance is spontaneously broken. It elucidates the nature of cosmological perturbations in theories of massive bimetric gravity, including a potentially deadly instability. Theories of gravity beyond general relativity could explain why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating, obviating the need for a dark energy, and can also affect the evolution of the early Universe. Next, it investigates the nature of spacetime in massive gravity theories that contain two different spacetime metrics. Lastly, the strongest constraints to date are placed on the size of Lorentz-violating effects in the gravity sector during inflation.

Digital sky surveys, data from orbiting telescopes, and advances in computation have increased the quantity and quality of astronomical data by several orders of magnitude in recent years. Making sense of this wealth of data requires sophisticated statistical and data analytic techniques. Fortunately, statistical methodologies have similarly made great strides in recent years. Powerful synergies thus emerge when astronomers and statisticians join in examining astrostatistical problems and approaches. The volume focuses on several themes: · The increasing power of Bayesian approaches to modeling astronomical data · The growth of enormous databases, leading an emerging federated Virtual Observatory, and their impact on modern astronomical research · Statistical modeling of critical datasets, such as galaxy clustering and fluctuations in the microwave background radiation, leading to a new era of precision cosmology · Methodologies for uncovering clusters and patterns in multivariate data · The characterization of multiscale patterns in imaging and time series data As in earlier volumes in this series, research contributions discussing topics in one field are joined with commentary from scholars in the other. Short contributed papers covering dozens of astrostatistical topics are also included.

Recent advances in our understanding of instabilities in galactic type systems have led to an unravelling of some of the mysteries of what determines the form galaxies take. This book focuses on the mathematical development of the subject, assuming no prior knowledge of it, with a strong emphasis on the underlying physical interpretation. This framework is used to discuss the most relevant instabilities which are believed to be closely involved in the way galaxies are formed, in a model independent manner. The relevant observed properties of galaxies that may be used to establish the role of these physical mechanisms are discussed. The book also includes a chapter discussing numerical simulation techniques, with attention paid to their limitations and to recent advances in this approach. It is demonstrated that recent developments in computer hardware enable a detailed comparison of simulations with analysis. Thus the simulations extend our physical understanding beyond the limitations of the analysis. The book is intended for use by postgraduate students and researchers in the areas of cosmology, extragalactic astronomy and dynamics.

This book reviews the interconnection of cosmology and particle physics over the last decade. It provides introductory courses in supersymmetry, superstring and M-theory, responding to an increasing interest to evaluate the cosmological consequences of these theories. Based on a series of extended courses providing an introduction to the physics of the very early universe, in the light of the most recent advances in our understanding of the fundamental interactions, it reviews all the classical issues (inflation, primordial fluctuations, dark matter, baryogenesis), but also introduces the most recent ideas about what happened at the Big Bang, and before.

XMM satellites were also presented. Concerning extra-galactic cartography, res- ults from the local universe were discussed, like the distribution of super-clusters, and methods to be used with the VLT and the Planck and Hersehe! (ESA, 2007) satellites. The latest results from the 2dF galaxy redshift survey were also debated. The Organization of this workshop is indebted to the colleagues of the Local Organizing Comittee for the help and good humour provided before, during and after the workshop. Special thanks are due to Carlos Martins for the great help and effort provided in the critical moments. We acknowledge the financial support from FCT/Portugal under POCTI Pro- gram from Quadro Comunitario de Apoio III that also made possible the public- ation of these Proceedings and to Sociedade Portuguesa de Astronomia without which the organization of this workshop would not be possible. Guest Editors LIST OF PARTICIPANTS Barbosa, Domingos (barbosa@supernova. ist. utl. pt) CENTRA-Instituto Superior Tecnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Por- tugal Bartlett, James G. (bartlett@cdf. in2p3. fr) APC-PCC/ College de France, 11 pl. Marrelin -Berthelot, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France Blanchard, Alain (alain. blanchar@astro. obs-mip. fr) Observatoire Astronomique, Midi-Pyrenees, 14 Avenue Ed. Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France Blinnikov, Sergey (sergei. blinnikov@i tep. ru) Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, B. Cheremushk 25, 117218, Moscow, Russia Bouchet, Fran

A complete account of the fundamental techniques of general relativity and their application to cosmology. The book includes reviews of the different cosmological models and their classification, including such topics as causality and horizons, the cosmological parameters, observational tests and constraints of cosmology, symmetries and the large scale topology of space and space-time, and the use of supernovas as cosmological indicators. The perturbations to the cosmological models are discussed throughout the volume. The cosmic microwave background is presented, with an emphasis in secondary distortions in relation to cosmological models and large scale structures. Recent results on dark matter are summarised. A general review of primordial nucleosynthesis is given. Gravitational lensing is discussed in great detail. Most contributions show a balance between theory and observation. Readership: A solid background for students and researchers intending to work in the field of theoretical and observational cosmology.

The successes of the standard models of particle physics and cosmology are many, but have proven incapable of explaining all the phenomena that we observe. This book investigates the potentially important role of quantum physics, particularly quantum anomalies, in various aspects of modern cosmology, such as inflation, the dynamical generation of the visible and dark matter in the universe, and gravitational waves. By doing so, the authors demonstrate that exploring the links between cosmology and particle physics is key to helping solve the mysteries of our Universe.

This NATO Advanced Study Institute course provided an updated understanding, from a fundamental and deep point of view, of the progress and current problems in the early universe, cosmic microwave background radiation, large-scale struc ture, dark matter problem, and the interplay between them. Emphasis was placed on the mutual impact of fundamental physics and cosmology, both at the theo retical and experimental or observational levels, within a deep and well defined programme, and a global unifying view, which, in addition, provides of careful inter-disciplinarity. In addition, each course of this series introduced and promoted topics or sub jects which, although not of a purely astrophysical or cosmological nature, were of relevant physical interest for astrophysics and cosmology. Deep understanding, clarification, synthesis, and careful interdisciplinarity within a fundamental physics framework, were the main goals of the course. Lectures ranged from a motivation and pedagogical introduction for students and participants not directly working in the field to the latest developments and most recent results. All lectures were plenary, had the same duration, and were followed by a discus sion. The course brought together experimentalists and theoreticans physicists, astro physicists and astronomers from a wide variety of backgrounds, including young scientists at the post-doctoral level, senior scientists and advanced graduate stu dents as well."

The workshop on The Cosmology of Extra Dimensions and Varying Fundamental Constants, which was part of JENAM 2002, was held at the Physics Department of the University of Porto (FCUP) from the 3rd to the 5th of September 2002. It was regularly attended by about 110 participants, of which 65 were officially registered in the VFC workshop, while the others came from the rest of the JENAM workshops. There were also a few science correspondents from the national and international press. During the 3 days of the scientific programme, 8 Invited Reviews and 30 Oral Communications were presented. The speakers came from 11 different European countries, and also from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Japan and the U.S.A. There were also speakers from six Portuguese research institutions, and nine of the speak ers were Ph.D. students. The contributions are presented in these proceedings in chronological order. The workshop brought together string theorists, particle physicists, theoretical and observational cosmologists, relativists and observational astrophysicists. It was generally agreed that this inter-disciplinarity was the greatest strength of the work shop, since it provided people coming into this very recent topic from the various different backgrounds with an opportunity to understand each other's language and thereby gain a more solid understanding of the overall picture."

High Resolution K-Band Images of the Galactic Centre.- Circumnuclear Populations in Nearby AGN.- The Ionizing Radiation Field in the Galactic Centre and the Nature of Liners.- The Photoionization Mechanism of LINERs: Stellar and Nonstellar.- The Starburst in the Wolf-Rayet Nucleus of the LINER NGC 6764.- Activity in LINER and Starburst Galaxies.- X-Ray Luminous IRAS Galaxies.- Parametric Relations of H II Galaxies.- Spectroscopic Evolutionary Synthesis Models of Wolf-Rayet Galaxies.- UIT Observations of NGC 1275.- The Starburst Model for the Optical Variability of the Seyfert 1 Galaxies NGC 4151 and NGC 5548.- Testing the Consistency of the Starburst Scenario for Active Galactic Nuclei.- The Ca II Triplet Lines in Starbust and Active Galactic Nuclei.- Where Are the Broad Lines in Seyfert 2S?.- Radio Emission in Active Galaxies: The Starburst Scenario.- The Host Galaxies of Nearby Seyfert 1 Nuclei.- X-Ray, UV and FIR Emission of Seyfert Galaxies.- Nitrogen and Helium Pollution in H II Galaxies and AGNs.- Star Formation and AGN.- The Nucleus of the Cygnus A Galaxy at High Resolution.- A Thick Reflection Nebula Illuminated by a Power Law.- Shock and Photoionization Models for Infrared Lines from Active Galactic Nuclei.- Radiation from Arbitrarily Shaped Objects in the Vicinity of Kerr Black Holes.- The Vertical Structure and Radiation Fields of Accretion Discs in the Centres of AGNs.- Is There a Precession-Type Movement in the Nucleus of NGC 4151?.- Emission Line Variability in NGC 4593 and NGC 5548.- Evidence for Anisotropie Radiation in 3C 227.- The ENLR of NGC 4151: Spatial Variations of the Line Ratios.- Testing the Anisotropy of the Central Engine from Extended Emission Line Regions.- The Polarization-Redshift Relation in Radio Galaxies.- Structure of Interacting Elliptical Radio Galaxies.- Activity in Colliding Galaxies.- List of Forthcoming Papers.- The 'KLUWER' LaTeX Style File: Instructions for Authors.

Here it is, in a nutshell: the history of one genius's most crucial work - discoveries that were to change the face of modern physics. In the early 1900s, Albert Einstein formulated two theories that would forever change the landscape of physics: the Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity. Respected American academic Professor Tai Chow tells us the story of these discoveries. He details the basic ideas of Einstein, including his law of gravitation. Deftly employing his inimitable writing style, he goes on to explain the physics behind black holes, weaving into his account an explanation of the structure of the universe and the science of cosmology.

This volume addresses the history and epistemology of early modern cosmology. The authors reconstruct the development of cosmological ideas in the age of 'scientific revolution' from Copernicus to Leibniz, taking into account the growth of a unified celestial-and-terrestrial mechanics. The volume investigates how, in the rise of the new science, cosmology displayed deep and multifaceted interrelations between scientific notions (stemming from mechanics, mathematics, geometry, astronomy) and philosophical concepts. These were employed to frame a general picture of the universe, as well as to criticize and interpret scientific notions and observational data. This interdisciplinary work reconstructs a conceptual web pervaded by various intellectual attitudes and drives. It presents an historical-epistemological unified itinerary which includes Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, Huygens, Newton and Leibniz. For each of the scientists and philosophers, a presentation and commentary is made of their cosmological views, and where relevant, outlines of their most relevant physical concepts are given. Furthermore, the authors highlight the philosophical and epistemological implications of their scientific works. This work is helpful both as a synthetic overview of early modern cosmology, and an analytical exposition of the elements that were intertwined in early-modern cosmology. This book addresses historians, philosophers, and scientists and can also be used as a research source book by post-graduate students in epistemology, history of science and history of philosophy.

String Theory is our current best candidate for the unification of all fundamental forces, including gravity, in a consistent quantum framework. In this collection of lectures delivered at the Carg se Summer School "String Theory: from Gauge Interactions to Cosmology'', world leading experts provide an up-to-date survey of the latest developments in this topic, including the gauge/gravity correspondence, superstring cosmology and cosmic strings, topological string theory and matrix models, physics beyond the standard model and the landscape of vacua of string theory, conformal field theory and critical phenomena in statistical mechanics. Many more topics are also discussed in shorter contributions by School participants. Written with an emphasis on pedagogy, this volume will be a invaluable resource to students and experts alike.

The Study of Travelling Interplanetary Phenomena (STIP) was formally established by the International Council of Scientific Unions' Special Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP) in August 1973 with M. Dryer as Convenor and M. A. Shea as Secretary. The scientific objec tives of STIP are the study and search for understanding of quiet (i.e. normal or background) and active periods in the interplanetary medium. The concepts of informal, extemporaneous interdisciplinary research is continuo sly emphasised, and these concepts have proved to be extremely successful in conducting the very productive studies undertaken by the members. About 200 scientists are actively participating in STIP, their interests ranging from solar physics (insofar as it concerns the initi ation of phenomena which move out from the Sun) to the observation and study of comets and planetary magneto spheres and ionospheres. Solar wind plasma and fields, solar and galactic cosmic rays, interstellar interactions, solar radio astronomy and interplanetary scintillations of discrete radio sources are among the topics of interest."

Everyone knows that the universe is extremely old and extremely large. But how did scientists determine just how old and how large? How do astronomers know that there are upwards of 100 billion galaxies in the universe if the nearest one is over 40,000 light-years away? How do we know what the stars are made of? The answer is that our current knowledge of the universe has arisen from the work and ideas of scientists and philosophers over hundreds of years. While it's only been during the last several decades that scientists have had the technology and theories to really understand how the universe works, humans have thought about such issues for millennia. And the scientists who today are attempting to understand the most complex issues of the universe build upon the work and thought of the thinkers of the last hundreds of years. The Cosmos: A Historical Perspective provides an accessible introduction to the many ways humans have conceived of the universe throughout history and what ideas have led to our current understanding of the cosmos. The book examines: BLThe Scientific Revolution and the new ideas of the Earth's place in the cosmos BLThe importance of nineteenth-century physics and chemistry in determining the compositions of stars BLEinstein's Theory of Relativity and how it altered how scientists thought about gravity BLNew, cutting-edge science that may alter, yet again, our conceptions of the cosmos, such as the inflationary universe and the possibility of "dark energy." BLJargon and mathematics is kept to a minimum, and the volume includes an annotated bibliography and a timeline. The Cosmos is an ideal introduction for students studying space science and the history andnature of the scientific understanding of the universe.