This book tells the story of how, over the past century, dedicated observers and pioneering scientists achieved our current understanding of the universe. It was in antiquity that humankind first attempted to explain the universe often with the help of myths and legends. This book, however, focuses on the time when cosmology finally became a true science. As the reader will learn, this was a slow process, extending over a large part of the 20th century and involving many astronomers, cosmologists and theoretical physicists. The book explains how empirical astronomical data (e.g., Leavitt, Slipher and Hubble) were reconciled with Einstein's general relativity; a challenge which finally led Friedmann, De Sitter and Lemaitre, and eventually Einstein himself, to a consistent understanding of the observational results. The reader will realize the extraordinary implications of these achievements and how deeply they changed our vision of the cosmos: From being small, static, immutable and eternal, it became vast and dynamical - originating from (almost) nothing, and yet now, nearly 14 billion years later, undergoing accelerated expansion. But, as always happens, as well as precious knowledge, new mysteries have also been created where previously absolute certainty had reigned.

The historic detection of gravitational waves on September 14, 2015, prompted by the highly energetic fusion of two black holes, has made events in the universe "audible" for the first time. This expansion of the scientific sensorium has opened a new chapter in astronomy and already led to, among others, fascinating new insights about the abundance of black holes, the collision of neutron stars, and the origin of heavy chemical elements. The history of this event, which is epochal for physics, is reconstructed in this book, along with a walk-through of the main principles of how the detectors operate and a discussion of how the search for gravitational waves is conducted. The book concludes with an update of the latest detections and developments to date and a brief look into the future of this exciting research field. This book is accessible to non-specialist readers from a general audience and is also an excellent introduction to the topic for undergraduates in physics. Features: Provides an introduction to the historic discovery of gravitational waves Explains the inner workings of the detectors and the search to find the waves hidden in the data Authored by a renowned specialist involved in the ground-breaking discovery Hartmut Grote is a Professor of physics at Cardiff University, UK. His main expertise is in experimental gravitational-wave physics, and he has worked on building and improving gravitational wave detectors for over 20 years. From 2009 to 2017, he was the scientific leader of the British-German gravitational-wave detector: GEO600.

1 IN THE MONOGRAPH SERIES directed by Henri Villat , several fasci- cules have been devoted to Relativity. First there are the general presentations ofTh. De Donder (nos. 8, 14, 43, 58), and then those more specifically devoted to Einsteinian gravitation - notably Georges Darmois's contribution (no. 25) and that of J. Haag (no. 46) on the Schwarzschild problem. The present fascicule takes its place alongside the two latter monographs, but it has been conceived and composed in such a way that it may be read and understood by anyone with a knowledge of the principles of Absolute Differential Calculus and of Relativity - either from the original exposi- tions of Einstein, Weyl, or Eddington, or, in French, from Cartan's excel- 2 lent works (for everything having to do with mathematical theories) and 3 from Chazy's (for Relativity and Celestial Mechanics), or naturally from Levi-Civita's The Absolute Differential Calculus (first edition, London and Glasgow, Blackie and Son, 1927) where the two original papers written in Italian are brought together: namely, Calcolo differenziale assoluto and Fondamenti di meccanica relativistica (Bologna, Zanichelli). As for the present fascicule, it is hardly necessary to point out that, as its title indicates, we seek to establish in the simplest possible terms the rela- tivistic aspect of what Newton and those who followed him regarded as the key to ordinary Celestial Mechanics.

The fourth edition contains seven new sections with chapters on General Relativity, Gravitational Waves and Relativistic Cosmology. The text has been thoroughly revised and additional problems inserted.

The Complete course of Theoretical Physics by Landau and Lifshitz, recognized as two of the world's outstanding physicists, is published in full by Butterworth-Heinemann. It comprises nine volumes, covering all branches of the subject; translations from the Russian are by leading scientists.

Observing our Universe and its evolution with ever increasing sensitivity from ground-based or space-borne telescopes is posing great challenges to Fundamental Physics and Astronomy. The remnant cosmic microwave background, as beautifully measured by successive space missions COBE, WMAP, and now PLANCK, provides a unique probe of the very early stages of our Universe. The red-shift of atomic lines in distant galaxies, the dynamics of pulsars, the large scale structure of galaxies, and black holes are a few manifestations of the theory of General Relativity. Yet, today, we understand only 4% of the mass of our Universe, the rest being called dark energy and dark matter, both of unknown origin! A second family of space missions is currently emerging; rather than designing ever more re nedobservationalinstruments,physicistsandengineersseekalsotousethespaceenvironment to perform high-precision tests of the fundamental laws of physics. The technology required for such tests has become available only over the course of the last decades. Clocks of high accuracy are an example. They are based on advances in atomic and laser physics, such as cold atoms, enabling a new generation of highly sensitive quantum sensors for ground and space experiments. Two experiments in space have now tested Einstein's relativity theory: * Several decades ago, Gravity Probe A con rmed the accuracy of the gravitational red-shift ?5 according to general relativity to a level of 7x 10 [R. F. C. Vessot et al. , Test of Relativistic Gravitation with a Space-Borne Hydrogen Maser, Phys. Rev. Lett. 45, 2081-2084 (1980)].

In 1905, Albert Einstein offered a revolutionary theory--special relativity--to explain some of the most troubling problems in current physics concerning electromagnetism and motion. Soon afterwards, Hermann Minkowski recast special relativity essentially as a new geometric structure for spacetime. These ideas are the subject of the first part of the book. The second part develops the main implications of Einstein's general relativity as a theory of gravity rooted in the differential geometry of surfaces. The author explores the way an individual observer views the world and how a pair of observers collaborate to gain objective knowledge of the world. To encompass both the general and special theory, he uses the geometry of spacetime as the unifying theme of the book. To read it, one needs only a first course in linear algebra and multivariable calculus and familiarity with the physical applications of calculus.

The Mathematical Principles of Scale Relativity Physics: The Concept of Interpretation explores and builds upon the principles of Laurent Nottale's scale relativity. The authors address a variety of problems encountered by researchers studying the dynamics of physical systems. It explores Madelung fluid from a wave mechanics point of view, showing that confinement and asymptotic freedom are the fundamental laws of modern natural philosophy. It then probes Nottale's scale transition description, offering a sound mathematical principle based on continuous group theory. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the matter to the reader via a generalization of relativity, a theory of colors, and classical electrodynamics. Key Features: Develops the concept of scale relativity interpreted according to its initial definition enticed by the birth of wave and quantum mechanics Provides the fundamental equations necessary for interpretation of matter, describing the ensembles of free particles according to the concepts of confinement and asymptotic freedom Establishes a natural connection between the Newtonian forces and the Planck's law from the point of view of space and time scale transition: both are expressions of invariance to scale transition The work will be of great interest to graduate students, doctoral candidates, and academic researchers working in mathematics and physics.

Yet over the past few decades, physicists have discovered a phenomenon that operates outside the confines of space and time: nonlocality - the ability of two particles to act in harmony no matter how far apart they may be. If space isn't what we thought it was, then what is it? In Spooky Action at a Distance, the award-winning journalist George Musser sets out to answer that question. He guides us on an epic journey into the lives of experimental physicists observing particles acting in tandem, astronomers finding galaxies that look statistically identical, and cosmologists hoping to unravel the paradoxes surrounding the big bang. He traces the contentious debates over nonlocality through major discoveries and disruptions of the twentieth century and shows how scientists faced with the same undisputed experimental evidence develop wildly different explanations for that evidence. Their conclusions challenge our understanding of the origins of the universe - and they suggest a new grand unified theory of physics.

The nature of space and time is one of the most fascinating and fundamental philosophical issues which presently engages at the deepest level with physics. During the last thirty years this notion has been object of an intense critical review in the light of new scientific theories which try to combine the principles of both general relativity and quantum theory-called theories of quantum gravity. This book considers the way string theory shapes its own account of spacetime disappearance from the fundamental level.

This thoroughly revised 5th edition of Zeh's classic text investigates irreversible phenomena and their foundation in classical, quantum and cosmological settings. It includes new sections on the meaning of probabilities in a cosmological context, irreversible aspects of quantum computers, and various consequences of the expansion of the Universe. In particular, the book offers an analysis of the physical concept of time.

Presenting the history of space-time physics, from Newton to Einstein, as a philosophical development DiSalle reflects our increasing understanding of the connections between ideas of space and time and our physical knowledge. He suggests that philosophy's greatest impact on physics has come about, less by the influence of philosophical hypotheses, than by the philosophical analysis of concepts of space, time and motion, and the roles they play in our assumptions about physical objects and physical measurements. This way of thinking leads to interpretations of the work of Newton and Einstein and the connections between them. It also offers ways of looking at old questions about a priori knowledge, the physical interpretation of mathematics, and the nature of conceptual change. Understanding Space-Time will interest readers in philosophy, history and philosophy of science, and physics, as well as readers interested in the relations between physics and philosophy.

The hydrogen Lyman-alpha line is of utmost importance to many fields of astrophysics. This UV line being conveniently redshifted with distance to the visible and even near infrared wavelength ranges, it is observable from the ground, and provides the main observational window on the formation and evolution of high redshift galaxies. Absorbing systems that would otherwise go unnoticed are revealed through the Lyman-alpha forest, Lyman-limit, and damped Lyman-alpha systems, tracing the distribution of baryonic matter on large scales, and its chemical enrichment. We are living an exciting epoch with the advent of new instruments and facilities, on board of satellites and on the ground. Wide field and very sensitive integral field spectrographs are becoming available on the ground, such as MUSE at the ESO VLT. The giant E-ELT and TMT telescopes will foster a quantum leap in sensitivity and both spatial and spectroscopic resolution, to the point of being able, perhaps, to measure directly the acceleration of the Hubble flow. In space, the JWST will open new possibilities to study the Lyman-alpha emission of primordial galaxies in the near infrared. As long as the Hubble Space Telescope will remain available, the UV-restframe properties of nearby galaxies will be accessible to our knowledge. Therefore, this Saas-Fee course appears very timely and should meet the interest of many young researchers.

In recent years, the study of neutron stars and black holes has become increasingly important, and rigorous mathematical analysis needs to be applied in order to understand their basic physics. 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/9780521863834.

A working knowledge of Einstein's theory of general relativity is an essential tool for every physicist today. This self-contained book is an introductory text on the subject aimed at first-year graduate students, or advanced undergraduates, in physics that assumes only a basic understanding of classical Lagrangian mechanics. The mechanics problem of a point mass constrained to move without friction on a two-dimensional surface of arbitrary shape serves as a paradigm for the development of the mathematics and physics of general relativity. After reviewing special relativity, the basic principles of general relativity are presented, and the most important applications are discussed. The final special topics section guides the reader through a few important areas of current research. This book will allow the reader to approach the more advanced texts and monographs, as well as the continual influx of fascinating new experimental results, with a deeper understanding and sense of appreciation.

A working knowledge of Einstein's theory of general relativity is an essential tool for every physicist today. This self-contained book is an introductory text on the subject aimed at first-year graduate students, or advanced undergraduates, in physics that assumes only a basic understanding of classical Lagrangian mechanics. The mechanics problem of a point mass constrained to move without friction on a two-dimensional surface of arbitrary shape serves as a paradigm for the development of the mathematics and physics of general relativity. After reviewing special relativity, the basic principles of general relativity are presented, and the most important applications are discussed. The final special topics section guides the reader through a few important areas of current research. This book will allow the reader to approach the more advanced texts and monographs, as well as the continual influx of fascinating new experimental results, with a deeper understanding and sense of appreciation.

The aim of this two-volume title is to give a comprehensive review of one hundred years of development of general relativity and its scientific influences. This unique title provides a broad introduction and review to the fascinating and profound subject of general relativity, its historical development, its important theoretical consequences, gravitational wave detection and applications to astrophysics and cosmology. The series focuses on five aspects of the theory: The first three topics are covered in Volume 1 and the remaining two are covered in Volume 2. While this is a two-volume title, it is designed so that each volume can be a standalone reference volume for the related topic.

General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915. It is the current description of gravitation in modern physics. General relativity generalises special relativity and Newton's law of universal gravitation, providing a unified description of gravity as a geometric property of space and time, or spacetime. In particular, the curvature of spacetime is directly related to the four-momentum (mass-energy and linear momentum) of whatever matter and radiation are present. The relation is specified by the Einstein field equations, a system of partial differential equations. Einstein's theory has important astrophysical implications. For example, it implies the existence of black holes-regions of space in which space and time are distorted in such a way that nothing, not even light, can escape-as an end-state for massive stars. There is evidence that such stellar black holes as well as more massive varieties of black hole are responsible for the intense radiation emitted by certain types of astronomical objects such as active galactic nuclei or microquasars.

Sidney Coleman (1937-2007) earned his doctorate at Caltech under Murray Gell-Mann. Before completing his thesis, he was hired by Harvard and remained there his entire career. A celebrated particle theorist, he is perhaps best known for his brilliant lectures, given at Harvard and in a series of summer school courses at Erice, Sicily. Three times in the 1960s he taught a graduate course on Special and General Relativity; this book is based on lecture notes taken by three of his students and compiled by the Editors.

Written by a former Olympiad student, Wang Jinhui, and a Physics Olympiad national trainer, Bernard Ricardo, Competitive Physics delves into the art of solving challenging physics puzzles. This book not only expounds a multitude of physics topics from the basics but also illustrates how these theories can be applied to problems, often in an elegant fashion. With worked examples that depict various problem-solving sleights of hand and interesting exercises to enhance the mastery of such techniques, readers will hopefully be able to develop their own insights and be better prepared for physics competitions. Ultimately, problem-solving is a craft that requires much intuition. Yet this intuition, perhaps, can only be honed by trudging through an arduous but fulfilling journey of enigmas.This is the second part of a two-volume series and will mainly analyze thermodynamics, electromagnetism and special relativity. A brief overview of geometrical optics is also included.

The aim of this two-volume title is to give a comprehensive review of one hundred years of development of general relativity and its scientific influences. This unique title provides a broad introduction and review to the fascinating and profound subject of general relativity, its historical development, its important theoretical consequences, gravitational wave detection and applications to astrophysics and cosmology. The series focuses on five aspects of the theory: The first three topics are covered in Volume 1 and the remaining two are covered in Volume 2. While this is a two-volume title, it is designed so that each volume can be a standalone reference volume for the related topic.

This volume gathers the content of the courses held at the Third IDPASC School, which took place in San Martino Pinario, Hospederia and Seminario Maior, in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galiza, Spain, from January 21st to February 2nd, 2013. This school is the annual joint program of the International Doctorate Network in Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology (IDPASC). The purpose of the school series is to present doctoral students from different universities and laboratories in Europe and beyond with a broad range of the latest results and current state of the art in the fields of Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology, and to further introduce them to both the questions now posed by the potentials of physics and to challenges connected with current and future experiments - in particular, with the newly available energy ranges. Following these guidelines, the content of this third edition of the IDPASC School was jointly planned by the Academic Council and by the network's International Committee, whose members ensure every year its timely formulation, keeping up with the constant evolution of these fields. The program covers a balanced range of the latest developments in these fields worldwide, with courses offered by internationally acknowledged physicists on the Basic Features of Hadronic Processes, Quantum Chromodynamics, Physics and Technology of ALICE, LHCb Physics-Parity Violation, the Higgs System in and beyond the Standard Model, Higgs Searches at the LHC, Theory and Experiments with Cosmic Rays, Numerical Methods and Data Analysis in Particle Physics, Theoretical Cosmology, and AdS/CFT Correspondence. Most of these courses were complemented by practical and discussion sessions.

'Outstanding Academic Title for 2014' by CHOICEEinstein Relatively Simple brings together for the first time an exceptionally clear explanation of both special and general relativity. It is for people who always wanted to understand Einstein's ideas but never thought they could.Told with humor, enthusiasm, and rare clarity, this entertaining book reveals how a former high school drop-out revolutionized our understanding of space and time. From E=mc2 and everyday time travel to black holes and the big bang, Einstein Relatively Simple takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on a mind-boggling journey through the depths of Einstein's universe. Along the way, we track Einstein through the perils and triumphs of his life - follow his thinking, his logic, and his insights - and chronicle the audacity, imagination, and sheer genius of the man recognized as the greatest scientist of the modern era.In Part I on special relativity we learn how time slows and space shrinks with motion, and how mass and energy are equivalent. Part II on general relativity reveals a cosmos where black holes trap light and stop time, where wormholes form gravitational time machines, where space itself is continually expanding, and where some 13.7 billion years ago our universe was born in the ultimate cosmic event - the Big Bang.

'Outstanding Academic Title for 2014' by CHOICEEinstein Relatively Simple brings together for the first time an exceptionally clear explanation of both special and general relativity. It is for people who always wanted to understand Einstein's ideas but never thought they could.Told with humor, enthusiasm, and rare clarity, this entertaining book reveals how a former high school drop-out revolutionized our understanding of space and time. From E=mc2 and everyday time travel to black holes and the big bang, Einstein Relatively Simple takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on a mind-boggling journey through the depths of Einstein's universe. Along the way, we track Einstein through the perils and triumphs of his life - follow his thinking, his logic, and his insights - and chronicle the audacity, imagination, and sheer genius of the man recognized as the greatest scientist of the modern era.In Part I on special relativity we learn how time slows and space shrinks with motion, and how mass and energy are equivalent. Part II on general relativity reveals a cosmos where black holes trap light and stop time, where wormholes form gravitational time machines, where space itself is continually expanding, and where some 13.7 billion years ago our universe was born in the ultimate cosmic event - the Big Bang.

A new title in the Manchester Physics Series, this introductory text emphasises physical principles behind classical mechanics and relativity. It assumes little in the way of prior knowledge, introducing relevant mathematics and carefully developing it within a physics context. Designed to provide a logical development of the subject, the book is divided into four sections, introductory material on dynamics, and special relativity, which is then followed by more advanced coverage of dynamics and special relativity. Each chapter includes problems ranging in difficulty from simple to challenging with solutions for solving problems. Includes solutions for solving problems Numerous worked examples included throughout the book Mathematics is carefully explained and developed within a physics environment Sensitive to topics that can appear daunting or confusing