Our current perspective has arisen over millennia, through
falling apples, elevator thought experiments and stars spiralling
into black holes; Free fall and self-force in general
relativity.
In fact, we do not have in mind to make a 1:1 reflection of the
school. The ordering has been rearranged to tie articles together
more coherently. We also propose to ask authors to focus their
contributions according to the title we have suggested and to give
a more complete description of current and future directions. We
expect this will add to the volume s value for all anticipated
readers. This volume has the unique feature of presenting a
multifaceted approach to mass, which is intended mainly for
graduate students and young doctoral researchers in the field of
gravitation, who might be hoping to find a concise and introductory
presentation of advanced topics outside their research field.
It is true that research from the infinitesimal scale of
particle physics to the cosmic scale of the universe is concerned
with the mass. While there have been spectacular advances in
physics during the past century, mass still remains as a mysterious
entity at the forefront of current research. Particle accelerators
in the quest for the Higgs boson, laser interferometers sensitive
enough to respond to gravitational waves, equivalence principle
tests and detectors for dark matter are among the most ambitious
and expensive experiments that fundamental physics has ever
envisaged, and strongly attest to this fact. Both the self-force
and radiation reaction are, in fact, lively topics of research.
Related to the nature of motion, they have been hotly debated
within general relativity from the inception of the theory. Recent
developments have shown that radiation reaction is unavoidable in
determining the gravitational waveforms emitted from a source such
as the capture of a solar mass star by super-massive black hole
(EMRI).
The main theme of this volume is mass and its motion within
general relativity (and other theories of gravity), particularly
for compact bodies, to which many articles directly refer. Within
this framework, there are chapters on post-Newtonian and related
methods (Blanchet, Gourgoulhon and Jaramillo, Nagar, Schafer), as
well as on the self-force approach to the analysis of motion
(Barack, Detweiler, Gal tsov, Poisson, Wald, Whiting), summarised
along with an historic development of the field (Spallicci) and a
snapshot on the state of the art (Burko). Note that
self-acceleration depends directly on the mass of the body
experiencing it. Mass itself is essential for this effect on
motion.
Auxiliary chapters set the context for these theoretical
contributions within the wider context of experimental physics. The
space mission LISA (Jennrich) has been designed to detect the
gravitational waves from EMRI captures, while other LISA sources
may have electromagnetic counterparts (van Putten). Motion in
modern gravitation must confront alternative theories
(Esposito-Farese) and it must to be comprehensible within a quantum
context (Noui), and demands an account of the relation between
vacuum fluctuations and inertia (Jaekel and Reynaud). A volume
centred on the fundamental role of mass in physics should face
issues related to the basic laws of mechanics proposed by Newton
(Lammerzahl) and precision measurements (Davis).
The role of the Higgs boson within physics is to give a mass to
elementary particles (Djouadi), by interacting with all particles
required to have a mass and thereby inducing inertia.
Moreover, most mass in the universe is dark, and only indirectly
detected. A proposed alternative to dark matter theories is due to
a modified theory of gravity (Esposito-Farese) such as MOND
(MOdified Newtonian Dynamics). Even if general relativity does not
explain gravity, there still remains the fundamental problem of
reconciling any theory of gravity with the physics of quantum
fields (Noui), itself so well verified experimentally.
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