The history of the universe has fascinated mankind for centuries. Using the interplay of cosmology, general relativity, particle physics and quantum theory, it is today possible to reconstruct it physically. Only the beginning, the big bang, has so far eluded the established law…
This book summarizes the basics of electricity and magnetism prior to covariant formulation of Maxwell's equations. The book works out the basics of special relativity and then applies the covariant formalism to understand radiation, both in vacuum and in material medium. The em…
This book is about supergravity, which combines the principles of general relativity and local gauge invariance with the idea of supersymmetries between bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom. The authors give a thorough and pedagogical introduction to the subject suitable for…
This book discusses some of the open questions addressed by researchers in general relativity. Photons and particles play important roles in the theoretical framework, since they are involved in analyzing and measuring gravitational fields and in constructing mathematical models…
This book on high-energy cosmic rays deals in its first part with the standard model of cosmic rays, describing how they are born in a wide range of cosmic processes, how they are accelerated and how they interact with matter, magnetic fields and radiation during their journey a…
As a result of significant research over the past 20 years, black holes are now linked to some of the most spectacular and exciting phenomena in the Universe, ranging in size from those that have the same mass as stars to the super-massive objects that lie at the heart of most g…
What is needed to get around the galaxy quickly has been known in science fiction since at least the 1960s TV's Star Trek made famous "warp drive" and a bunch of attendant, less well-known "technologies." Some of the episodes even featured "stargates," portals to the distant pas…
This book tracks the history of the theory of relativity through Einstein's life, with in-depth studies of its background as built upon by ideas from earlier scientists. The focus points of Einstein's theory of relativity include its development throughout his life; the origins …
Teleparallel Gravity (TG) is an alternative theory for gravitation, which is equivalent to General Relativity (GR). However, it is conceptually different. For example in GR geometry replaces the concept of force, and the trajectories are determined by geodesics. TG attributes gr…
Bryce DeWitt, a student of Nobel Laureate Julian Schwinger, was himself one of the towering figures in 20th century physics, particularly renowned for his seminal contributions to quantum field theory, numerical relativity and quantum gravity. In late 1971, DeWitt gave a course …