Based on lectures given in honor of Stephen Hawking's 60th birthday, this book comprises contributions from the world's leading theoretical physicists. Popular lectures progress to a critical evaluation of more advanced subjects in modern cosmology and theoretical physics. Topics covered include the origin of the universe, warped spacetime, cosmological singularities, quantum gravity, black holes, string theory, quantum cosmology and inflation. The volume provides a fascinating overview of the variety of subjects to which Stephen Hawking has contributed.
Author(s): G. W. Gibbons, E. P. S. Shellard, S. J. Rankin (eds.)
Edition: 1
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2003
Language: English
Commentary: ToC, OCR, paginated
Pages: 906
Tags: Cosmology Astronomy Space Science Math Mathematical Physics Particle Nuclear Mathematics New Used Rental Textbooks Specialty Boutique
1 Introduction (Gary Gibbons and Paul Shellard)
Part 1 Popular symposium
2 Our complex cosmos and its future (Martin Rees)
3 Theories of everything and Hawking's wave function of the universe (James Hartle)
4 The problem of spacetime singularities: implications for quantum gravity? (Roger Penrose)
5 Warping spacetime (Kip Thorne)
6 Sixty years in a nutshell (Stephen Hawking)
Part 2 Spacetime singularities
7 Cosmological perturbations and singularities (George Ellis)
8 The quantum physics of chronology protection (Matt Visser)
9 Energy dominance and the Hawking—Ellis vacuum conservation theorem (Brandon Carter)
10 On the instability of extra space dimensions (Roger Penrose)
Part 3 Black holes
11 Black hole uniqueness and the inner horizon stability problem (Werner Israel)
12 Black holes in the real universe and their prospects as probes of relativistic gravity (Martin Rees)
13 Primordial black holes (Bernard Carr)
14 Black hole pair conservation (Simon Ross)
15 Black holes at accelerators (Steve Giddings)
Part 4 Hawking radiation
16 Black holes and string theory (Malcolm Perry)
17 M theory and black hole quantum mechanics (Joe Polchinski)
18 Playing with black strings (Gary Horowitz)
19 Twenty years of debate with Stephen (Leonard Susskind)
Part 5 Quantum gravity
20 Euclidean quantum gravity: the view from 2002 (Gary Gibbons)
21 Zeta functions, anomalies and stable branes (Ian Moss)
22 Some reflections on the status of conventional quantum theory when applied to quantum gravity (Chris Isham)
23 Quantum geometry and its ramifications (Abhay Ashtekar)
24 Topology change in quantum gravity (Fay Dowker)
Part 6 M theory and beyond
25 The past and future of string theory (Edward Witten)
26 String theory (David Gross)
27 A brief description of string theory (Michael Green)
28 The story of M (Paul Townsend)
29 Gauged supergravity and holographic field theory (Nick Warner)
30 57 Varieties in a NUTshell (Chris Pope)
Part 7 De Sitter space
31 Adventures in de Sitter space (Raphael Bousso)
32 De Sitter space in non-critical string theory (Andrew Strominger with Alexander Maloney and Eva Silverstein)
33 Supergravity, M theory and cosmology (Renata Kallosh)
Part 8 Quantum cosmology
34 The state of the universe (James Hartle)
35 Quantum cosmology (Don Page)
36 Quantum cosmology and eternal inflation (Alexander Vilenkin)
37 Probability in the deterministic theory known as quantum mechanics (Bryce DeWitt)
38 The interpretation of quantum cosmology and the problem of time (Jonathan Halliwell)
39 What local supersymmetry can do for quantum cosmology (Peter D'Eath)
Part 9 Cosmology
40 Inflation and cosmological perturbations (Alan Guth)
41 The future of cosmology: observational and computational prospects (Paul Shellard)
42 The ekpyrotic universe and its cyclic extension (Neil Turok)
43 Inflationary theory versus the ekpyrotic/cyclic scenario (Andrei Linde)
44 Brane (new) worlds (Pierre Binetruy)
45 Publications of Stephen Hawking
Index
