Rotating black holes, as described by the Kerr space-time, are the key to understanding the most violent and energetic phenomena in the Universe, from the core collapse of massive supernova explosions producing powerful bursts of gamma rays, to supermassive black hole engines that power quasars and other active galactic nuclei. This book is a unique, comprehensive overview of the Kerr space-time, with original contributions and historical accounts from researchers who have pioneered the theory and observation of black holes, and Roy Kerr's own description of his 1963 discovery. It covers all aspects of rotating black holes, from mathematical relativity to astrophysical applications and observations, and current theoretical frontiers. This book provides an excellent introduction and survey of the Kerr space-time for researchers and graduate students across the spectrum of observational and theoretical astrophysics, general relativity, and high-energy physics.
Author(s): David L. Wiltshire, Matt Visser, Susan M. Scott
Edition: 1
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 362
City: Cambridge
1-The Kerr spacetime — a brief introduction
2-The Kerr and Kerr—Schild metrics
3-Roy Kerr and twistor theory
4-Global and local problems solved by the Kerr metric
5-Four decades of black hole uniqueness theorems
6-Ray-traced visualisations in asymptotically flat spacetimes
7-The ergosphere and dyadosphere of the Kerr black hole
8-Supermassive black holes
9-The X-ray spectra of accreting Kerr black holes
10-Cosmological flashes from rotating black holes
11-Horizon constraints and black hole entropy
12-Higher dimensional generalizations of the Kerr black hole
13-Gravitational field of a spinning mass as an example of algebraically special metrics
14-Gravitational collapse and rotation
