Gravitational Radiation, Luminous Black Holes and Gamma-Ray Burst Supernovae

A comprehensive overview for graduates of the theories of this contemporary development in physics.

Maurice H. P. M. van Putten (Author)

9780521849609, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 December 2005

328 pages
25.4 x 18.1 x 2 cm, 0.72 kg

Black holes and gravitational radiation are two of the most dramatic predictions of general relativity. The quest for rotating black holes - discovered by Roy P. Kerr as exact solutions to the Einstein equations - is one of the most exciting challenges facing physicists and astronomers. Gravitational Radiation, Luminous Black Holes and Gamma-Ray Burst Supernovae takes the reader through the theory of gravitational radiation and rotating black holes, and the phenomenology of GRB-supernovae. Topics covered include Kerr black holes and the frame-dragging of spacetime, luminous black holes, compact tori around black holes, and black-hole spin interactions. It concludes with a discussion of prospects for gravitational-wave detections of a long-duration burst in gravitational-waves as a method of choice for identifying Kerr black holes in the Universe. This book is ideal for a special topics graduate course on gravitational-wave astronomy and as an introduction to those interested in this contemporary development in physics.

Foreword
Introduction
Acknowledgements
Notation
1. Superluminal motion in the quasar 3C273
2. Curved spacetime and SgrA*
3. Parallel transport and isometry of tangent bundles
4. Maxwell's equations
5. Riemannian curvature
6. Gravitational radiation
7. Cosmological event rates
8. Compressible fluid dynamics
9. Waves in relativistic magnetohydrodynamics
10. Nonaxisymmetric waves in a torus
11. Phenomenology of GRB supernovae
12. Kerr black holes
13. Luminous black holes
14. A luminous torus in gravitational radiation
15. GRB supernovae from rotating black holes
16. Observational opportunities for LIGO and VIRGO
17. Epilogue: GRB/XRF singlets, doublets? Triplets!
Appendices
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Astrophysics [PHVB], Cosmology & the universe [PGK]