Lasers, Clocks and Drag-Free Control : Exploration of Relativistic Gravity in Space
Over the next decade the gravitational physics community will benefit from dramatic improvements in many technologies critical to testing gravity. Highly accurate deep space navigation, interplanetary laser communication, interferometry and metrology, high precision frequency standards, precise pointing and attitude control, together with drag-free technologies, will revolutionize the field of experimental gravitational physics. The centennial of the general theory of relativity in 2015 will motivate a significant number of experiments designed to test this theory with unprecedented accuracy.
La musica del Big Bang : Come la radiazione cosmica di fondo ci ha svelato i segreti dell’Universo = The music of the Big Bang : How the cosmic background radiation revealed the secrets of the Universe to us
Cosmic microwave background radiation is the residue of the great heat following the Big Bang. A tenuous sign, over 13 billion years old, in which the answers to many of the questions about the nature of our Universe are hidden. Discovered by chance in 1964, in the last forty years this fossil trace of the origins of the Cosmos has been explored with every available means. Two Nobel Prizes in physics have already been awarded for research involving it, the last in 2006 for the results of the COBE satellite. Much of the information encoded in the cosmic background radiation was impressed by the superimposition of acoustic waves present in the early Universe: a "music" of the Big Bang, which cosmologists have tried for years to reconstruct, using techniques similar to those that allow to distinguish the sound of different musical instruments. Only recently have the first notes of this extraordinary cosmic symphony finally been revealed, but the investigation is not over yet. This book illustrates, with a language suitable even for non-specialists, the theories, observations and discoveries that have brought cosmology into a new era.
Buchi neri nel mio bagno di schiuma : L’enigma di Einstein = Black holes in my bubble bath : Einstein's riddle
Einstein's Enigma, or black holes in my foam bath, tells the story of the theory of gravitation, from its beginnings to the latest developments in astrophysics, focusing on Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity and the physics of black holes. Through engaging conversations and diagrams scribbled on paper napkins, the rudiments of relativity, space-time and many aspects of modern physics follow one another. In skits narrated with pedagogical skill and remarkable literary talent, the reader will come across the informal lessons that a cosmopolitan astrophysicist gives to his friend Alfie, a free lance organizer of research projects. Join in the intellectual fun and get excited with sparkling ideas, while with your imagination you enjoy a relaxing soak in this magical tub!
An Introduction to the Relativistic Theory of Gravitation
The geometric interpretation of gravitation is one of the major foundations of modern theoretical physics. This primer introduces classical general relativity with emphasis on the clarity of conceptual structure and on the basic mathematical methods to build up systematically application skills. The wealth of physical phenomena entailed by the Einstein‘s equations is revealed with the help of specific models describing gravitomagnetism, gravitational waves, cosmology, gravitational collapse and black holes. End-of-chapter exercises complete the main text.
A Pan-Chromatic View of Clusters of Galaxies and the Large-Scale Structure
The reviews presented in this volume cover a wide-range of cluster of galaxies topics like the physics of the ICM gas, the internal cluster dynamics, the detection of clusters using different observational techniques, the great advances in analytical or numerical modeling of clusters, weak and strong lensing effects, the large scale structure as traced by clusters, the cosmological significance of clusters as well as the formation and evolution of clusters within the new cosmological paradigm.




