The Scalar-Tensor Theory of Gravitation (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) - Hardcover

Fujii, Yasunori; Maeda, Kei-ichi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521811597 ISBN 13: 9780521811590

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2003

Synopsis

The scalar-tensor theory of gravitation moved into the limelight in recent years due to developments in string theory, M-theory and "brane world" constructions. This book introduces the subject at a level suitable for both graduate students and researchers. It explores scalar fields, placing them in context with a discussion of Brans-Dicke theory, covering the cosmological constant problem, higher dimensional space-time, branes and conformal transformations.

About this title

Book Description

The scalar-tensor theory of gravitation moved into the limelight in recent years due to developments in string theory, M-theory and 'brane world' constructions. This book introduces the subject at a level suitable for both graduate students and researchers. It explores scalar fields, placing them in context with a discussion of Brans-Dicke theory, covering the cosmological constant problem, higher dimensional space-time, branes and conformal transformations. The authors emphasize the physical applications of the theory and thus provide a pedagogical overview of the subject, keeping more mathematically detailed sections for the appendices.

About the Author

Yasunori Fujii received his PhD on the analogy between the strong interaction and the electromagnetic interaction, from Nagoya University in 1959. Between 1963 and 1992 he did research on the theory of particle physics and gravity, including pioneering work on the idea of non-Newtonian gravity, at the Institute of Physics, University of Tokyo. During this period, he also spent two years at Stanford University, California and a year at Purdue University, Indiana. He is currently emeritus professor at the University of Tokyo-Komaba and continues to pursue his research interests at the Nihon Fukushi University.

Kai-Ichi Maeda received his PhD from Kyoto University in 1980. He and his contemporaries created a new research group in Kyoto, which was at the root of numerical relativity research in Japan. In 1983 he became a postdoctoral student at SISSA, Trieste working under Dennis Sciama. He moved to the Meudon Observatory in Paris in 1987 and worked on black hole solutions in string theory. In 1989 Professor Maeda became affiliated with the Department of Physics at Waseda University, Japan. Since 1998, he has been the associate editor of the Journal of General Relativity and Gravitation, and also the vice-chief editor of the Journal of the Physical Society of Japan since 2001.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0521811597
• ISBN 13: 9780521811590
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 258