Exact Solutions of Einstein s Field Equations

A completely revised and updated edition of this classic text, covering important new methods and many recently discovered solutions. This edition contains new chapters on generation methods and their application, classification of metrics by invariants, and treatments of homothetic motions and methods from dynamical systems theory. It also includes colliding waves, inhomogeneous cosmological solutions, and spacetimes containing special subspaces.

Hans Stephani gained his diploma, Ph.D. and Habilitation at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena. He became Professor of Theoretical Physics in 1992, before retiring in 2000. He has been lecturing in theoretical physics since 1964 and has published numerous papers and articles on relativity and optics. He is also the author of four books.

Dietrich Kramer is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena. He graduated from this university, where he also finished his Ph.D. (1966) and Habilitation (1970). His current research concerns classical relativity. The majority of his publications are devoted to exact solutions in general relativity.

Malcolm MacCallum is Professor of Applied Mathematics at the School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, where he is also Vice-Principal for Science and Engineering. He graduated from King's College, Cambridge and went on to complete his M.A. and Ph.D. there. His research covers general relativity and computer algebra, especially tensor manipulators and differential equations. He has published over 100 pages, review articles and books.

Cornelius Hoenselaers gained his Diploma at Technische Universität Karlsruhe, his D.Sc. at Hiroshima Daigaku and his Habilitation at Ludwig-Maximilian Universität München. He is Reader in Relativity Theory at Loughborough University. He has specialized in exact solutions in general relativity and other non-linear partial differential equations, and published a large number of papers, review articles and books.

Eduard Herlt is wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter at the Theoretisch Physikalisches Institut der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena. Having studied physics as an undergraduate at Jena, he went on to complete his Ph.D. there as well as his Habilitation. He has had numerous publications including one previous book.