An Introduction to Mathematical Cosmology 2nd Edition

This book provides a concise introduction to the mathematical aspects of the origin, structure and evolution of the universe. The book begins with a brief overview of observational and theoretical cosmology, along with a short introduction to general relativity. It then goes on to discuss Friedmann models, the Hubble constant and deceleration parameter, singularities, the early universe, inflation, quantum cosmology and the distant future of the universe. This new edition contains a rigorous derivation of the Robertson–Walker metric. It also discusses the limits to the parameter space through various theoretical and observational constraints, and presents a new inflationary solution for a sixth degree potential. This book is suitable as a textbook for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. It will also be of interest to cosmologists, astrophysicists, applied mathematicians and mathematical physicists.

 

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An Introduction to cosmology, 3rd edition

The Third Edition of the hugely successful Introduction to Cosmology provides a concise, authoritative study of cosmology at an introductory level. Starting from elementary principles and the history of cosmology, the text carefully guides the student on to curved spacetimes, general relativity, black holes, cosmological models, particles and symmetries, and phase transitions.

Extensively revised, this latest edition includes broader and updated coverage of distance measures, gravitational lensing and waves, dark energy and quintessence, the thermal history of the Universe, inflation, large scale structure formation, and the ‘cosmological coincidence’ problem. 

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An Introduction To Black Holes Information And The String Theory

It is now over a century since the year 1905, in which the principle of relativity and the hypothesis of the quantum of radiation were introduced. It has taken most of that time to synthesize the two into  the modern quantum theory of fields and the standard model of particle phenomena. Although there is undoubtably more to be learned both theoretically and experimentally, it seems likely that we know most of the basic principles which follow from combining the special theory of relativity with  quantum mechanics.It is unlikely that a major revolution will spring from this soil. By contrast, in the 80 years that we have had the general theory of relativity, nothing comparable has been learned about the quantum theory of gravitation.The methods that were invented to quantize electrodynamics, which were so successfully generalized to build the standard model, prove wholly inadequate when applied to gravitation.The subject is riddled with paradox and contradiction. One has the distinct impression that we are thinking about the things in the wrong way. The paradigm of relativistic quantum field theory almost certainly has to be replaced.

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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Astronomy, Second Edition

Astronomy is one of the oldest scientific disciplines. Observations of the sky by ancient civilizations provided important milestones. Solar and lunar eclipses were prominent events as were the discovery of comets and "guest stars," now recognized to be supernovae. These "guest stars" were observed by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean astronomers (or astrologers) for the last two millennia and possibly were sighted by the ancestors of the native Americans of the U.S. Southwest. The prime example of this was the Crab supernova in 1054, a drawing of which can be seen at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico.

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Philip's Astronomy Encyclopedia

First published in Great Britain in 1987 by Mitchell Beazley under the title The Astronomy Encyclopedia (General Editor Patrick Moore), this fully revised and expanded edition first published in 2002 by Philip’s is an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group.

  

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Lucent Library of Science and Technology - Comets and Asteroids

The twentieth-century scientific and technological revolution that British physicist Stephen Hawking describes has transformed virtually every aspect of human life at an unprecedented pace. Inventions unimaginable a century ago have not only become commonplace but are now considered necessities of daily life. As science historian James Burke writes, “We live surrounded by objects and systems that we take for granted, but which profoundly affect the way we behave, think, work, play, and in general conduct our lives.”

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Lucent Library of Science and Technology - Black Holes

The concept of black holes consistently grips the human imagination. Many strange and frightening creatures and objects have been invented in mythology and fiction, and modern scientists have revealed a number of equally bizarre and disquieting things in the natural world. But none of these  quite compares to the idea of the black hole—an object whose gravitational pull is so great that even  light cannot escape it, and a place where most of the normal laws of nature break down.

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