General Relativity and John Archibald Wheeler by Ciufolini, Ignazio; Matzner, Richard A.;

Long description:

Observational and experimental data pertaining to gravity and cosmology are changing our view of the Universe. General relativity is a fundamental key for the understanding of these observations and its theory is undergoing a continuing enhancement of its intersection with observational and experimental data. These data include direct observations and experiments carried out in our solar system, among which there are direct gravitational wave astronomy, frame dragging and tests of gravitational theories from solar system and spacecraft observations.

This book explores John Archibald Wheeler's seminal and enduring contributions in relativistic astrophysics and includes: the General Theory of Relativity and Wheeler's influence; recent developments in the confrontation of relativity with experiments; the theory describing gravitational radiation, and its detection in Earth-based and space-based interferometer detectors as well as in Earth-based bar detectors; the mathematical description of the initial value problem in relativity and applications to modeling gravitational wave sources via computational relativity; the phenomenon of frame dragging and its measurement by satellite observations. All of these areas were of direct interest to Professor John A. Wheeler and were seminally influenced by his ideas.

Table of Contents:

John Archibald Wheeler and General Relativity.- to General Relativity and John Archibald Wheeler.- John Wheeler and the Recertification of General Relativity as True Physics.- John Archibald Wheeler: A Few Highlights of His Contributions to Physics.- Wheeler Wormholes and the Modern Astrophysics.- Foundations and Tests of General Relativity.- Unified Form of the Initial Value Conditions.- The Confrontation Between General Relativity and Experiment.- Measurements of Space Curvature by Solar Mass.- Modern Cosmology: Early and Late Universe.- Gravitational Waves.- to Gravitational Waves.- Discovering Relic Gravitational Waves in Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.- Status of Gravitational Wave Detection.- Search for Gravitational Waves with Resonant Detectors.- Gravitational Fields with 2-Dimensional Killing Leaves and the Gravitational Interaction of Light.- Frame Dragging and Gravitomagnetism.- Rotation and Spin in Physics.- The Gravitomagnetic Influence on Earth-Orbiting Spacecrafts and on the Lunar Orbit.- Quasi-inertial Coordinates.- Gravitomagnetism and Its Measurement with Laser Ranging to the LAGEOS Satellites and GRACE Earth Gravity Models.- The Relativity Mission Gravity Probe B, Testing Einstein’s Universe.- The LARES Space Experiment: LARES Orbit, Error Analysis and Satellite Structure.- The History of the So-Called Lense–Thirring Effect, and of Related Effects.- Miscellaneous.- Atom Interferometers and Optical Clocks: New Quantum Sensors Based on Ultracold Atoms for Gravitational Tests in Earth Laboratories and in Space.- The York Map and the Role of Non-inertial Frames in the Geometrical View of the Gravitational Field.- Erratum.