Synopses & Reviews
This book serves two purposes. The authors present important aspects of modern research on the mathematical structure of Einstein's field equations and they show how to extract their physical content from them by mathematically exact methods. The essays are devoted to exact solutions and to the Cauchy problem of the field equations as well as to post-Newtonian approximations that have direct physical implications. Further topics concern quantum gravity and optics in gravitational fields. The book addresses researchers in relativity and differential geometry but can also be used as additional reading material for graduate students.
Table of Contents
Selected solutions of Einstein's field equations : their role in general relativity and astrophysics / Jiérâi Biécâak -- The Cauchy problem for the Einstein equations / Helmut Friedrich, Alan Rendall -- Post-Newtonian gravitational radiation / Luc Blanchet -- Duality and hidden symmetries in gravitational theories / Dieter Maison -- Time-independent gravitational fields / Robert Beig, Bernd Schmidt -- Gravitational lensing from a geometric viewpoint / Volker Perlick.