Book Description

Havel's Law of Gravitation, derived in the book from the atomic level, for the first time solves an n-body gravitational problem. It physically explains the mechanism for carrying gravitation at a distance, the consequences of the delayed action of gravitation, the causes of irregularity of an eccentric orbit, and the problems of gravitation at high speed. The constituents of the constant of gravitation are derived from the atomic level. Heretofore vaguely described mass is for the first time defined mathematically.

Havel's Law of Gravitation physically explains not only the celebrated advance of Mercury's perihelion, which has been mathematically justified by general relativity, but also all other irregularities of the eccentric orbits. It also explains by the same principle the different shapes of the galaxies and the tendency of all bodies in the universe to drift away from one another. ... Read more

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Seminal, thoughtful, technical, & quite "reader accessible"
Deftly written by Karel Havel (a professional engineer with particular interest in theoretical physics and astronomy), Gravitation Master Key To The Universe pre-sents an atomic model to explain gravitation, one of the greatest mysteries of science heretofore explained only in mathematical or geometrical models. A seminal, thoughtful, technical, yet quite "reader accessible" study of a complex mystery governing how the Universe itself works, Gravitation: Master Key To The Universe is a welcome contribution to the growing library of theoretical physics in general, and the study of gravitation on the atomic level (and why the galaxies in the universe are drifting away from one another) in particular. ... Read more

Book Description

The cause of gravitation is explained by analysis of Coulomb's Law: like charges repel, unlike charges attract, and the strength of the attraction or repulsion is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. The nuclear force and gravitation are simply manifestations of the electrostatic force.Explained is the reason no atomic nucleus has more than 92 protons, and no nucleus (in spite of the alleged nuclear force) has 2 protons without a neutron to hold them together.The expanding universe is explained without a "big bang."Recent observations indicating the presence of antigravity (Science 279:651,Jan 1998; Business Week p.113, Mar 16, 1998) was anticipated and is strong evidence of the truth of the presented theory. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

ELECTROGRAVITY MADE EASY!
I first read this book back in the early 80's as I was beginning to research electrogravity(gravity & electricity united). This book was a layman's answer to some puzzling questions! Unfortunately I lost the book in 1982 and I am ordering a new one to add to my collection of classics! If you ever heard about Electro-Gravity, order this book!

Interesting but doubtful
This book begins promising. It highlights flaws inherent in science's current understanding of gravity, and outlines the method that the book will disprove these shakey beliefs. However it barely does this, and instead makes for a slow and rather bizarre read ... Read more

Book Description

This book analyses the geometrical aspects of the simplicial quantum gravity model known as the dynamical triangulations approach. A compact and convenient account is given both to introduce the non-expert reader to the spirit of the subject and to provide a well-chosen mathematical route to the heart of the matter for the expert. The techniques described are novel and allow points of current interest in the subject of simplicial quantum gravity to be addressed. Linear manifolds and entropy estimates of the number of triangulations of 3and 4-manifolds are discussed. Continuum physics is recovered through scaling limits and computer simulation is used to study simplicial quantum gravity extensively. The beginner will appreciate the introduction to the field, the expert a comprehensive account of recent results and developments. ... Read more

Book Description

The purposes of this book are (1) to explore and expound relativity physics and four-dimensional symmetry from the logically simplest viewpoint by making one single postulate instead of two; and (2) to indicate the simplest generalization of the Lorentz transformation in order to cope with frames with constant linear accelerations. The fundamentally new ideas of the first purpose are developed on the basis of the term paper of a Harvard physics undergraduate. They lead to an unexpected affirmative answer to the long-standing question of whether it is possible to construct a relativity theory without postulating the constancy of the speed of light and retaining only the first postulate of special relativity. This question was discussed in the early years following the discovery of special relativity by many physicists, including Ritz, Tolman, Kunz, Comstock and Pauli, all of whom obtained negative answers. Furthermore, the new theory of relativity indicates the truly universal and fundamental constants in physics, and provides a broad view of relativistic physics beyond special relativity. It substantiates the view and sheds light on the understanding that the four-dimensional symmetry framework can accommodate many different concepts of physical time, including common time and Reichenbach's general concept of time. This logically simplest viewpoint of relativity allows a natural extension of the physics of particles and fields from inertial frames to noninertial frames in which the speed of light is not constant. New predictions in physics resulting from this new viewpoint are discussed. The book is based on papers by the author and his collaborators in Physics Letters A, Nuovo Cimento B, and Physical Review A and D. ... Read more

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Jong-Ping Hsu, Einstein's Relativity and Beyond
After Yuan Zhong Zhangs' book Special Relativity and its experimental foundations another book on Special Relativity has been recently published in World Scientific's Advanced Series on Theoretical Physical Science: Jong-Ping Hsu's book Einstein's Relativity and Beyond - New Symmetry Approaches shows, that the theoretical research concerning Einstein's theory of Special Relativity is by far not finished. The book is based on papers by the author and his collaborators in Physics Letters A, Nuovo Cimento B, and Physical Review A and D.

The first part of the book gives a brief review of the historical development of Special Relativity by Voigt, Lorentz, Einstein, Poincaré and others. It is interesting to note that Hsu attaches importance to the work of the almost unknown German physicist Woldemar Voigt, who appears to be the first physicist to conceive the idea of the universal speed of light and who was very close to suggest a conceptual framework for Special Relativity, when he derived around 1887 a type of 4-dimensional space-time transformation which was very similar to the Lorentz transformation.

In second part of the book the theory of Special Relativity is extended to a more general theory with four-dimensional symmetry, which is based solely on the first postulate of relativity. Hsu's main objective is to make clear that "any specific system of time such as relativistic time and the universal speed of light are not physical entities inherent in nature but human conventions imposed upon it. However, the four-dimensional symmetry appears to be inherent and truly fundamental in nature" (Phys. Lett. A 196, 1994). It might be a surprising fact for many physicists that relativistic time, or any particular time system, is apparently not a necessary ingredient of a theory for it to to be consistent with all experiments.
Hsu's theory is shown to have new implications for modern physics which differ from those found in Special Relativity: A very interesting special case called `Common Relativity' is considered which is based on the postulate of a a common time instead of a constant speed of light within the four-dimensional symmetry framework. Common Relativity leads to a simplification of the maze of many coupled Liouville equations presented by Special Relativity and makes it possible to derive an invariant Planck distribution. This implies the impossibility of detecting an `absolute' motion of the earth with respect to the cosmic microwave background radiation.

The third part of the book is about generalized Lorentz transformations for constant-linear-acceleration frames based on the principle of limiting four-dimensional symmetry. Two types of transformations are considered: The generalized Møller-Wu-Lee transformations (which are based on earlier, not completely satisfactory approaches to derive transformations for non-inertial frames by Møller, Wu and Lee) and the so-called Wu transformations for accelerated frames. Implications for electrodynamics and quantum field theory are discussed, like the dynamics of classical and quantum particles and the quantisation of scalar, spinor and electromagnetic fields in non-inertial frames.
Experimental tests of these transformations are also proposed, e.g. a measurement of the so-called Wu-Doppler effect which differs from the usual Doppler effect in Special Relativity and could be measured by precision experiments.

One point which I would like to critisize is the fact, that there are special topics covered, of which some are not related to the main topics mentioned above. One of these topics is, for instance, a discussion of a De Sitter and Poincaré gauge-invariant fermion Lagrangian. However, this does not imply that most of them will not be interesting to the reader: For example, one part of a chapter is dedicated to the the invariance group of the Maxwell equations, of which the relevance is not yet clear, as Steven Weinberg commented in his well known book on quantum field theory; furthermore, the question is considered whether the Michelson-Morley experiment really implies a constant and isotropic speed of light; transformations from inertial into rotational frames based on the principle of limiting four-dimensional symmetry are derived in another chapter. At last, the appendix contains calculations concerning Noether's theorem and quantum electrodynamics in linearly accelerated frames. Other special topics, like a proposed experimental test for the twin paradox, are also treated in the appendix.

Nowadays Special Relativity has become a cornerstone of all modern physical theories which have been invented in the 20th century. Hsu's book shows many new aspects of Einstein's theory which are not taught in lectures or by any other books on this subject. Hsu's work shows once again that it is worthwhile not to accept the principles of physical theories uncritically, especially those which have been introduced by people who are regarded as authorities in a field of research. His understanding and appreciation of the Special Theory of Relativity make, in my opinion, the book worth reading for every physicist who is interested in Special Relativity.

Andreas Ernst
University of Heidelberg
Heidelberg, Germany ... Read more

Book Description

General relativity is the modern theory of gravity, due originally to Einstein. The study of gravitational systems under extreme conditions of density and energy is presently extremely active, for two very different reasons: First, the modern generation of astrophysical measurements are dramatically expanding the information we have of these systems in real astrophysical environments, such as in neutron stars, black holes, or the very early universe. Second, these same systems are proving to be very instructive theoretical probes of cutting-edge theories of elementary particles, such as string theory and its close cousin, M-theory. The confluence of these two trends makes it very fruitful to bring together astrophysicists, geometers, and string theorists, as was done at the 8th CCGRAA. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume contains the Proceedings of "Quantum Gravity": a series of qualified lectures of most outstanding scientists given during the XIV Course of the International School of Cosmology and Gravitation. As usual of that School, the Course was conceived for researchers at different levels of scientific maturity ranging from post-doctorate research students to well established research workers: then in every lecture you can find an introduction where a review and analysis of the main mathematical, physical and epistemological difficulties encountered at the formulations of relativistic quantum theories are expounded, ranging from relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory in Minkowski and in curved space-time to the various canonical and covariant approaches to quantum gravity. ... Read more

Book Description

Held December 16-919, 1999, this proceedings is derived from the Global Foundation Inc.'s Orbis Scientiae 1999. Topics include: cosmological parameters, unifying elementary particle physics, cosmology, superstrings, and black holes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

B. N. Kursunoglu et al's Quantum gravity etc.
My article appears in this book as well as articles by some of the top people in quantum gravity, genralized theory of gravitation, and super-string based unification (unified field) theory. The Global Foundation, which sponsors the conferences on which the series of books is based, is composed mostly of Nobel Prize winners and comparable level people. It is remarkably innovative and receptive to new ideas - what one would expect from Nobel Prize and comparable people. My own article applies logic-based probability (LBP for short or LEUT) to the above fields. It's a sort of Non-Euclidean geometry version or analogue of mainstream Bayesian conditional probability (BCP)and like Non-Euclidean geometry changes a few small assumptions/axioms/definitions to obtain a new type of mathematics. LBP uses subtraction of probabilities (plus a constant) instead of BCP's division of probabilites, and is much more useful than BCP for rare events and highly influential/highly dependent events. Professor Kursunoglu obtained his Ph.D. in physics under Nobel Laureate Professor Paul Dirac of Cambridge University, England and worked with Albert Einstein. Dirac (now deceased) and Steven Weinberg (also a Nobel Laureate) are the two most creative and influential theoretical physicists of the last 30-40 years, although Weinberg (now at University of Texas Austin) is not with the Global Foundation. The series of books started in the 1950s. ... Read more

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Relativity revisited
This meeting was a good oportunity to discuss old and new problems in General Relativity. The book contains the lectures and the presentations gave in Salamanca, Spain 1998. ... Read more

Book Description

From the drop of an apple to the stately dance of the galaxies, gravity is omnipresent in the Cosmos.Even with its high profile, gravity is the most enigmatic of all the known basic forces in nature.The Lighter Side of Gravity presents a beautifully clear and completely nontechnical introduction to the phenomenon of this force in all its manifestations. Astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar begins with an historical background to the discovery of the law of gravitation by Isaac Newton in the seventeenth century. Using familiar analogies, interesting anecdotes, and numerous illustrations to get across subtle effects and difficult points to readers, he goes on to describe the general theory of relativity and some of its strange and unfamiliar ideas such as curved spacetime, the bending of light, and black holes. Since first publication in 1982 (W.H. Freeman), Dr. Narlikar has brought his book completely up to date and expanded it to include the discovery of gigantic gravitational lenses in space, the findings of the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, the detection of dark matter in galaxies, the investigation of the very early Universe, and other new ideas in cosmology.This lucid and stimulating book presents a clear approach to the intriguing phenomenon of gravity for everyone who has ever felt caught in its grip. Jayant Narlikar is the winner of many astronomical prizes and the author of Introduction to Cosmology (Cambridge University Press, 1993). ... Read more

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Gravity from A to Z
It's always a pleasure to read a well-written book authored by a leading scientist.Such is the quality of Jayant V. Narlikar's book "The lighter side of gravity."One of the risks associated with writing any book on the leading edge of science, however, is that it will be obsolete almost before leaving the presses.Narlikar's book suffers somewhat from this problem.The book has an original publication date of 1982, and revised publication of 1996.Consequently, it misses some recent discoveries about black holes, experimental evidence of neutrino oscillation and its implications for neutrino mass, the mass of the universe, and the nature of dark matter.

The book offers a nice historical perspective, from Aristotle to Galileo and on to Newton and his laws of motion and gravitation.I particularly enjoyed the clear explanations surrounding the insight and possible clues that led Newton to the discovery of his law of gravitation.

The book's promotional litera! ture presents it as a layperson's guide to gravity, but without over-simplified (and erroneous) information.This is a high goal, and generally met, though the book's brevity might lead to some false notions.For example, the book portrays hydrogen burning as the fusing of four protons, with a helium-nucleus byproduct, two positrons, two neutrinos, and some energy.There is no mention of what theorists initially thought was the inadequacy of thermal energy to initiate fusion.There is no discussion of the importance of quantum tunneling, or the formation of helium 4 in stages (two protons form deuterium, from which helium 3 is formed, and then helium 4).Narlikar's book is not very long (only a little more than 200 pages) and could easily accommodate the extra detail.

From solar models the book digresses slightly to discuss curved space, which Narlikar does very well without equations, and with the aid only of simple diagrams and examples.There is a brief though tru! ncated discussion of supernova.Other books such as John G! ribbin's "Blinded by the Light," and Laurence A. Marschall's "The Supernova Story" offer far more insight for the weekend physicist.

The discussion about black holes, even without the most recent discoveries, is nicely done.As with any subject as broad as that of gravity, there are missing elements (there is no discussion of Hawking radiation, for example).Just the same, the discussion about black holes is about as complete as a non-technical book on the subject can be.

Narlikar finishes his book by describing the big bang theory of cosmology, its weaknesses (some of which have been at least partially resolved since 1996) and his alternative theory of quasi-steady-state.For the most part he has been admirably forthright about the scientific debate, with the possible exception of a closing comment in chapter 8:

"In spite of these questions regarding white holes of a limited size, astronomers have, paradoxically, given an uncritical acceptance to the hypothesis of ! the biggest white hole of them all: the Universe!"

Although one may disagree with the big-bang theory, it seems remarkable that anyone would claim it has been accepted uncritically.Narlikar's comment seems even more remarkable since chapter 9 proceeds to describe the wealth of scientific data supporting the big-bang model.

Overall, however, I really enjoyed this book.The closing chapter, though perhaps controversial, helps us understand that science is a progressive system of thought.Even our most cherished ideas -- perhaps especially our most cherished ideas -- are subject to review and critical examination in light of the most recent experimental evidence.If Narlikar is right about his model of the universe, we are on a threshold in cosmology.If Narlikar is wrong, we are on a threshold in cosmology.Either way, it's a wonderful universe.Read Narlikar's book.It will help you understand it a little better.

Duwayne Anderson ... Read more

Book Description

Gravity is a mystery. All bodies seem to attract one another with an unknown force. Newton and Einstein told us how gravity works but not why. This great mystery is revealed by exploring the symmetry of space-energy. Each particle of the Universe is related to the whole of space by the structure of space-energy in the form of gravity. ... Read more

Book Description

The first aim of this book is to describe recent work on the problem of boundary conditions in one-loop quantum cosmology. The motivation is to understand whether supersymmetric theories are one-loop finite in the presence of boundaries. The second aim of the book is to present a recent, entirely new study of the singularity problem for space-times with torsion. The book is written in self-contained form. In many cases problems have been initially formulated in the simplest possible way, and finally presented and solved at increasing levels of complexity. Readers will find here a detailed and updated study of quantum cosmology, its motivation, and application to perturbative quantum gravity. Moreover, this is the first book which enables the reader to learn techniques used in classical gravity and quantum cosmology. ... Read more

Book Description

Divided into four parts, this book covers recent developments in topics pertaining to gravity theories, including discussions on the presence of scalar fields.Part One is devoted to exact solutions in general relativity, and is mainly concerned with the results of rotating null dust beams and fluids. Also included is a panoramic vision of new research directions in this area, which would require revising certain theorems and their possible extensions within gravity theories, new aspects concerning the Ernst potentials, double Kerr spacetimes, and rotating configurations. In particular, there is a detailed discussion of totally symmetric and totally geodesic spaces, in which a method for generating (2+1)-dimensional solutions from (3+1)-dimensional solutions is given.Part Two deals with alternative theories of gravity, all of which include scalar fields and gauge fields. Here, quantum and cosmological effects, which arise from both gravity theories in four and higher dimensions and from metric-affine theories, are investigated.Part Three is devoted to cosmological and inflationary scenarios. Local effects, such as the influence of scalar fields in protogalactic interactions, numerical studies of the collapse of molecular cores, as well as the inverse inflationary problem and the blue eigenvalue spectrum of it, are considered. Moreover, the role of scalar fields as dark matter and quantum cosmology in the Bergman-Wagoner and Gowdy theories, together with the relation of the conformal symmetry and deflationary gas universe, are likewise presented.The last part of the book includes some mixed topics which are still in the experimental stage. Among them are the foundation of the Maxwell theory, a discussion on electromagnetic Thirring problems, a note on the staticity of black holes with non-minimally coupled scalar fields, and a study of the Lorentz force free charged fluids in general relativity. Thus, this book is the most up-to-date, comprehensive collection of papers on the subject of exact solutions and scalar fields in gravity and is a valuable tool for researchers in the area. ... Read more

Book Description

Offers a concise treatment of the pedagogical aspects of supersymmetry and supergravity. Addresses other areas of quantum field theory including Schwinger's Action Principle and quantum phase transitions. Examines the utilization of thermofield dynamics in supersymmetry and supergravity along with concepts of higher dimensional spaces and compactification. ... Read more