This authoritative volume shows how modern dynamical systems theory can help us in understanding the evolution of cosmological models. It also compares this approach with Hamiltonian methods and numerical studies. A major part of the book deals with the spatially homogeneous (Bianchi) models and their isotropic subclass, the Friedmann-Lemaitre models, but certain classes of inhomogeneous models (for example, 'silent universes') are also examined. The analysis leads to an understanding of how special (high symmetry) models determine the evolution of more general families of models; and how these families relate to real cosmological observations. This is the first book to relate modern dynamical systems theory to both cosmological models and cosmological observations. It provides an invaluable reference for graduate students and researchers in relativity, cosmology and dynamical systems theory.

Product Description: Will our universe continue to expand 100 billion years from now? Does human life and all intelligence inevitably come to an end as the universe evolves? Could our present space be converted catastrophically in to a new kind of space governed by different physical laws? Can we construct a theology of the future universe? Would the continuation of the universe for eternity be a good thing? The Far-Future Universe presents eighteen provocative essays offering speculations on various scenarios for the future, from the perspectives of cosmology, physics, biology, humanity and theology...read more

This text explains special relativity and the foundations of general relativity theory in terms understandable to undergraduates in mathematics and physics coming to the subject for the first time. Space-time geometry is emphasized throughout, providing a basic understanding of the special relativity effects of time dilation, length contraction, and the relativity of simultaneity. Bondi's k-calculus is introduced as a simple means of calculating the magnitudes of these effects, and this leads to a derivation of the Lorentz Transformation as a way of unifying these results. The invariant interval of flat space-time is compared to that of curved space-times, and the basic properties of simple cosmological models are presented. Appendices enable the advanced student to master the application of four tensors to the relativistic study of energy, momentum and electromagnetism. (view table of contents)

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Product Description: What is the ethical import of contemporary scientific cosmology? How does our understanding of the universe relate to our most pressing social concerns? How do the disparate fields of theology, ethics, and the sciences relate to each other? Murphy and Ellis offer a coherent construction of these relations and show how a particular moral vision-a "kenotic" ethic-is supported "from below" by the social sciences and "from above" by theology...read more

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Product Description: Briefings is a new series of short books to explain and clarify complex contemporary subjects, written for non-specialists by experts in their fields. Themes and topics covered will include Feminism, Education, Cosmology, Medical Ethics, Structuralism, Quantum Physics and Comparative Religion among others...read more

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