Gravity, black holes, and the universe

Book · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:5631488

Nicolson, I

The book treats current understandings of the nature and properties of gravity, with particular emphasis on its role in the physics of black holes and the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole. The development of modern ideas on force, motion and gravity is traced from the systems of Aristotle and Ptolemy through the work of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler to Newton's law of universal gravitation and Einstein's general theory of relativity. Particular attention is then given to the role of gravity in stellar motions and to the phenomena determined by the immense gravitational forces associated with bodies of such great density, including relativistic effects, tidal forces, space-time effects, event horizons, rotation, mass and electrical charge, the existence of naked singularities and white holes, and black-hole thermodynamics. The existence of actual black holes in the universe is considered, and various black-hole candidates in the Galaxy, quasars and galactic nuclei are indicated. The role of gravity in cosmology is then examined, with attention given to the implications of general relativity, the Hubble law, the age of the universe, the density of the universe and its eventual fate. Possible alternative to general relativity as a theory of gravitation are considered, including theories of variable gravitational constant, grand unified theories, and quantum gravity.

• OSTI ID: 5631488
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640102 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
640106 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Cosmology
657003* -- Theoretical & Mathematical Physics-- Relativity & Gravitation
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
BASIC INTERACTIONS
BLACK HOLES
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
COSMOLOGY
FIELD THEORIES
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GENERAL RELATIVITY THEORY
GRAVITATION
GRAVITATIONAL INTERACTIONS
HUBBLE EFFECT
INTERACTIONS
MOTION
PROPER MOTION
QUASARS
STARS
UNIVERSE