Noether Symmetries in Theories of Gravity


Book Description

This volume summarizes the many modified theories of gravity and shows how to select physically viable models using symmetry principles.




Noether's Theorem and Symmetry


Book Description

In Noether's original presentation of her celebrated theorem of 1918, allowances were made for the dependence of the coefficient functions of the differential operator which generated the infinitesimal transformation of the Action Integral upon the derivatives of the dependent variable(s), the so-called generalized, or dynamical, symmetries. A similar allowance is to be found in the variables of the boundary function, often termed a gauge function by those who have not read the original paper. This generality was lost after texts such as those of Courant and Hilbert or Lovelock and Rund confined attention to only point transformations. In recent decades, this diminution of the power of Noether's Theorem has been partly countered, in particular, in the review of Sarlet and Cantrijn. In this Special Issue, we emphasize the generality of Noether's Theorem in its original form and explore the applicability of even more general coefficient functions by allowing for nonlocal terms. We also look at the application of these more general symmetries to problems in which parameters or parametric functions have a more general dependence upon the independent variables.




Symmetries in Fundamental Physics


Book Description

Over the course of the last century it has become clear that both elementary particle physics and relativity theories are based on the notion of symmetries. These symmetries become manifest in that the "laws of nature" are invariant under spacetime transformations and/or gauge transformations. The consequences of these symmetries were analyzed as early as in 1918 by Emmy Noether on the level of action functionals. Her work did not receive due recognition for nearly half a century, but can today be understood as a recurring theme in classical mechanics, electrodynamics and special relativity, Yang-Mills type quantum field theories, and in general relativity. As a matter of fact, as shown in this monograph, many aspects of physics can be derived solely from symmetry considerations. This substantiates the statement of E.P. Wigner "... if we knew all the laws of nature, or the ultimate Law of nature, the invariance properties of these laws would not furnish us new information." Thanks to Wigner we now also understand the implications of quantum physics and symmetry considerations: Poincare invariance dictates both the characteristic properties of particles (mass, spin, ...) and the wave equations of spin 0, 1/2, 1, ... objects. Further, the work of C.N. Yang and R. Mills reveals the consequences of internal symmetries as exemplified in the symmetry group of elementary particle physics. Given this pivotal role of symmetries it is thus not surprising that current research in fundamental physics is to a great degree motivated and inspired by considerations of symmetry. The treatment of symmetries in this monograph ranges from classical physics to now well-established theories of fundamental interactions, to the latest research on unified theories and quantum gravity.




Compact Objects in Astrophysics


Book Description

Modern comprehensive introduction and overview of the physics of White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars and Black Holes, including all relevant observations. Contains a basic introduction to General Relativity, including the modern 3+1 split of spacetime and of Einstein’s equations. The split is used for the first time to derive the structure equations for rapidly rotating neutron stars and Black Holes. Detailed discussions and derivations of current theoretical results. In particular also the most recent equations of state for neutron star matter are explained. Topics , such as colour superconductivity are discussed and used for modelling. A book for graduate students and researchers. Contains exercises and some solutions.




Metric Theories of Gravity


Book Description

By focusing on the mostly used variational methods, this monograph aspires to give a unified description and comparison of various ways of constructing conserved quantities for perturbations and to study symmetries in general relativity and modified theories of gravity. The main emphasis lies on the field-theoretical covariant formulation of perturbations, the canonical Noether approach and the Belinfante procedure of symmetrisation. The general formalism is applied to build the gauge-invariant cosmological perturbation theory, conserved currents and superpotentials to describe physically important solutions of gravity theories. Meticulous attention is given to the construction of conserved quantities in asymptotically-flat spacetimes as well as in asymptotically constant curvature spacetimes such as the Anti-de Sitter space. Significant part of the book can be used in graduate courses on conservation laws in general relativity. THE SERIES: DE GRUYTER STUDIES IN MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS The series is devoted to the publication of monographs and high-level texts in mathematical physics. They cover topics and methods in fields of current interest, with an emphasis on didactical presentation. The series will enable readers to understand, apply, and develop further, with sufficient rigor, mathematical methods to given problems in physics. The works in this series are aimed at advanced students and researchers in mathematical and theoretical physics. They can also serve as secondary reading for lectures and seminars at advanced levels.




Quantum Fields in Curved Space


Book Description

This book presents a comprehensive review of the subject of gravitational effects in quantum field theory. Although the treatment is general, special emphasis is given to the Hawking black hole evaporation effect, and to particle creation processes in the early universe. The last decade has witnessed a phenomenal growth in this subject. This is the first attempt to collect and unify the vast literature that has contributed to this development. All the major technical results are presented, and the theory is developed carefully from first principles. Here is everything that students or researchers will need to embark upon calculations involving quantum effects of gravity at the so-called one-loop approximation level.




Modified Gravity and Cosmology


Book Description

With a focus on modified gravity this book presents a review of the recent developments in the fields of gravity and cosmology, presenting the state of the art, high-lighting the open problems, and outlining the directions of future research. General Relativity and the ΛCDM framework are currently the standard lore and constitute the concordance paradigm of cosmology. Nevertheless, long-standing open theoretical issues, as well as possible new observational ones arising from the explosive development of cosmology in the last two decades, offer the motivation and lead a large amount of research to be devoted in constructing various extensions and modifications. In this review all extended theories and scenarios are first examined under the light of theoretical consistency, and are then applied in various geometrical backgrounds, such as the cosmological and the spherical symmetric ones. Their predictions at both the background and perturbation levels, and concerning cosmology at early, intermediate and late times, are then confronted with the huge amount of observational data that astrophysics and cosmology has been able to offer in the last two decades. Theories, scenarios and models that successfully and efficiently pass the above steps are classified as viable and are candidates for the description of Nature, allowing readers to get a clear overview of the state of the art and where the field of modified gravity is likely to go. This work was performed in the framework of the COST European Action “Cosmology and Astrophysics Network for Theoretical Advances and Training Actions” - CANTATA.




Relativistic Cosmology


Book Description

Surveying key developments and open issues in cosmology for graduate students and researchers, this book focuses on the general concepts and relations that underpin the standard model of the Universe. It also examines anisotropic and inhomogeneous models, and deeper issues, such as quantum cosmology and the multiverse proposal.




Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe


Book Description

When scientists peer through a telescope at the distant stars in outer space or use a particle-accelerator to analyze the smallest components of matter, they discover that the same laws of physics govern the whole universe at all times and all places. Physicists call the eternal, ubiquitous constancy of the laws of physics symmetry. Symmetry is the basic underlying principle that defines the laws of nature and hence controls the universe. This all-important insight is one of the great conceptual breakthroughs in modern physics and is the basis of contemporary efforts to discover a grand unified theory to explain all the laws of physics. Nobel Laureate Leon M. Lederman and physicist Christopher T. Hill explain the supremely elegant concept of symmetry and all its profound ramifications to life on Earth and the universe at large in this eloquent, accessible popular science book. They not only clearly describe concepts normally reserved only for physicists and mathematicians, but they also instill an appreciation for the profound beauty of the universe’s inherent design. Central to the story of symmetry is an obscure, unpretentious, but extremely gifted German mathematician named Emmy Noether. Though still little known to the world, she impressed no less a scientist than Albert Einstein, who praised her "penetrating mathematical thinking." In some of her earliest work she proved that the law of the conservation of energy was connected to the idea of symmetry and thus laid the mathematical groundwork for what may be the most important concept of modern physics. Lederman and Hill reveal concepts about the universe, based on Noether’s work, that are largely unknown to the public and have wide-reaching implications in connection with the Big Bang, Einstein’s theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, and many other areas of physics. Through ingenious analogies and illustrations, they bring these astounding notions to life. This book will open your eyes to a universe you never knew existed.




Teleparallel Gravity


Book Description

Teleparallel Gravity (TG) is an alternative theory for gravitation, which is equivalent to General Relativity (GR). However, it is conceptually different. For example in GR geometry replaces the concept of force, and the trajectories are determined by geodesics. TG attributes gravitation to torsion, which accounts for gravitation by acting as a force. TG has already solved some old problems of gravitation (like the energy-momentum density of the gravitational field). The interest in TG has grown in the last few years. The book here proposed will be the first one dedicated exclusively to TG, and will include the foundations of the theory, as well as applications to specific problems to illustrate how the theory works.