Directions in General Relativity: Volume 1

Proceedings of the 1993 International Symposium, Maryland: Papers in Honor of Charles Misner

B. L. Hu, M. P. Ryan, Jr, C. V. Vishveshwara

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN:
  9780521021395
• eBook ISBN:
  9780511884405
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Astronomy & Astrophysics

These two volumes are the proceedings of a major International Symposium on General Relativity held at the University of Maryland 27 to 29 March 1993 to celebrate the sixtieth birthdays of Professor Charles Misner and Professor Dieter Brill. The volumes cover classical general relativity, quantum gravity and quantum cosmology, canonical formulation and the initial value problem, topology and geometry of spacetime and fields, mathematical and physical cosmology, and Black Hole physics and astrophysics. As invited articles, the papers in these volumes have an aim which goes beyond that of a standard conference proceedings. Not only do the authors discuss the most recent research results in their fields, but many also provide historical perspectives on how their subjects developed and offer individual insights in their search for new directions.

Table of contents

• Half-title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Contributors
• Symposium Program
• Papers from Both Volumes Classified by Subject
• Preface
• Charles W.Misner: Insight and Discovery
• Remarks Concerning the Geometries of Gravity and Gauge Fields
• Gravity and Unification of Fundamental Interactions
• Minisuperspaces: Symmetries and Quantization
• Quantum Cosmology
• A Pictorial History of some Gravitational Instantons*
• No Time Machines from Lightlike Sources in 2+1 Gravity
• Inhomogeneity and Anisotropy Generation in FRW Cosmologies
• Misner, Kinks, and Black Holes
• The Quantum Mechanics of Closed Systems
• Cosmological Vacuum Phase Transitions
• Minisuperspace as a Quantum Open System
• Ricci Flow on Minisuperspaces and the Geometry-Topology Problem
• Classical and Quantum Dynamics of Black Hole Interiors
• Matter Time in Canonical Quantum Gravity
• The Isotropy and Homogeneity of the Universe
• Recent Advances in ADM Reduction
• Some Progress in Classical Canonical Gravity
• Harmonic Map Formulation of Colliding Electrovac Plane Waves
• Geometry, the Renormalization Group and Gravity
• An Example of Indeterminacy in theTime-development of "Already Unified Field Theory": A Collision between Electromagnetic Plane Waves
• Non-static Metrics of Hiscock-Gott Type
• Non-Standard Phase Space Variables, Quantization, and Path Integrals, or Little Ado about Much
• The Present Status of the Decaying Neutrino Theory
• Exploiting the Computer to Investigate Black Holes and Cosmic Censorship
• Misner Space as a Prototype for Almost Any Pathology
• Relativity and Rotation
• The First Law of Black Hole Mechanics
• Gravitational Radiation Antenna Observations
• The Back-Reaction Is Never Negligible: Entropy of Black Holes and Radiation
• Toward a Thesis Topic
• Charles Misner: A Celebration of Memories
• Curriculum Vitae
• Physics Ph.D. Theses
• List of Publications