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Foundations of high-energy astrophysics
Written by one of today’s most highly respected astrophysicists, Foundations of High-Energy Astrophysics is an introduction to the mathematical and physical techniques used in the study of high-energy astrophysics. Here, Mario Vietri approaches the basics of high-energy astrophysics with an emphasis on underlying physical processes as opposed to a more mathematical approach. Alongside more traditional topics, Vietri presents new subjects increasingly considered crucial to understanding high-energy astrophysical sources, including the electrodynamics of cosmic sources, new developments in the theory of standard accretion disks, and the physics of coronae, thick disks, and accretion onto magnetized objects. The most thorough and engaging survey of high-energy astrophysics available today, Foundations of High-Energy Astrophysics introduces the main physical processes relevant to the field in a rigorous yet accessible way, while paying careful attention to observational issues. Vietri’s book will quickly become a classic text for students and active researchers in astronomy and astrophysics. Those in adjoining fields will also find it a valuable addition to their personal libraries.
eBook
Einstein gravity in a nutshell
\"This unique textbook provides an accessible introduction to Einstein's general theory of relativity, a subject of breathtaking beauty and supreme importance in physics. With his trademark blend of wit and incisiveness, A. Zee guides readers from the fundamentals of Newtonian mechanics to the most exciting frontiers of research today, including de Sitter and anti-de Sitter spacetimes, Kaluza-Klein theory, and brane worlds. Unlike other books on Einstein gravity, this book emphasizes the action principle and group theory as guides in constructing physical theories. Zee treats various topics in a spiral style that is easy on beginners, and includes anecdotes from the history of physics that will appeal to students and experts alike. He takes a friendly approach to the required mathematics, yet does not shy away from more advanced mathematical topics such as differential forms. The extensive discussion of black holes includes rotating and extremal black holes and Hawking radiation. The ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate students, Einstein Gravity in a Nutshell also provides an essential resource for professional physicists and is accessible to anyone familiar with classical mechanics and electromagnetism. It features numerous exercises as well as detailed appendices covering a multitude of topics not readily found elsewhere. Provides an accessible introduction to Einstein's general theory of relativity Guides readers from Newtonian mechanics to the frontiers of modern research Emphasizes symmetry and the Einstein-Hilbert action Covers topics not found in standard textbooks on Einstein gravity Includes interesting historical asides Features numerous exercises and detailed appendices Ideal for students, physicists, and scientifically minded lay readers Solutions manual (available only to teachers) \"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Foundations of modern cosmology
Recent discoveries in astronomy, especially those made with data collected by satellites such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, have revolutionized the science of cosmology. These new observations offer the possibility that some long-standing mysteries in cosmology might be answered, including such fundamental questions as the ultimate fate of the universe. Foundations of modern cosmology provides an accessible, thorough and descriptive introduction to the physical basis for modern cosmological theory, from the big bang to a distant future dominated by dark energy. This second edition includes the latest observational results and provides the detailed background material necessary to understand their implications, with a focus on the specific model supported by these observations, the concordance model. Consistent with the book’s title, emphasis is given to the scientific framework for cosmology, particularly the basics concepts of physics that underlie modern theories of relativity and cosmology; the importance of data and observations is stressed throughout. The book sketches the historical background of cosmology, and provides a review of the relevant basic physics and astronomy. After this introduction, both special and general relativity are treated, before proceeding to an in-depth discussion of the big bang theory and physics of the early universe. The book includes current research areas, including dark matter and structure formation, dark energy, the inflationary universe, and quantum cosmology.
eBook
Frank Shu (1943–2023)
Astrophysicist who researched galactic structure and star formation.
Astrophysicist who researched galactic structure and star formation.
Credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection
Frank Shu.
Journal Article
A stress test of global PDF fits: closure testing the MSHT PDFs and a first direct comparison to the neural net approach
We present a first global closure test of the fixed parameterisation (MSHT) approach to PDF fitting. We find that the default MSHT20 parameterisation can reproduce the features of the input set in such a closure test to well within the textbook uncertainties. This provides strong evidence that parameterisation inflexibility in the MSHT20 fit is not a significant issue in the data region. We also present the first completely like-for-like comparison between two global PDF fits, namely MSHT and NNPDF, where the only difference is guaranteed to be due to the fitting methodology. To achieve this, we present a fit to the NNPDF4.0 data and theory inputs, but with the MSHT fixed parameterisation. We find that this gives a moderately, but noticeably, better fit quality than the central NNPDF4.0 fits, both with perturbative and fitted charm, and that this difference persists at the level of the PDFs and benchmark cross sections. The NNPDF4.0 uncertainties are found to be broadly in line with the MSHT results if a textbook
T
2
=
1
tolerance is applied, but to be significantly smaller if a tolerance typical of the MSHT20 fit is applied. This points to an inherent inconsistency between these approaches. We discuss the need for an enlarged tolerance criterion in global PDF fits in detail, and demonstrate the impact of data/theory inconsistencies in the closure test setting; namely, these do not lead to any increase in the
T
2
=
1
PDF uncertainty. We also investigate the impact of restricting the PDF parameterisation to have fewer free parameters than the default MSHT20 case, and find this can be significant at the level of both closure tests and the full fit.
Journal Article
Horizon, homogeneity and flatness problems: do their resolutions really depend upon inflation?
The horizon problem, encountered in cosmology, is derived as such for world models based on Robertson–Walker metric where homogeneity and isotropy of the universe is assumed to begin with and is guaranteed for all epochs. Actually, the only thing that happens in this scenario is that in such a universe, described by a single, time-dependent scale factor, which may otherwise be independent of spatial coordinates, the light signals in a finite time might not cover all the available space. Further, the flatness problem, as it is posed, is not even falsifiable. The usual argument offered in the literature is that the present density of the universe is very close to the critical density value and that the universe must be flat since otherwise in past at
∼
10
-
35
second (near the epoch of inflation) there will be extremely low departures of density from the critical density value (of the order
∼
10
-
53
), requiring a sort of fine tuning. We show that even if the present value of the density parameter were very different, still at
10
-
35
second it would differ from unity by the same fraction. Thus a use of fine tuning argument to promote
k
=
0
model amounts to a priori rejection of all models with
k
≠
0
. Without casting any aspersions on the inflationary theory, which after all is the most promising paradigm to explain the pattern of anisotropies observed in the cosmic microwave background, we argue that one cannot use homogeneity and flatness in support of inflation.
Journal Article
Practical derivations of fermion and gauge boson reduction formulae in curved spacetimes
LSZ-type reduction formulae are derived for gauge fields and fermions in curved spacetime. The formulae are derived using a conserved current method applicable also to flat spacetimes. The method generalizes to more general quantum field theories. The formulae are then applied to a couple of basic problems to illustrate their use.
Journal Article
The Low soft-photon theorem again
It is shown that contrary to claims of Lebiedowicz et al. (Phys Rev D 105(1):014022, 2022) the formulated in the proper physical variables Low theorem (Low in Phys Rev 110(4):974–977, 1958) for soft photon emission does not require any modification. We also reject the criticism in Lebiedowicz et al. (2022) of the papers (Burnett and Kroll in Phys. Rev. Lett. 20:86–88,1968; Lipatov in Nucl Phys B 307:705–720, 1988). At the same time, we identify some inaccuracies in Burnett and Kroll (1968) in the presentation of the soft-photon theorem for the case of spin-one-half particles. We also point out shortcomings in consideration of the Low theorem in the classic textbooks (Berestetskii et al. in Quantum electrodynamics. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1982; Lifshitz and Pitaevsky in Relativistic quantum theory, part 2, Fizmatlit, 2002).
Journal Article
Quantization of Measure in Gravitation
Using the Radon–Nikodym theorem concerning the relation between any two measures, as well as the methods employed in loop quantum gravity, it is shown that in gravitation one can quantize any measure which is not even associated with metric. We have considered the simplest case where the proportionality coefficient between two operators of measure (the Radon–Nikodym derivative) is some function. The result is that in the right-hand side of the commutation relations for the measure the fundamental length becomes a variable quantity, and this can lead to smoothing the singularity. The case where the Radon–Nikodym derivative is an operator is also under discussion. Classical and quantum theories in the background of space endowed with quantum measure are under consideration.
Journal Article