Friedrich W Hehl - Böcker

This book presents a fresh, original exposition of the foundations of classical electrodynamics in the tradition of the so-called metric-free approach. The fundamental structure of classical electrodynamics is described in the form of six axioms: (1) electric charge conservation, (2) existence of the Lorentz force, (3) magnetic flux conservation, (4) localization of electromagnetic energy-momentum, (5) existence of an electromagnetic spacetime relation, and (6) splitting of the electric current into material and external pieces.The first four axioms require an arbitrary 4-dimensional differentiable manifold. The fifth axiom characterizes spacetime as the environment in which the electromagnetic field propagates - a research topic of considerable interest - and in which the metric tensor of spacetime makes its appearance, thus coupling electromagnetism and gravitation. Repeated emphasis is placed on interweaving the mathematical definitions of physical notions and the actual physical measurement procedures.The tool for formulating the theory is the calculus of exterior differential forms, which is explained in sufficient detail, along with the corresponding computer algebra programs.Prerequisites for the reader include a knowledge of elementary electrodynamics (with Maxwell's equations), linear algebra and elementary vector analysis; some knowledge of differential geometry would help. "Foundations of Classical Electrodynamics" unfolds systematically at a level suitable for graduate students and researchers in mathematics, physics, and electrical engineering.

In this book we display the fundamental structure underlying classical electro­ dynamics, i. e. , the phenomenological theory of electric and magnetic effects. The book can be used as a textbook for an advanced course in theoretical electrodynamics for physics and mathematics students and, perhaps, for some highly motivated electrical engineering students. We expect from our readers that they know elementary electrodynamics in the conventional (1 + 3)-dimensional form including Maxwell's equations. More­ over, they should be familiar with linear algebra and elementary analysis, in­ cluding vector analysis. Some knowledge of differential geometry would help. Our approach rests on the metric-free integral formulation of the conservation laws of electrodynamics in the tradition of F. Kottler (1922), E. Cartan (1923), and D. van Dantzig (1934), and we stress, in particular, the axiomatic point of view. In this manner we are led to an understanding of why the Maxwell equa­ tions have their specific form. We hope that our book can be seen in the classical tradition of the book by E. J. Post (1962) on the Formal Structure of Electro­ magnetics and of the chapter "Charge and Magnetic Flux" of the encyclopedia article on classical field theories by C. Truesdell and R. A. Toupin (1960), in­ cluding R. A. Toupin's Bressanone lectures (1965); for the exact references see the end of the introduction on page 11. .

In the last five decades, the gauge approach to gravity has represented a research area of increasing importance for our understanding of the physics of fundamental interactions. A full clarification of the gauge dynamics of gravity is expected to be the last missing link to the hidden structure of a consistent unification of all the fundamental interactions, based on the gauge principle. The aim of the present reprint volume, with commentaries by Milutin Blagojević and Friedrich W Hehl, is to introduce graduate and advanced undergraduate students of theoretical or mathematical physics, or any other interested researcher, to the field of classical gauge theories of gravity.This is not just an ordinary reprint volume; it is a guide to the literature on gauge theories of gravity. The reader is encouraged first to study the introductory commentaries and to become familiar with the basic content of the reprints and related ideas, then he/she can choose to read a specific reprint or reprints, and after that he/she should return again to the text and explore the additional literature, etc. The interaction is intended to be more complex than just starting with commentaries and ending with reprints.

Starting from simple examples in classical mechanics, these introductory lectures proceed to simulations in statistical physics (using FORTRAN) and then explain in detail the use of computer algebra (by means of Reduce). This third edition takes into account the most recent version of Reduce (3.4.1) and updates the description of large-scale simulations to subjects such as the 170000 x 170000 Ising model. Furthermore, an introduction to both vector and parallel computing is given.

This book addresses graduate students in the first place and is meant as a modern compendium to the existing texts on black hole astrophysics. The authors present in pedagogically written articles our present knowledge on black holes covering mathematical models including numerical aspects and physics and astronomical observations as well. In addition, in their write-up of a panel discussion the participants of the school address the existence of black holes consenting that it has by now been verified with certainty.

For this set of lectures we assumed that the reader has a reasonable back­ ground in physics and some knowledge of general relativity, the modern theory of gravity in macrophysics, and cosmology. Computer methods are present­ ed by leading experts in the three main domains: in numerics, in computer algebra, and in visualization. The idea was that each of these subdisciplines is introduced by an extended set of main lectures and that each is conceived as being of comparable 'importance. Therefpre we believe that the book represents a good introduction into scientific I computing for any student who wants to specialize in relativity, gravitation, and/or astrophysics. We took great care to select lecturers who teach in a comprehensible way and who are, at the same time, at the research front of their respective field. In numerics we had the privilege of having a lecturer from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA, Champaign, IL, USA) and some from other leading institutions of the world; visualization was taught by a visualization expert from Boeing; and in com­ puter algebra we took recourse to practitioners of different computer algebra systems as applied to classical general relativity up to quantum gravity and differential geometry.

This book addresses graduate students in the first place and is meant as a modern compendium to the existing texts on black hole astrophysics. The authors present in pedagogically written articles our present knowledge on black holes covering mathematical models including numerical aspects and physics and astronomical observations as well. In addition, in their write-up of a panel discussion the participants of the school address the existence of black holes consenting that it has by now been verified with certainty.

This book summarizes the lectures given at the 162. WE-Heraeus Seminar which took place in the house of the German Physical Society in Bad Honnefin August 1996. Already the number 162 shows the activity and effectiveness of the WE-Heraeus Foundation. We would like to express our thanks to Jutta Adam and Dr. Volker Schafer for the almost incredibly simple and unbureaucratical procedure of funding, organization and realization, and, of course, to the founders. Similar to the 152. WE-Heraeus Seminar Relativity and Scientific Computing (Springer Verlag 1996), this seminar was a joint venture of the Astronomical Society (AG) and of the Section 'Gravitation und Relativity Theory' of the German Physical Society (DPG). Since Einstein has developed his Theory of General Relativity more than 80 years ago, the situation has changed dramatically. In the first decades main efforts were untertaken for a better understanding and for the experimental verification of the theory. Mean­ while General Relativity (GR) is one of the experimentally best confirmed theories with 13 an accuracy better than 10- ! Consequently, GR has become a powerful tool for the investigation of cosmic processes where strong gravitational fields are involved. The state of the art of our knowledge is summarized by Jiirgen Ehlers in the first chapter. An impressive example of the change of the situation is the gravitational light deflection.