Fulvio Melia – författare

Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity describes the effect of gravitation on the shape of space and the flow of time. But for more than four decades after its publication, the theory remained largely a curiosity for scientists; however accurate it seemed, Einstein’s mathematical code—represented by six interlocking equations—was one of the most difficult to crack in all of science. That is, until a twenty-nine-year-old Cambridge graduate solved the great riddle in 1963. Roy Kerr’s solution emerged coincidentally with the discovery of black holes that same year and provided fertile testing ground—at long last—for general relativity. Today, scientists routinely cite the Kerr solution, but even among specialists, few know the story of how Kerr cracked Einstein’s code.

Fulvio Melia here offers an eyewitness account of the events leading up to Kerr’s great discovery. Cracking the Einstein Code vividly describes how luminaries such as Karl Schwarzschild, David Hilbert, and Emmy Noether set the stage for the Kerr solution; how Kerr came to make his breakthrough; and how scientists such as Roger Penrose, Kip Thorne, and Stephen Hawking used the accomplishment to refine and expand modern astronomy and physics. Today more than 300 million supermassive black holes are suspected of anchoring their host galaxies across the cosmos, and the Kerr solution is what astronomers and astrophysicists use to describe much of their behavior.

By unmasking the history behind the search for a real world solution to Einstein’s field equations, Melia offers a first-hand account of an important but untold story. Sometimes dramatic, often exhilarating, but always attuned to the human element, Cracking the Einstein Code is ultimately a showcase of how important science gets done.

Here, one of the world''s leading astrophysicists provides the first comprehensive and logically structured overview of the many ideas and discoveries pertaining to the supermassive black hole at the galactic center known as Sagittarius A*. By far the closest galactic nucleus in the universe, Sagittarius A* alone can provide us with a realistic expectation of learning about the physics of strong gravitational fields, and the impact of such fields on the behavior of matter and radiation under severe physical conditions. Its proximity may even provide the opportunity to directly test one of general relativity''s most enigmatic predictions--the existence of closed pockets of space-time hidden behind an event horizon. The plethora of research on Sagittarius A* since its discovery in 1974 has long seemed an interwoven pattern of loose threads. No one has successfully synthesized this growing body of work into a manageable, coherent book both for professional researchers and for students taking courses focusing on black holes and galactic nuclei--until now. With Fulvio Melia''s The Galactic Supermassive Black Hole, readers finally have at their disposal a one-volume crucible of essential ideas, logically streamlined but with thorough references for those wishing to explore the various topics in greater depth.

The growth of cosmology into a precision science represents one of the most remarkable stories of the past century. Much has been written chronicling this development, but rarely has any of it focused on the most critical element of this work–the cosmic spacetime itself.

Addressing this lacuna is the principal focus of this book, documenting the growing body of evidence compelling us–not only to use this famous solution to Einstein''s equations in order to refine the current paradigm, but–to probe its foundation at a much deeper level. Its excursion from the smallest to largest possible scales insightfully reveals an emerging link between the Universe we behold and the established tenets of our most fundamental physical theories.

Key Features:

In spite of its technical layout, this book does not shy away from introducing the principal players who have made the most enduring contributions to this field. Anyone with a graduate level foundation in physics and astronomy will be able to easily follow its contents.

The growth of cosmology into a precision science represents one of the most remarkable stories of the past century. Much has been written chronicling this development, but rarely has any of it focused on the most critical element of this work–the cosmic spacetime itself.

Addressing this lacuna is the principal focus of this book, documenting the growing body of evidence compelling us–not only to use this famous solution to Einstein''s equations in order to refine the current paradigm, but–to probe its foundation at a much deeper level. Its excursion from the smallest to largest possible scales insightfully reveals an emerging link between the Universe we behold and the established tenets of our most fundamental physical theories.

Key Features:

In spite of its technical layout, this book does not shy away from introducing the principal players who have made the most enduring contributions to this field. Anyone with a graduate level foundation in physics and astronomy will be able to easily follow its contents.