Roman U. Sexl – författare

Das Thema des Buches ist die spezielle Relativitätstheorie und die Beschreibung der relativistischen Symmetrie in der klassischen und Elementarteilchenphysik. Es werden weniger die Experimente zur Relativitätstheorie diskutiert, als vielmehr deren formale Struktur durchleuchtet, entwickelt und physikalisch gedeutet. Der besondere Reiz dieses Buches besteht in der Balance zwischen physikalischer Diskussion und formaler Struktur. Die Autoren gehen von einer elementaren Präsentation schrittweise zu einer abstrakteren moderneren Darstellung über. Kleinere und auch ausgedehntere historische Noten sowie weiterführende mathematische Bemerkungen sind im Text verstreut. Die vorliegende Neuauflage geht - bei leicht geänderter Stoffanordnung und Einschub zweier Zusatzabschnitte - stärker als bisher ein auf die Rolle der Thomas-Rotation in der Struktur der Lorentzgruppe, auf mehrwertige Darstellungen und Spiegelungen.

This textbook attempts to bridge the gap that exists between the two levels on which relativistic symmetry is usually presented - the level of introductory courses on mechanics and electrodynamics and the level of application in high energy physics and quantum field theory: in both cases, too many other topics are more important and hardly leave time for a deepening of the idea of relativistic symmetry. So after explaining the postulates that lead to the Lorentz transformation and after going through the main points special relativity has to make in classical mechanics and electrodynamics, the authors gradually lead the reader up to a more abstract point of view on relativistic symmetry - always illustrating it by physical examples - until finally motivating and developing Wigner's classification of the unitary irreducible representations of the inhomogeneous Lorentz group. Numerous historical and mathematical asides contribute to conceptual clarification.

Dart nun, bei den Heiden, bei diesen wirkiich vorbild- haften Menschen erscheint uns das Interesse fiir die Person, fiir den Namen, fiir Gesicht und Gebiirde er- iaubt und natiiriich. H. Hesse, "Das Giasperienspiel" In 1979 the world celebrates the centenary of Albert Einstein's birth. This offers an occasion to review his life and his scientific work in retrospect, to survey his importance for our time, and to look forward to future years of scientific research. Undoubtedly, Einstein was one of the key-figures in the intellectual history of our century. He influenced physics and philosophy, as well as politics. The creation of general relativity is one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time, as well as the apex of Einsteins's scientific work. Its full implications for the other fields of physics have become clear only in recent years. The technological possibilities offered by space research have enabled mankind to survey the universe for the first time unhindered by the earth's atmosphere. This has led to new discoveries and has shown that even some of the far-reaching conclusions derived from Einstein's theory are borne out by observation.General relativity, which has for a long time been viewed as an outsider among physical theories because of its mathematical difficulty and complexity, is considered now to be the prototype of theories in the fields of elementary particle physics and even solid state physics.