Valerio Faraoni - Böcker

The study of environmental physics requires understanding topics from many di?erent areas of physics as well as comprehension of phy- cal aspects of the world around us. Several excellent textbooks are available covering most aspects of environmental physics and of appli- tions of physics to the natural environment from various points of view. However, while teaching environmental physics to university students, I sorelymissedabookspeci?callydevotedtoexercisesfortheenvironm- tal science student. Thus, the motivation for this book came about as in physics, as well as in many other disciplines, satisfactory knowledge of a subject cannot be acquired without practice. Usually students are not familiar with the various areas of physics that are required to describe both the environment and the human impact upon it. At the same time, students need to develop skills in the manipulation of the ideas and c- cepts learned in class. Therefore, this exercise book is addressed to all levels of university students in environmental sciences. Because of the wide range of potential users this book contains both calculus-based and algebra-based problems ranging from very simple to advanced ones. Multiple solutions at di?erent levels are presented for certainproblems—thestudentwhoisjustbeginningtolearncalculuswill bene?t from the comparison of the di?erent methods of solution. The material is also useful for courses in atmospheric physics, environmental aspects of energy generation and transport, groundwater hydrology, soil physics,andoceanphysics,andselectedpartsmayevenbeusedforbasic undergraduate physics courses. This collection of exercises is based on courses taught at the University of Northern British Columbia and at the University of Victoria, Canada.

Cosmology in Scalar-Tensor Gravity covers all aspects of cosmology in scalar-tensor theories of gravity. Considerable progress has been made in this exciting area of physics and this book is the first to provide a critical overview of the research. Among the topics treated are: An extensive bibliography guides the reader into more detailed literature on particular topics. Research on cosmology in scalar-tensor gravity is critically overviewed for the first time in this book. Scalar-tensor theories and their applications to modelling the early and the present universe are discussed. Features shared with string theories, exact cosmological solutions, cosmological perturbations, gravitational waves and conformal frames in scalar-tensor gravity are discussed. This book is of interest to researchers and postgraduate students working on cosmology, relativity, alternative theories of gravity, the phenomenology of string theories, theoretical physics and astrophysics.

Cosmology in Scalar-Tensor Gravity covers all aspects of cosmology in scalar-tensor theories of gravity. Considerable progress has been made in this exciting area of physics and this book is the first to provide a critical overview of the research. Among the topics treated are: An extensive bibliography guides the reader into more detailed literature on particular topics. Research on cosmology in scalar-tensor gravity is critically overviewed for the first time in this book. Scalar-tensor theories and their applications to modelling the early and the present universe are discussed. Features shared with string theories, exact cosmological solutions, cosmological perturbations, gravitational waves and conformal frames in scalar-tensor gravity are discussed. This book is of interest to researchers and postgraduate students working on cosmology, relativity, alternative theories of gravity, the phenomenology of string theories, theoretical physics and astrophysics.

This book presents a collection of problems and exercises in environmental science. It can be used in many courses in environmental studies especially environmental physics, energy and the environment, and atmospheric physics. The mathematical background is given in an introductory chapter. This book may be used individually for the above mentioned courses or can supplement any textbook.

This book discusses analogies between relativistic cosmology and various physical systems or phenomena, mostly in the earth sciences, that are described formally by the same equations. Of the two independent equations describing the universe as a whole, one (the Friedmann equation) has the form of an energy conservation equation for one-dimensional motion. The second equation is fairly easy to satisfy (although not automatic): as a result, cosmology lends itself to analogies with several systems. Given that a variety of universes are mathematically possible, several analogies exist. Analogies discussed in this book include equilibrium beach profiles, glacial valleys, the shapes of glaciers, heating/cooling models, freezing bodies of water, capillary fluids, Omori's law for earthquake aftershocks, lava flows, and a few mathematical analogies (Fibonacci's sequence, logistic equation, geodesics of various spaces, and classic variational problems). A century of research in cosmology can solve problems on the other side of an analogy, which in turn can suggest ideas in gravity. Finding a cosmic analogy solves the inverse variational problem of finding a Lagrangian and a Hamiltonian for that system, when nobody thought one exists. Often, the symmetries of the cosmological equations translate in new symmetries of the analogous system. The book surprises the reader with analogies between natural systems and exotic systems such as possible universes.

This book offers an essential bridge between college-level introductions and advanced graduate-level books on special relativity. The book’s second half addresses a number of essential points, including the concept of causality;

This book overviews the extensive literature on apparent cosmological and black hole horizons. In theoretical gravity, dynamical situations such as gravitational collapse, black hole evaporation, and black holes interacting with non-trivial environments, as well as the attempts to model gravitational waves occurring in highly dynamical astrophysical processes, require that the concept of event horizon be generalized. Inequivalent notions of horizon abound in the technical literature and are discussed in this manuscript.The book begins with a quick review of basic material in the first one and a half chapters, establishing a unified notation. Chapter 2 reminds the reader of the basic tools used in the analysis of horizons and reviews the various definitions of horizons appearing in the literature. Cosmological horizons are the playground in which one should take baby steps in understanding horizon physics. Chapter 3 analyzes cosmological horizons, their proposed thermodynamics, and several coordinate systems. The remaining chapters discuss analytical solutions of the field equations of General Relativity, scalar-tensor, and f(R) gravity which exhibit time-varying apparent horizons and horizons which appear and/or disappear in pairs. An extensive bibliography enriches the volume. The intended audience is master and PhD level students and researchers in theoretical physics with knowledge of standard gravity.

Cosmology in Scalar-Tensor Gravity covers all aspects of cosmology in scalar-tensor theories of gravity. Considerable progress has been made in this exciting area of physics and this book is the first to provide a critical overview of the research. Among the topics treated are: -Scalar-tensor gravity and its limit to general relativity, -Effective energy-momentum tensors and conformal frames, -Gravitational waves in scalar-tensor cosmology, -Specific scalar-tensor theories, -Exact cosmological solutions and cosmological perturbations, -Scalar-tensor scenarios of the early universe and inflation, -Scalar-tensor models of quintessence in the present universe and their far-reaching consequences for the ultimate fate of the cosmos.

Beyond Einstein’s Gravity is a graduate level introduction to extended theories of gravity and cosmology, including variational principles, the weak-field limit, gravitational waves, mathematical tools, exact solutions, as well as cosmological and astrophysical applications.

Beyond Einstein’s Gravity is a graduate level introduction to extended theories of gravity and cosmology, including variational principles, the weak-field limit, gravitational waves, mathematical tools, exact solutions, as well as cosmological and astrophysical applications.