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Einstein's dream : the search for a unified theory of the universe /

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Parker, Barry R.
Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Cambridge, Mass. : Perseus Pub., [1986]
Subjects:
Einstein, Albert, > 1879-1955.
Unified field theories.
Cosmology.
SCIENCE > Waves & Wave Mechanics.
Electronic books.
Online Access:Connect to the full text of this electronic book
Table of Contents:
  • 1: The goal
  • The search for meaning
  • Einstein's dream
  • 2: Warped space-time
  • Curved space
  • Einstein and warped space-time
  • Extreme warping
  • 3: Early unified field theories
  • Farada, Maxwell, and the electromagnetic field
  • Early attempts at unification
  • Einstein's unified field theory
  • 4: Star death
  • Eddington
  • The life cycle of a star
  • Chandrasekhar and the white dwarfs
  • Beyond the white dwarf
  • Reflection
  • 5: The ultimate abyss: the black hole
  • Oppenheimer and continuing collapse
  • Collapse of a star to a black hole
  • Inside a black hole
  • Other types of black holes
  • Searching for black holes
  • Other black hole candidates
  • A realistic look at the exotic possibilities
  • Where the theory breaks down
  • The discovery of evaporating black holes
  • The link between general relativity and quantum mechanics
  • 6: The early universe
  • Discovery of the expanding universe
  • Back to the big bang
  • The ultimate singularity
  • Inflation
  • The Hadron Era
  • The Lepton Era
  • The Radiation Era
  • The cosmic background radiation
  • The Galaxy Era
  • Reflection
  • 7: Cosmological controversy
  • The age of the universe
  • The redshift controversy
  • Rival cosmologies
  • Varying G cosmologies and cosmic numbers
  • Antimatter and other cosmologies
  • Other universes
  • 8: The final fate of the universe
  • The missing mass
  • Other methods of determining if the universe is open or closed
  • Fate of the closed universe
  • Bounce
  • Fate of the open universe
  • 9: The world of particles and fields
  • Dirac's equation
  • The infinities
  • Renormalization
  • Yukawa
  • Gauge theory
  • The weak interactions
  • Quantum chromodynamics
  • 10: Unified theory of the universe
  • Supergravity and superstrings
  • Twistors and heaven (H space)
  • 11: Epilogue
  • The future
  • The new Einstein.