Matt Visser: Book
Lorentzian Wormholes: from Einstein to Hawking
by Matt Visser,
(Victoria University of Wellington).
Brief Description:
From H. G. Wells to Star Trek, audiences have been captivated by
the notions of time travel and space warps. But science fiction is
not the only place where such concepts thrive. An active group of
general relativists and quantum-field theorists has produced a
considerable body of serious mathematical and physical analyses of
"wormholes"--shortcuts through space and time. These postulated
distortions in the fabric of spacetime connect distant regions of
the maybe even different universes. Now, with this fascinating
book, readers can explore the science behind the science fiction.
The general theoretical framework for the discussion of wormholes
is quantum gravity, a still-developing field that lies in the
uncharted territory between general relativity and quantum field
theory. Drawing on pivotal work by Albert Einstein, John A. Wheeler,
Stephen Hawking, and others, Matt Visser shows that by pushing
established physical theories to their limits, it is possible to
deduce the properties of wormholes to reveal such exotic phenomena
as faster-than-light travel and time travel.
This monograph uses the general framework of Einstein gravity plus
quantum physics to extract as much reliable (?) information as
possible about such exotic (and speculative) objects as wormholes
in spacetime, baby universes, time machines and time travel. The
discussion includes traversable wormholes, the various energy
conditions, Novikov's consistency condition, Hawking's chronology
protection conjecture, and more...
Table of contents:
Chapter 0 Preface vii Part i --- Background 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 3 Chapter 2 General relativity 9 Chapter 3 Quantum field theory 31 Chapter 4 Units and natural scales 39 Part ii -- History 43 Chapter 5 The Einstein--Rosen bridge 45 Chapter 6 Spacetime foam 53 Chapter 7 The Kerr wormhole 75 Chapter 8 The cosmological constant 81 Chapter 9 Wormhole taxonomy 89 Chapter 10 Interregnum 95 Part iii - Renaissance 97 Chapter 11 Traversable wormholes 99 Chapter 12 Energy conditions 115 Chapter 13 Engineering considerations 137 Chapter 14 Thin shells: Formalism 153 Chapter 15 Thin shells: Wormholes 165 Chapter 16 Topological censorship 195 Part iv -- Time Travel 201 Chapter 17 Chronology: Basic notions 203 Chapter 18 From wormhole to time machine 227 Chapter 19 Response to the paradoxes 249 Part v --- Quantum Effects 277 Chapter 20 Semiclassical quantum gravity 279 Chapter 21 van Vleck determinants: Formalism 295 Chapter 23 Singularity structure 333 Chapter 24 Minisuperspace wormholes 347 Part vi -- Reprise 367 Chapter 25 Where we stand 369
Publisher information:
Originally published by:
American Institute of Physics Press (Woodbury, New York).
AIP Press was subsequently (as of May 1997) acquired by Springer-Verlag.
General homepage: http://www.springer-ny.com [Beware of buggy html code]
Snail-Mail: Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.,
175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10010, USA.
Hardback version:
ISBN 1-56396-394-9; 412 pages (including index and 38 figures);
US$59.00 (Now out of stock).
Paperback version:
ISBN 1-56396-653-0; 412 pages (including index and 38 figures);
US$39.95 (2002 reprint).
Website---
http://www.springer-ny.com [Beware of buggy html code]
To order---
Voice: 1-800-SPRINGER; FAX: 1-201-348-4505; E-mail: orders@springer-ny.com;
Third printing October 1997.
Fourth printing April 2002.
Available at selected bookstores (in the US try, for instance, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Follets, Micro Center...).
Also available via the net. Compare prices/shipping/taxes at:
http://www.bestbookbuys.com
Including taxes and shippng, you should be able to get it for about US$35.00.
Orders Outside the U.S./Canada/Mexico: Contact the Springer head offices in Germany: orders@springer.de
Other information:
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