The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time

Stephen Hawking, G. F. R. Ellis

Cambridge University Press, 1973 - 391 pages

Einstein's General Theory of Relativity leads to two remarkable predictions: first, that the ultimate destiny of many massive stars is to undergo gravitational collapse and to disappear from view, leaving behind a 'black hole' in space; and secondly, that there will exist singularities in space-time itself. These singularities are places where space-time begins or ends, and the presently known laws of physics break down. They will occur inside black holes, and in the past are what might be construed as the beginning of the universe. To show how these predictions arise, the authors discuss the General Theory of Relativity in the large. Starting with a precise formulation of the theory and an account of the necessary background of differential geometry, the significance of space-time curvature is discussed and the global properties of a number of exact solutions of Einstein's field equations are examined. The theory of the causal structure of a general space-time is developed, and is used to study black holes and to prove a number of theorems establishing the inevitability of singualarities under certain conditions. A discussion of the Cauchy problem for General Relativity is also included in this 1973 book.

Table des matières

• II: 1
• III: 10
• IV: 11
• V: 15
• VI: 22
• VII: 24
• VIII: 30
• IX: 36
• X: 44
• XI: 47
• XII: 50
• XIII: 64
• XIV: 71
• XV: 78
• XVII: 86
• XVIII: 88
• XIX: 96
• XX: 102
• XXI: 117
• XXII: 118
• XXIII: 124
• XXIV: 134
• XXV: 142
• XXVI: 161
• XXVII: 168
• XXVIII: 170
• XXIX: 178
• XXX: 180
• XXXI: 181
• XXXII: 182
• XXXIII: 186
• XXXIV: 189
• XXXV: 201
• XXXVI: 206
• XXXVII: 213
• XXXVIII: 217
• XXXIX: 221
• XL: 226
• XLI: 227
• XLII: 228
• XLIII: 231
• XLIV: 233
• XLV: 244
• XLVI: 249
• XLVII: 254
• XLVIII: 256
• L: 261
• LI: 276
• LII: 284
• LIII: 289
• LIV: 299
• LVI: 308
• LVII: 323
• LVIII: 348
• LIX: 359
• LX: 365
• LXI: 369
• LXIII: 373
• LXIV: 381
• LXV: 385

À propos de l'auteur

Stephen William Hawking was born in Oxford, England on January 8, 1942. He received a first class honors degree in natural science from Oxford University and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University. He was a theoretical physicist and has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University from 1982 until his death. In 1974, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, the world's oldest scientific organization. In 1963, he learned he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neuromuscular wasting disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The disease confined him to a wheelchair and reduced his bodily control to the flexing of a finger and voluntary eye movements, but left his mental faculties untouched. He became a leader in exploring gravity and the properties of black holes. He wrote numerous books including A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, Black Holes and Baby Universes, On the Shoulders of Giants, A Briefer History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Grand Design, and Brief Answers to the Big Questions. In 1982, he was named a commander of the British Empire. A film about his life, The Theory of Everything, was released in 2014 and was based on his first wife Jane Hawking's book Traveling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen. He died on March 14, 2018 at the age of 76.

Informations bibliographiques

• Titre: The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time; Volume 1 de Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics, ISSN 0269-8242; Cambridge books online
• Auteurs: Stephen Hawking, G. F. R. Ellis
• Édition: illustrée, réimprimée, révisée
• Éditeur: Cambridge University Press, 1973
• ISBN: 0521099064, 9780521099066
• Longueur: 391 pages