Even if the subject is a long-standing one, this is the first monograph on this field. On the one hand, this book is intended to give a rather wide review on this field, both in a historical and pedagogical perspective; on the other hand, it aims at critically re-examining and discussing the most controversial issues. For instance, according to some authors the celebrated Sagnac effect is a disproval of the theory of relativity applied to rotating frames; according to others, it is an astonishing experimental evidence of the relativistic theory. In order to give the reader a deeper insight into this research field, the contributing authors discuss their opinions on the main subjects in an enthralling virtual round table: in this way, the reader can get a direct comparison of the various viewpoints on the most controversial and interesting topics. This is particularly expedient, since the differences in the various approaches are often based upon subtleties that can be understood only by a direct comparison of the underlying hypotheses.

Special relativity is the basis of many fields in modern physics: particle physics, quantum field theory, high-energy astrophysics, etc. This theory is presented here by adopting a four-dimensional point of view from the start. An outstanding feature of the book is that it doesn’t restrict itself to inertial frames but considers accelerated and rotating observers. It is thus possible to treat physical effects such as the Thomas precession or the Sagnac effect in a simple yet precise manner. In the final chapters, more advanced topics like tensorial fields in spacetime, exterior calculus and relativistic hydrodynamics are addressed. In the last, brief chapter the author gives a preview of gravity and shows where it becomes incompatible with Minkowsky spacetime. Well illustrated and enriched by many historical notes, this book also presents many applications of special relativity, ranging from particle physics (accelerators, particle collisions, quark-gluon plasma) to astrophysics (relativistic jets, active galactic nuclei), and including practical applications (Sagnac gyrometers, synchrotron radiation, GPS). In addition, the book provides some mathematical developments, such as the detailed analysis of the Lorentz group and its Lie algebra. The book is suitable for students in the third year of a physics degree or on a masters course, as well as researchers and any reader interested in relativity. Thanks to the geometric approach adopted, this book should also be beneficial for the study of general relativity. “A modern presentation of special relativity must put forward its essential structures, before illustrating them using concrete applications to specific dynamical problems. Such is the challenge (so successfully met!) of the beautiful book by Éric Gourgoulhon.” (excerpt from the Foreword by Thibault Damour)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 28. Chapters: Center-of-momentum frame, Frame-dragging, Frame fields in general relativity, Frame of reference, Inertial frame of reference, Laboratory frame of reference, Local reference frame, Moving frame, Non-inertial reference frame, Preferred frame, Proper frame, Rotating reference frame, Synchronous frame, Terrestrial reference frame. Excerpt: In physics, an inertial frame of reference (also inertial reference frame or inertial frame or Galilean reference frame) is a frame of reference that describes time and space homogeneously, isotropically, and in a time-independent manner. All inertial frames are in a state of constant, rectilinear motion with respect to one another; an accelerometer moving with any of them would detect zero acceleration. Measurements in one inertial frame can be converted to measurements in another by a simple transformation (the Galilean transformation in Newtonian physics and the Lorentz transformation in special relativity). In general relativity, in any region small enough for the curvature of spacetime to be negligible, one can find a set of inertial frames that approximately describe that region. Physical laws take the same form in all inertial frames. By contrast, in a non-inertial reference frame the laws of physics vary depending on the acceleration of that frame with respect to an inertial frame, and the usual physical forces must be supplemented by fictitious forces. For example, a ball dropped towards the ground does not go exactly straight down because the Earth is rotating. Someone rotating with the Earth must account for the Coriolis effect-in this case thought of as a force-to predict the horizontal motion. Another example of such a fictitious force associated with rotating reference frames is the centrifugal effect, or centrifugal force. The motion of a body can only be described...

The concept of reference frame was introduced in physics at an early stage when its formalisation had just begun and even before introduction of systems of co-ordinates and equations of motion; this concept continues to play a fundamental role in science ever since. In this book, the author considers mainly the problem of the description and further applications of reference frames in relativistic physics primarily using a general relativistic approach to them.

The masses of neutron stars are limited by an instability to gravitational collapse and an instability driven by gravitational waves limits their spin. Their oscillations are relevant to x-ray observations of accreting binaries and to gravitational wave observations of neutron stars formed during the coalescence of double neutron-star systems. This volume includes more than forty years of research to provide graduate students and researchers in astrophysics, gravitational physics and astronomy with the first self-contained treatment of the structure, stability and oscillations of rotating neutron stars. This monograph treats the equations of stellar equilibrium; key approximations, including slow rotation and perturbations of spherical and rotating stars; stability theory and its applications, from convective stability to the r-mode instability; and numerical methods for computing equilibrium configurations and the nonlinear evolution of their oscillations. The presentation of fundamental equations, results and applications is accessible to readers who do not need the detailed derivations.