Description
Book SynopsisWritten for researchers focusing on general relativity, supergravity, and cosmology, this is a self-contained exposition of the structure of the cosmological singularity in generic solutions of the Einstein equations, and an up-to-date mathematical derivation of the theory underlying the BelinskiKhalatnikovLifshitz conjecture on this area of research.
Trade Review'The present monograph is a carefully developed overview about the mathematical details of the big bang singularity, mainly within (but not restricted to) general relativity theory. Chapter 1 presents the basic structure of the singularity, including the Kasner-like and the oscillatory-like cases. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with the Bianchi models, especially the BLK-cases Bianchi VIII and IX and the chaotic character observed there. In chapter 4, the influence of matter and/or changed space-time dimension are discussed. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with the billiard representation of the dynamical system describing the approach to the singularity by a mathematical equivalence of the system of equations to the motion of a point particle in a region with boundary, where (like in the billiard game), the article is reflected at the boundary. This idea is formalized in chapter 7 by the introduction of the Coxeter group. The appendices are useful for several topics, e.g., the spinor field and the Kac-Moody algebra.' Hans-Jürgen Schmidt, Zentralblatt MATH
'This monograph discusses at length the structure of the general solution of the Einstein equations with a cosmological singularity in Einstein-matter systems in four and higher space-time dimensions, starting from the fundamental work of Belinski (the book's lead author), Khalatnikov and Lifshitz (BKL) - published in 1969. … Quite technical and advanced, this book is meant for theoretical and mathematical physicists working on general relativity, supergravity and cosmology.' CERN Courier
Table of ContentsPreface; 1. Introduction and outline; Part I. BKL Analysis: 2. Basic structure of cosmological singularity; 3. Homogeneous cosmological models; 4. On the cosmological chaos; 5. On the Inuence of matter and spacetime dimension; Part II. Cosmological Billiards: 6. The billiard of four-dimensional vacuum gravity; 7. General Cosmological Billiards; 8. Hyperbolic Coxeter groups; Appendix A. Various technical derivations; Appendix B. Homogeneous spaces and Bianchi classification; Appendix C. Spinor field; Appendix D. Lorentzian Kac-Moody algebras; References; Index.
