BLACK HOLE PHYSICS - BASICS CONCEPTS AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS

This volume on black holes can be seen as a sequel to Physics of Black Holes, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1989. The authors are recognised experts in their field, and have many years' experience in teaching courses on general relativity and black holes. The present work covers practically all aspects of black hole physics and its astrophysical applications. Among the topics treated in depth are: spacetime of stationary black holes, general theory of black holes, black hole perturbations, black hole numerics, black hole electrodynamics, black holes in unified theories of gravity, quantum black holes, final states of evaporating black holes and the information loss puzzle. Special attention is paid to the role of black holes in astrophysics and observational evidence of black hole existence. Many exotic subjects linked with black holes, such as white holes, wormholes, and time machines are discussed in detail. Numerous appendices cover mathematical aspects of general relativity and black holes and quantum field theory in curved space time. This makes the book practically self-contained. Extensive references provide the reader with a guide to the literature in this field. Audience: This book will be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students whose work involves relativity and gravitation, statistical physics, thermodynamics, active galactic nuclei and stellar physics.