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  • © 2017

Black Holes: A Laboratory for Testing Strong Gravity

Authors:

  • Provides the mathematical tools to compute some key-features in the X-ray spectrum of black holes
  • Contains calculations and analytical details in the appendix
  • Offers exercises and examples for students to learn by doing
  • Discusses the leading techniques to probe the strong gravitational field near black holes
  • Serves as both a study text for graduate students or beginners, as well as a reference work for researchers in the field
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
  2. Basic Concepts

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Introduction

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 3-12
    3. Black Hole Solutions

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 13-41
    4. Motion Around Black Holes

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 43-60
    5. Astrophysical Black Holes

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 61-87
    6. Observational Facilities

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 89-110
  3. Main Tools for Testing Astrophysical Black Holes

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 111-111
    2. Thin Accretion Disks

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 113-136
    3. Continuum-Fitting Method

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 137-152
    4. X-Ray Reflection Spectroscopy

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 153-179
    5. Quasi-periodic Oscillations

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 181-192
    6. Imaging Black Holes

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 193-205
    7. Gravitational Waves

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 207-238
  4. Testing the Kerr Paradigm

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 239-239
    2. Non-Kerr Spacetimes

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 241-259
    3. Tests with Other Approaches

      • Cosimo Bambi
      Pages 287-303
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 305-340

About this book

This textbook introduces the current astrophysical observations of black holes, and discusses the leading techniques to study the strong gravity region around these objects with electromagnetic radiation. More importantly, it provides the basic tools for writing an astrophysical code and testing the Kerr paradigm. Astrophysical black holes are an ideal laboratory for testing strong gravity. According to general relativity, the spacetime geometry around these objects should be well described by the Kerr solution. The electromagnetic radiation emitted by the gas in the inner part of the accretion disk can probe the metric of the strong gravity region and test the Kerr black hole hypothesis. With exercises and examples in each chapter, as well as calculations and analytical details in the appendix, the book is especially useful to the beginners or graduate students who are familiar with general relativity while they do not have any background in astronomy or astrophysics.<


Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Physics, Fudan University Department of Physics, Shanghai, China

    Cosimo Bambi

About the author

Cosimo Bambi is Professor at the Department of Physics of Fudan University. He received the PhD from Ferrara University (Italy) in 2007. He was a postdoc at Wayne State University (Michigan), at IPMU at The University of Tokyo (Japan), in the group of Prof. Dvali at LMU Munich (Germany). He moved to Fudan University at the end of 2012 under the Thousand Young Talents Program. His research interests cover several areas in gravity, cosmology, and high energy astrophysics. He has published over 80 research papers in refereed journals and 2 review papers. He authored one textbook, and edited one volume (in ASSL) with Springer. 



Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Black Holes: A Laboratory for Testing Strong Gravity

  • Authors: Cosimo Bambi

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4524-0

  • Publisher: Springer Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-10-4523-3Published: 13 June 2017

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-13-5158-7Published: 09 December 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-10-4524-0Published: 01 June 2017

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 340

  • Number of Illustrations: 6 b/w illustrations, 117 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Astrophysics and Astroparticles, Classical and Quantum Gravitation, Relativity Theory

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access