Gravity and Strings (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) - Tapa blanda

One appealing feature of string theory is that it provides a theory of quantum gravity. Gravity and Strings is a self-contained, pedagogical exposition of this theory, its foundations and its basic results. In Part I, the foundations are traced back to the very early special-relativistic field theories of gravity, showing how such theories lead to general relativity. Gauge theories of gravity are then discussed and used to introduce supergravity theories. In Part II, some of the most interesting solutions of general relativity and its generalizations are studied. The final Part presents and studies string theory from the effective action point of view, using the results found earlier in the book as background. This 2004 book will be useful as a reference book for graduate students and researchers, as well as a complementary textbook for courses on gravity, supergravity and string theory.

Tomás Ortín completed his graduate studies and got his Ph.D. at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He then worked as a postdoctoral student in the Physics Department of Stanford University supported by a Spanish Government grant. Between 1993 and 1995, he was E.U. Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow in the String Theory Group of the Physics Department of Queen Mary, University of London, and from 1995 to 1997, Fellow in the Theory Division of CERN. He is currently Staff Scientist at the Spanish Research Council and member of the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Dr Ortín has taught several graduate courses on advanced general relativity, supergravity and strings. His research interests lie in string theory, gravity, quantum gravity and black hole physics.