The Galactic Black Hole: Lectures on General Relativity and Astrophysics (Series in High Energy Physics, Cosmology and Gravitation)

The supermassive black hole in the center of our Milky Way is the nearest such object and relatively easy to observe and study. Not surprisingly therefore, it is the best studied supermassive black hole. Many astrophysical and even general relativistic effects can be investigated in great detail. The Galactic Black Hole: Lectures on General Relativity and Astrophysics provides a systematic introduction to the physics/astrophysics and mathematics of black holes at a level suitable for graduate students, postdocs, and researchers in physics, astrophysics, astronomy, and applied mathematics. The focus is mainly on the supermassive black hole in the center of our Milky Way but the results can be easily generalized taking it as an example. Leading international experts provide first-hand accounts of the observational and theoretical aspects of this black hole. Topics range from the properties of the Schwarzschild metric and the collapse of a black hole, to quantum gravity, and from the structure of the Galaxy to accretion of matter and the emission properties of the Galactic Center black hole. Pt. 1. General introduction. The Schwarzschild black hole: a general relativistic introduction / Christian Heinicke and Friedrich W. Helhl The Milky Way: structure, constituents and evolution / Susanne Hüttemeister The collapse to a black hole / Gernot Neugebauer The environment of the Galaxy's central black hole / Mark R. Morris pt. 2. General relativity and black holes. Particles and fields near black holes / Valeri Frolov Close encounters of black holes / Domenico Giulini Quantum aspects of black holes / Claus Kiefer pt. 3. Our galactic center. The mass of the galactic Center black hole / Andreas Eckert Stars and singularities: stellar phenomena near a massive black hole / Tal Alexander Black hole accretion models for the galactic center / Robert F. Coker Radio and x-ray emission from the galactic black hole / Heino Falcke "These lectures provide a systematic introduction to the physics/astrophysics and mathematics of black holes at a level suitable for graduate students, postdocs and researchers in physics, astrophysics, astronomy, and applied mathematics. The focus is mainly on the supermassive black hole in the center of our Milky Way but the results can be easily generalized taking it as an example. Leading international experts provide first hand accounts of the observational and theoretical aspects of this black hole. Topics range from the properties of the Schwarzschild metric and the collapse to a black hole, to quantum gravity; and from the structure of the Galaxy to accretion of matter and the emission properties of the Galactic Center black hole."--BOOK JACKET This book provides a systematic introduction to the physics, astrophysics, and mathematics of black holes. The focus is mainly on the supermassive black hole in the center of our Milky Way, but the results can be easily generalized. Leading international experts provide first-hand accounts of observational and theoretical aspects. Topics range from The gravitational field of a homogeneous spherically symmetric body ('star') is derived in Newton's and in Einstein's gravitational theory, respectively. Edited By Heino Falcke And Friedrich W. Hehl. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.