This book presents a comprehensive review of the subject of gravitational effects in quantum field theory. Although the treatment is general, special emphasis is given to the Hawking black hole evaporation effect, and to particle creation processes in the early universe. The last decade has witnessed a phenomenal growth in this subject. This is the first attempt to collect and unify the vast literature that has contributed to this development. All the major technical results are presented, and the theory is developed carefully from first principles. Here is everything that students or researchers will need to embark upon calculations involving quantum effects of gravity at the so-called one-loop approximation level.

Quantum Fields in Curved Space

New technological advances have made it feasible to conduct measurements with precision levels which are suitable for experimental tests of the theory of general relativity. This book has been designed to fill a new need for a complete treatment of techniques for analyzing gravitation theory and experience. The Einstein equivalence principle and the foundations of gravitation theory are considered, taking into account the Dicke framework, basic criteria for the viability of a gravitation theory, experimental tests of the Einstein equivalence principle, Schiff's conjecture, and a model theory devised by Lightman and Lee (1973). Gravitation as a geometric phenomenon is considered along with the parametrized post-Newtonian formalism, the classical tests, tests of the strong equivalence principle, gravitational radiation as a tool for testing relativistic gravity, the binary pulsar, and cosmological tests.

Theory and Experiment in Gravitational Physics

The confrontation between general relativity and experiment: An update☆

A new analytic relativistic model has been obtained for superdense stars by solving the Einstein field equations for the spherically symmetric and static case. The model stands all the tests of physical reality. The density,ρ, remains positive under all conditions and decreases smoothly from the center to the surface of the structure. The pressure,P, the ratioP/ρ anddP/dρ decrease with decreasing density. For all the finite values of pressure, the configurations are stable under radial perturbation. FordP/dρ⩽ 1, the maximum mass of neutron star model is 4.17⊙, and the surface and central red shifts are 0.63 and 1.60, respectively. For an infinite central pressure, the surface red shift is 1.61. The structures are bound and the binding coefficients increase with the increasing mass.

Analytic relativistic model for a superdense star

This paper examines the historical controversy over whether gravitationally bound systems, such as binary stars, experienced orbital damping due to the emission of gravitational radiation, focusing especially on the period of the 1950s, but also discussing the work of Einstein and Rosen in the 1930s on cylindrical gravitational waves and the later quadrupole formula controversy.

Controversies in the History of the Radiation Reaction problem in General Relativity

Results of four years of timing observations of PSR 1913+16 made with the 305-m telescope at the Arecibo Observatory at frequencies near 430 and 1410 MHz are summarized. Received intensity data were accumulated for intervals of 5 minutes and the resulting profile was then fitted to a template to determine its precise arrival time. Data on PSR 1913+16 have been acquired using a number of different receivers, dispersion-removing systems, and recording methods in order to improve the measurement accuracy. Random errors in the measured pulse arrival times have been reduced from 300 microseconds in 1974 to 50 microseconds in 1978. Analysis of the timing data was carried out using a model which describes the system in terms of 13 parameters of physical interest. It is found that changes of the orbital period observed during the experiment can be best explained by gravitational radiation damping at a rate consistent with the predictions of general relativity.

P. M. McCulloch

Papers

Evidence for the existence of gravitational radiation from measurements of the binary pulsar psr 1913+16