A Tale of Two Infinities Gravitational Waves and the Quantum Origin of the Universe's Biggest Mysteries

by Bertone, Gianfranco

• ISBN13: 9780192898159
• ISBN10: 0192898159
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2021-10-25
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

'An incredible tour of our universe's greatest mysteries' Professor Dan Hooper

This cutting-edge book investigates the extraordinary potential of multimessenger astronomy to revolutionise our understanding of the universe

The spectacular advances of modern astronomy have opened our horizon on an unexpected cosmos: a dark, mysterious universe, populated by enigmatic entities we know very little about, like black holes, or nothing at all, like dark matter and dark energy.

This book discusses the extraordinary potential of a new discipline dubbed 'multimessenger astronomy', combining the traditional approach based on the observation of light from celestial objects, with a new method based on other 'messengers' - such as gravitational waves, neutrinos, and cosmic rays - that carry information from otherwise inaccessible corners of the universe.

Interweaving the discussion of multimessenger astronomy with an exploration of the surprising connections between the study of the universe on the largest scales, and the physics of the infinitely small, this text provides an accessible and fascinating introduction to cutting-edge findings in recent cosmology which could soon revolutionize our understanding of the universe.

Author Biography

Gianfranco Bertone, Professor of Astroparticle Physics at the GRAPPA Center of Excellence in Gravitational and Astroparticle Physics, University of Amsterdam

Since completing his PhD at the University of Oxford and the Institute of Astrophysics in Paris, Gianfranco Bertone has held teaching and research positions at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Padova, the Institut d'Astrophysique in Paris and the University of Zurich,
before moving permanently to Amsterdam in 2011. He was the Founding Spokesperson of the GRAPPA Center of Excellence in Gravitation and Astroparticle Physics at the University of Amsterdam. Since July 2019 he is the Founding Director of the European Consortium for Astroparticle Theory.

Table of Contents

The architecture of the cosmos
9 Spheres of heaven
Dark foundations
Cosmic inferno
Stories of a certain Gravity
Queen of the cosmos
The order of heaven
The most beautiful theory
The new messengers
Gravitational waves
Einstein's last gift
Ghost Particles
Black Holes
Phenomenology of the absurd
Quantum effects
Upcoming waves
Dark Matter
Halos, streams, and lenses
New Physics
New portals
Dark Energy
Possible explanations
Quantum origins
The future
Quantum genesis
In the beginning
Inflation
Primordial waves