Gauge Theories of Gravitation

A Reader with Commentaries

https://doi.org/10.1142/p781 | April 2013

Pages: 656

Edited by:
Milutin Blagojević (University of Belgrade, Serbia) and
Friedrich W Hehl (University of Cologne, Germany & University of Missouri, Columbia, USA)

Foreword by:
T W B Kibble, FRS

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ISBN: 978-1-84816-726-1 (hardcover) USD 236.00 Add to cart

In the last five decades, the gauge approach to gravity has represented a research area of increasing importance for our understanding of the physics of fundamental interactions. A full clarification of the gauge dynamics of gravity is expected to be the last missing link to the hidden structure of a consistent unification of all the fundamental interactions, based on the gauge principle. The aim of the present reprint volume, with commentaries by Milutin Blagojević and Friedrich W Hehl, is to introduce graduate and advanced undergraduate students of theoretical or mathematical physics, or any other interested researcher, to the field of classical gauge theories of gravity.

This is not just an ordinary reprint volume; it is a guide to the literature on gauge theories of gravity. The reader is encouraged first to study the introductory commentaries and to become familiar with the basic content of the reprints and related ideas, then he/she can choose to read a specific reprint or reprints, and after that he/she should return again to the text and explore the additional literature, etc. The interaction is intended to be more complex than just starting with commentaries and ending with reprints.

Sample Chapter(s)
Foreword (53 KB)
Chapter 1: From Special to General Relativity Theory (162 KB)

Contents:

The Rise of Gauge Theory of Gravity Up to 1961:
- From Special to General Relativity Theory
- Analyzing General Relativity Theory
- A Fresh Start by Yang–Mills and Utiyama
Poincaré Gauge Theory:
- Einstein–Cartan(–Sciama–Kibble) Theory as a Viable Gravitational Theory
- General Structure of Poincaré Gauge Theory (Including Quadratic Lagrangians)
- Translational Gauge Theory
- Fallacies About Torsion
Extending the Gauge Group of Gravity:
- Poincaré Group Plus Scale Transformations: Weyl–Cartan Gauge Theory of Gravity
- From the Poincaré to the Affine Group: Metric-Affine Gravity
- Conformal Gauge Theory of Gravity
- (Anti-)de Sitter Gauge Theory of Gravity
- From the Square Root of Translations to the Super-Poincaré Group
Specific Subjects of Metric-Affine Gravity and Poincaré Gauge Theory:
- Hamiltonian Structure
- Equations of Motion for Matter
- Cosmological Models
- Exact Solutions
- Poincaré Gauge Theory in Three Dimensions
- Dislocations and Torsion
- The Yang Episode: A Historical Case Study

Readership: Advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and researchers in physics, general relativity, and quantum gravity.

“This is an excellent book for researchers, for graduate students majoring in gravity, and also for those who are interested in theories of gravity. The commentaries form a very comprehensive guide for the readers to walk though the development and spirit of modern gauge theories of gravity.”

Hwei-Jang Yo
Associate Professor
National Cheng-Kung University, Taiwan

“This is an important book, bringing together key papers, written over many decades, contributing to the general thesis that gravity — general relativity — in fact has its origin in the gauge structure of space-time symmetries. The coverage is thorough and the commentaries helpful and illuminating, and altogether the 'feel' of the book is a friendly one. It should certainly help to encourage research in this area, which, if correct, will be seen as having profound significance. The book is very handsomely and attractively produced and is highly recommended to those who wish to investigate this most interesting field with any degree of seriousness.”

General Relativity and Gravitation

“In this impressive reader, key papers have been recollected, accompanied by guiding, at times critical, comments of the editors, themselves renowed researchers in the field. This book is a must for any serious student in mathematical physics.”

Professor Eckehard W. Mielke
Universidad Autonoma, Metropolitana, Mexico

“There are also passages in the commentaries and a brief chapter, where 'fallacies' in other papers and textbooks are indicated, what contributes to the readability of the book. The volume is an excellent guide for students, who want to 'gain insight through self-study into gauge theories of gravity within a relatively short period of time' and for university lecturers, who perform seminars on this topic. Last but not least, it is very useful for researchers, who intend to win an overview over different roots and aims of such theories; it could also motivate them to turn themselves in their own work to this field.”

Zentralblatt MATH