内容简介
ThestandardcosmologicalpictureofourUniverseemergingfroma'bigbang'leavesopenmanyfundamentalquestionswhichstringtheory,aunifiedtheoryofallforcesofnature,shouldbeabletoanswer.This2007textwasthefirstdedicatedtostringcosmology,andcontainsapedagogicalintroductiontothebasicnotionsofthesubject.ItdescribesthepossiblescenariossuggestedbystringtheoryfortheprimordialevolutionofourUniverse.Itdiscussesthemainphenomenologicalconsequencesofthesescenarios,stressestheirdifferencesfromeachother,andcomparesthemtothemoreconventionalmodelsofinflation.Thebooksummarisesover15yearsofresearchinthisfieldandintroducesadvances.Itisself-contained,soitcanbereadbyastrophysicistswithnoknowledgeofstringtheory,andhigh-energyphysicistswithlittleunderstandingofcosmology.Detailedandexplicitderivationsofalltheresultspresentedprovideadeeperappreciationofthesubject.
作者简介
IvarStakgoldisProfessorEmeritusattheUniversityofDelaware,wherehehastaughtsince1975.HeisamemberoftheeditorialboardsoftheInternationalJournalofEngineeringScience,JournalofIntegralEquations,andthePitmanAdvancedMathematicsProgram.HeisDirectoroftheDelawareMathematicsCoalitionandhiscurrentresearchinterestsincludenonlinearboundaryvalueproblems,combustion,andclimatology.Dr.StakgoldisaformerpresidentofSIAM.