Twistor Theory

Evolving from graduate lectures given in London and Oxford, this introduction to twistor theory and modern geometrical approaches to space-time structure will provide graduate students with the basics of twistor theory, presupposing some knowledge of special relativity and differenttial geometry.

Not Even Wrong is a fascinating exploration of our attempts to come to grips with perhaps the most intellectually demanding puzzle of all: how does the universe work at its most fundamnetal level? The book begins with an historical survey of the experimental and theoretical developments that led to the creation of the phenomenally successful 'Standard Model' of particle physics around 1975. Despite its successes, the Standard Model does not answer all the key questions and physicists continuing search for answers led to the development of superstring theory. However, after twenty years, superstring theory has failed to advance beyond the Standard Model. The absence of experimental evidence is at the core of this controversial situation which means that it is impossible to prove that superstring theory is either right or wrong. To date, only the arguments of the theory's advocates have received much publicity. Not Even Wrong provides readers with another side of the story.

Deals with the twistor treatment of certain linear and non-linear partial differential equations. The description in terms of twistors involves algebraic and differential geometry, and several complex variables.

Presents the proceedings of the recently held conference at the University of Plymouth. Papers describe recent work by leading researchers in twistor theory and cover a wide range of subjects, including conformal invariants, integral transforms, Einstein equations, anti-self-dual Riemannian 4-manifolds, deformation theory, 4-dimensional conformal structures, and more.;The book is intended for complex geometers and analysts, theoretical physicists, and graduate students in complex analysis, complex differential geometry, and mathematical physics.

Although twistor theory originated as an approach to the unification of quantum theory and general relativity, twistor correspondences and their generalizations have provided powerful mathematical tools for studying problems in differential geometry, nonlinear equations, and representation theory. At the same time, the theory continues to offer promising new insights into the nature of quantum theory and gravitation. Further Advances in Twistor Theory, Volume III: Curved Twistor Spaces is actually the fourth in a series of books compiling articles from Twistor Newsletter-a somewhat informal journal published periodically by the Oxford research group of Roger Penrose. Motivated both by questions in differential geometry and by the quest to find a twistor correspondence for general Ricci-flat space times, this volume explores deformed twistor spaces and their applications. Articles from the world's leading researchers in this field-including Roger Penrose-have been written in an informal, easy-to-read style and arranged in four chapters, each supplemented by a detailed introduction. Collectively, they trace the development of the twistor programme over the last 20 years and provide an overview of its recent advances and current status.

"Twistor theory is the remarkable mathematicl framework that was discovered by Roger Penrose in the course of research into gravitation and quantum theory. It has since developed into a broad many-faceted programme that attempts to resolve basic problems in physics by encoding the the structure of physical fields and indeed space-time itself into the complex analytical geometry of twistor space."--BOOK JACKET.

Gripping novel of hard science fiction by physicist author recounts discovery of the Twistor Effect, which opens doors into countless alternate universes and draws dangerous attention from industrial spies and corporate killers.

Twistor theory is the remarkable mathematical framework that was discovered by Roger Penrose in the course of research into gravitation and quantum theory. It have since developed into a broad, many-faceted programme that attempts to resolve basic problems in physics by encoding the structure of physical fields and indeed space-time itself into the complex analytic geometry of twistor space. Twistor theory has important applications in diverse areas of mathematics and mathematical physics. These include powerful techniques for the solution of nonlinear equations, in particular the self-duality equations both for the Yang-Mills and the Einstein equations, new approaches to the representation theory of Lie groups, and the quasi-local definition of mass in general relativity, to name but a few. This volume and its companions comprise an abundance of new material, including an extensive collection of Twistor Newsletter articles written over a period of 15 years. These trace the development of the twistor programme and its applications over that period and offer an overview on the current status of various aspects of that programme. The articles have been written in an informal and easy-to-read style and have been arranged by the editors into chapter supplemented by detailed introductions, making each volume self-contained and accessible to graduate students and nonspecialists from other fields. Volume II explores applications of flat twistor space to nonlinear problems. It contains articles on integrable or soluble nonlinear equations, conformal differential geometry, various aspects of general relativity, and the development of Penrose's quasi-local mass construction.