Classical General Relativity

Brings together articles reviewing progress in general relativity and its applications to astrophysics. Coverage includes advances in the use of separation of variables methods in general relativity, and the symmetries of equilibrium stellar models.

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Because of the vicissitudes of history, the general theory of relativity has never been consistently explored to ascertain whether, in its realm of exact validity, it predicts phenomena which have no counterparts in the newtonian limit; that is in the limit in which the velocity of light may be considered infinite. Recently the main interest has become centred on the `frontier areas' of quantum gravity and cosmology. Nevertheless, there has been a quiet but steady progress in the classsical domain and the five papers collected in this volume illustrate the nature of these advances. Each of them represents developments in areas both of physics and mathematics which disclose aspects one culd not have anticipated. This book is intended for relativists in mathematics and astrophysics departments.