L’IRRESISTIBILE ATTRAZIONE DELLA GRAVITA(ENGLISH TITLE: THE IRRISISTIBLE ATTRACTION OF GRAVITY: A JOURNEY THROUGH BLACK HOLES)

Book ID/图书代码： 13851022C00003

English Summary/英文概要： Gravity attracts — this is such an obvious phenomenon that writing this book was not necessary in order to stress it. Less obvious is that, even before it appears in the form of a physical interaction, gravity attracts our attention and our imagination. As soon as we are born, before we have developed a conscious relationship with the physical universe, we already know gravity at an instinctive level and, for the rest of our lives, it will represent the only one of the four fundamental interactions of which we will have a conscious awareness. And from which we will often try to escape. I wrote this book with the desire to explain what gravity is and why — even though at a subconscious level — we are irresistibly attracted to it. To do this, I plan to take you on a journey through its macro-cosmos and, in particular, into those regions of physics that have been revealed to us by Einstein’s revolutionary theory of gravitation, namely general relativity. It will be a virtual journey of course, which will lead us to a place without borders — the realm of fundamental questions about which mankind wonders. Like all travels, this one also has ambitions of enriching our vision of the world, extending our horizons and, finally, making us realise that we have learned something. For me, writing this book certainly represented all of this. On the route that I propose, I will do my best to steer us away from the treacherous waters of erudition and technicalities. Instead, we will head out to open seas, making intuition our reference and imagination our North Star. Along the way we will make some stops; partly to catch a little breath (given the number of new concepts I will present in each chapter), but above all to find the calm necessary to answer some simple yet not trivial questions, such as:

Why does an apple fall from the tree instead of floating in space? What is spacetime? What does its curvature consist of, and how is it produced? Can time be curved? How does a black hole work and how can we "build" one? How can it be photographed if it does not emit light? What are gravitational waves and why are they difficult to measure? As with any trip, it is good to be prepared for what awaits us and to pack in our luggage things we might need along the way. I will bring with me all I have learned in thirty years dedicated to the study of gravity and, in particular, to those aspects that are inextricably linked to the astrophysics of black holes, neutron stars, and gravitational waves. The lessons I have learned in these decades have led me to predictions and discoveries; the latest achievement being in April 2019, together with the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration: the publication of the first image of a supermassive black hole. As for your luggage, it can be lighter and should contain just two essential elements: an abundance of imagination and a good deal of patience. The first will help you to find the answers that “we in the trade” can easily read from the equations. The second, on the other hand, will be useful because not everything I write about will be immediately clear (although I can guarantee that it will be correct) and not everything you read will seem obvious, perhaps not even reasonable. However, if you arm yourself with imagination and patience, you can be sure that you will find answers to each of the questions posed above and you will come to understand the roles that spacetime and curvature play in explaining what gravity really is — this mysterious force by which we are all attracted.

Starting from an irrational and neonatal instinct, our journey will lead us to the shores of pure amazement where we will come to understand what gravity really is and how some of its most bizarre expressions, such as neutron stars and black holes, actually work. This will be our journey, from instinct to wonder, in Einstein’s revolutionary universe.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 几个世纪以来，重力的奥秘一直吸引着我们。但什么是重力，它是如何运作的？本书将深入研究重力物理学的奇特之处且经常违反直觉的世界。我们将与杰出的天体物理学家Luciano Rezzola教授一起踏上进入爱因斯坦引力世界的虚拟之旅，每个里程碑都显示了重力的迷人之处，透过接触时空曲率和广义相对论等概念，将发现重力物理学中一些最奇怪的结果，例如黑洞、中子星和引力波。

此外作者也介绍并解释了近代最令人印象深刻的科学成就之一：超大质量黑洞的第一张图像。由参与产生这些结果的关键科学家之一撰写，读者将获得有关如何捕获图像的幕后视图，并发现黑洞附近的物质和光会发生什么。(Vincent)

Awards/获奖情况：

About the Author/作者介绍： Luciano Rezzola (1967) is an italian professor of relativistic astrophysics and numerical relativity at the Goethe University Frankfurt where he chairs the department. His main field of study is the physics and astrophysics of compact objects like black holes and neutron stars. In 2019 he was appointed honorary Andrews Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College Dublin.

Format:HARDCOVER

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Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

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