The High Energy Universe Ultra-High Energy Events in Astrophysics and Cosmology

In the last two decades, cosmology, particle physics, high energy astrophysics and gravitational physics have become increasingly interwoven. The intense activity taking place at the intersection of these disciplines is constantly progressing, with the advent of major cosmic ray, neutrino, gamma ray and gravitational wave observatories for studying cosmic sources, along with the construction of particle physics experiments using beams and signals of cosmic origin. This book provides an up-to-date overview of the recent advances and potential future developments in this area, discussing both the main theoretical ideas and experimental results. It conveys the challenges but also the excitement associated with this field. Written in a concise yet accessible style, explaining technical details with examples drawn from everyday life, it will be suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as other readers interested in the subject. Colour versions of a selection of the figures are available at www.cambridge.org/9780521517003.

1. Introduction; 2. The nuts and bolts of the Universe; 3. Cosmology; 4. Cosmic structure formation; 5. Active galaxies; 6. Stellar cataclysms; 7. Gamma ray bursts; 8. GeV and TeV gamma rays; 9. Gravitational waves; 10. Cosmic rays; 11. Neutrinos; 12. Dark dreams, Higgs and beyond.

Peter Mészáros is Eberly Chair of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Professor of Physics at Pennsylvania State University, where he is also Director of the Center for Particle Astrophysics. His main research interests are high energy astrophysics and cosmology. He has been a co-recipient of the Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society and the First Prize of the Gravity Research Foundation.