美国华裔教授专家网向所有学者和专业人士全力推荐:
The Shape of Inner Space:String Theory and the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions
内空间之形:弦理论和宇宙隐秘维度几何学
Shing-Tung Yau 丘成桐
400 pages
Publisher:Basic Books(September 7, 2010)
Hardcover:ISBN-13:978-0465020232,Hardcover, $30
作者简介:
丘成桐(Shing-Tung Yau),是当代最具影响力的数学家之一,数学界最高荣誉菲尔兹奖得主之一。丘成桐已经囊括菲尔兹奖、沃尔夫奖、克莱福特奖这三个世界顶级大奖,丘成桐得奖还为沃尔夫奖创造了另一佳话:他是继自己的导师陈省身之后,第二位获得沃尔夫数学奖的华人。丘成桐现任美国哈佛大学数学系主任。
Product Description
作品简介:
String theory says we live in a ten-dimensional universe, but that only four are accessible to our everyday senses. According to theorists, the missing six are curled up in bizarre structures known as Calabi-Yau manifolds. In The Shape of Inner Space, Shing-Tung Yau, the man who mathematically proved that these manifolds exist, argues that not only is geometry fundamental to string theory, it is also fundamental to the very nature of our universe.
Time and again, where Yau has gone, physics has followed. Now for the first time, readers will follow Yau’s penetrating thinking on where we’ve been, and where mathematics will take us next. A fascinating exploration of a world we are only just beginning to grasp, The Shape of Inner Space will change the way we consider the universe on both its grandest and smallest scales.
弦理论认为人类生活在有十维空间的宇宙中,但日常只能感知四维空间。学者们提出,剩下的六维卷藏在奇妙的结构里,这就是著名的卡拉比-丘流。著名教授丘成桐已经用数学方法证实了多维空间的存在。在《内空间之形》一书里,邱教授雄辩道:十维空间不仅是弦理论的几何基础,也是研究宇宙本质的奠基石。
丘成桐的数学研究也引起了物理学界的极大关注。《内空间之形》首次用非学术的语言,向广大科普爱好者揭示十维空间的奥秘。读者将随着丘成桐教授深邃的思维,了解人类对宇宙的认识,回顾几何学研究的历程,并展望数学带给人类的未来。本书将从宏观和微观上带给我们对宇宙的新认识,我们对宇宙的看法将从此改变。
Dear Producer/Interviewer:
Most people are familiar with the four dimensions accessible to our everyday senses – the three spatial dimensions and time. But what if there are additional dimensions so small that we haven’t noticed them yet, and in fact, may never see them directly? And what if, despite their miniscule size, they prove to be crucial to our understanding of the universe – as well as to the actual functioning of the universe – in ways we couldn’t have possibly imagined?
String theory holds that our universe has six more hidden, or “extra,” dimensions that are curled up in elaborate, twisted shapes called Calabi-Yau manifolds. Award-winning mathematician Shing-Tung Yau(who first proved the existence of this strange class of shapes)and science writer Steve Nadis explore what these dimensions mean for our understanding of the cosmos in their new book, THE SHAPE OF INNER SPACE:String Theory and the Geometry of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions(Basic Books; September 7, 2010).
“Geometry is one of the main avenues available to us for probing the universe,” write Yau and Nadis. “[It] not only deserves a place at the table alongside physics and cosmology, but in many ways it is the table.” In an interview, Yau and Nadis can explain how the Calabi-Yau manifolds first caught the attention of physicists and how they’ve since become vital to string theory and cosmology. They can also discuss topics such as:
- How geometry has been instrumental throughout history in our attempts to make sense of the universe, and why it’s crucial to any understanding of the physical world;
- How the geometry of Calabi-Yau manifolds may hold the key to the most important physical phenomena we know about, including gravity – the force that sculpts our cosmos on the largest scales;
- How different Calabi-Yau shapes – a large if not infinite number of which are possible – might correspond to different universes, coexisting alongside ours;
- What dimensions really are and what a ten-dimensional universe(as posited by string theory)or an eleven-dimensional universe(as posited by the related M-theory)would be like;
- What it would mean for the mathematics of string theory if the physics part of the theory cannot be proved or is just plain wrong.
To arrange an interview with Shing-Tung Yau and/or Steve Nadis, or for additional information or materials, I can be reached at 212-340-8132 or cassie.nelson@perseusbooks.com.
Best wishes,
Cassie Dendurent Nelson
Assistant Director of Publicity
About Basic Books:
Since its founding in 1952, Basic Books has shaped public debate by publishing award-winning books in psychology, science, mathematics, sociology, current events and history. Basic’s list of influential authors includes Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking, Douglas Hofstadter, Niall Ferguson and Lester Thurow.
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