Black Hole Physics in the Optical

This book presents the physics of black holes from an entirely new perspective. It is based on a conformal rescaling of the geometry of space, called optical geometry, which allows one to give a simple, unified and intuitively appealing description of black hole physics. Among the topics covered are dynamics of particles, fluids and gyroscopes, electrodynamics, gravitational waves, thermodynamics, and Hawking radiation. Optical geometry is also discussed in the wider context of Kaluza-Klein theories and quantum gravity. The first chapter of the book describes the subject in non-technical terms; the rest of it provides all the mathematical details in a systematic, self-contained way.