Research is conducted into the mathematical aspects of theories of gravity. Emphasis is placed on the investigation of classical aspects of Einstein's theory of general relativity

General Relativity - Einstein's theory of gravity - was one of the major intellectual achievements of the early years of the twentieth century. Research activity in the area was confined to a small number of research workers until the 1960's when the discovery of quasars and pulsars led to significant growth in theoretical studies of general relativity. At King's, for example, significant contributions were made to the development of gravitational wave theory and the study of black holes. The firm establishment of general relativity as an observational subject is expected in the first decade of next century when the new generation of gravity wave detectors come on line. This prospect is encouraging both traditional and new lines of research on Einstein's theory. In addition to work on the classical theory, there is much interest in quantum gravity. Complementing the work on supersymmetric strings and M-theory, which emerges from the quantum field theory tradition, there has been a resurgence of interest in the problem of quantising general relativity.

Areas of currently active work at King's include investigations of Einstein's equations from a geometrical point of view and the development of geometrical formalisms applicable to classical field theories. Further details of this research can be found in the preprints of Professor David Robinson.

Professor Lane Hughston is the professor of Financial Mathematics. As well as carrying out research on mathematical finance, Professor Hughston maintains an active research programme in various aspects of theoretical physics, including work in general relativity. Most recently he has been studying geometrical approaches to quantum theory and quantum statistical mechanics.

RecentDepartmental preprints in General Relativity:
2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997.

Glossary