Hyperbolic Geometry and Applications in Quantum Chaos and Cosmology

Leading experts introduce this classical subject with exciting new applications in theoretical physics.

Quantum chaos and cosmology are areas of theoretical physics where models involving hyperbolic manifolds and the spectral theory of Maass waveforms have exciting applications. In this book leading experts provide a valuable exposition of hyperbolic geometry and its applications to graduate students and researchers.Hyperbolic geometry is a classical subject in pure mathematics which has exciting applications in theoretical physics. In this book leading experts introduce hyperbolic geometry and Maass waveforms and discuss applications in quantum chaos and cosmology. The book begins with an introductory chapter detailing the geometry of hyperbolic surfaces and includes numerous worked examples and exercises to give the reader a solid foundation for the rest of the book. In later chapters the classical version of Selberg's trace formula is derived in detail and transfer operators are developed as tools in the spectral theory of Laplace–Beltrami operators on modular surfaces. The computation of Maass waveforms and associated eigenvalues of the hyperbolic Laplacian on hyperbolic manifolds are also presented in a comprehensive way. This book will be valuable to graduate students and young researchers, as well as for those experienced scientists who want a detailed exposition of the subject.