Black Holes are regions of space-time where the gravitational field is so strong that not even light can escape. There has been much written on black holes, however in most cases they are treated as isolated objects. In this important new book, the author has found a number of cases in which the interaction of a black hole with another strong-field system (such as the background universe or another black hole) could be treated analytically. This includes using the powerful method of matched asymptotic expansions, and these wider ranging problems and examples are considered here for the first...

This first comprehensive and coherent introduction to modern quantum cosmology presents a useful survey of the many profound consequences of supersymmetry (supergravity) in quantum cosmology. Covering a general introduction to quantum cosmology, Hamiltonian supergravity and canonical quantization and quantum amplitudes through to models of supersymmetric mini superspace and quantum wormholes, it also includes exciting further developments, including the possible finiteness of supergravity. With ample introductory material, this topical volume is well suited as a graduate text for students and...