A Scientific Autobiography S Chandrasekhar K Wali World 2010 BBS

S.
CHANDRASEKHAR
A Scientific Autobiography:
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S. CHANDRASEKHAR
A Scientific Autobiography:
Kameshwar C. Wali
Syracuse University, USA
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World Scientific
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Cover credit: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar in his office at the University of Chic
ago, standing beside a picture of Sir Isaac Newton placed on the volumes of the
Principia Mathematica, March 1991. Photograph courtesy of Spenta Wadia. Anecdote
connected with this photo is at http://arXiv.org/pdf/gr-qc/9705001.
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DEDICATION
Lalitha Chandrasekhar
v
FOREWORD
In late 1980s, while I was working with Chandra on his biography, he mentioned a
journal he kept of his scienti c activities. One day he handed me a copy of what h
e had at the time. It was supposed to be con dential, and after his death, if his
wife Lalitha and I thought it of interest and worthwhile, he would like to see i
t published. A brief glance at it evoked wonder and admiration. Chandra led a li
fe of supreme and almost unparalleled e ort in unraveling the laws of nature encod
ed in mathematics. The year 2010 marks Chandras birth centennial (October 19, 191
0) and seems the perfect time to bring to light this unique document, A Scienti c
Autobiography. The journal gives a rare and personal insight into the joys and s
truggles of a brilliant scientist at work. For example, on his work on Radiative
Transfer with which this journal begins, Chandra said, My research on radiative
transfer gave me the most satisfaction. I worked on it for ve years, and the subj
ect, I felt, developed on its own initiative and momentum. Problems arose one by
one, each more complex and di cult than the previous one, and they were solved. T
he whole subject attained elegance and a beauty which I do not nd to the same deg
ree in any of
vii
viii
A Scienti c Autobiography: S. Chandrasekhar
my other work. And when I nally wrote the book, Radiative Transfer, I left the ar
ea entirely. Although I could think of several problems, I did not want to spoil
the coherence and beauty of the subject [with further additions]. Furthermore,
as the subject had developed, I also had developed. It gave me for the rst time a
degree of self-assurance and con dence in my scienti c work because here was a situ
ation where I was not looking for problems. The subject, not easy by any standar
ds, seemed to evolve on its own.a It is this kind of insight that illuminates the
contextual circumstances surrounding his body of work and gives it a depth of p
urpose we could not know otherwise. As revealed in this scienti c autobiography, a
nd as Chandra himself noted in the autobiographical account published with his N
obel Lecture: After the early preparatory years, my scienti c work has followed a c
ertain pattern motivated, principally, by a quest after perspectives. In practic
e, this quest has consisted in my choosing (after some trials and tribulations)
a certain area which appears amenable to cultivation and compatible with my tast
e, ability, and temperament. And when after some years of study, I feel that I h
ave accumulated a su cient body of knowledge and achieved a view of my own, I have
the urge to present my point of view ab initio, in a coherent account with orde
r, form, and structure. This autobiography is a testimony to his having carried o
ut his quest to its perfection. The inner workings described in this document go
beyond the vast landscape of physics, astrophysics and applied mathematics. Cha
ndras published papers and monographs evoke a feeling of respect and wonder. Whil
e to a casual student it may seem intimidating and forbidding, for the serious-m
inded, however, they leave an indelible impression of their endearing value in s
pite of the continual progress in the respective elds. They convince one of the i
nnate values of science the continuity, the interdependence, and the necessity o
f combining original research with scholarship. As we read, we nd that with the p
erspective gained in one area to his satisfaction, he leaves that area entirely
and proa
Chandra; A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar, University of Chicago Press, 1991, p.
190.
Foreword
ix
ceeds to another with a complete sense of detachment, ready to start afresh in a
new area. If it was necessary, he would attend classes, take notes, and studied
as if he were once again a student. Or he would teach a course, and perhaps wou
ld give a series of lectures on the topic he wanted to learn. On the drop of a h
at, he would y to Oxford, England to have a discussion with Roger Penrose, or to
Crete and Rome to work with his young collaborators, Basilis Xanthopoulos and Va
leria Ferrari. In addition, this autobiographical journal reveals Chandras human
side, the man behind the legend his intense association with his students and as
sociates and his ability to inspire in others hard work and enthusiasm. Chandras
extraordinary personality was characterized by an intensity and fervor for compl
eteness, elegance, and above everything else, gaining a personal aesthetic persp
ective. It extended beyond his technical scienti c publications to his semipopular
lectures and essays. This is best illustrated, as he tells us in this autobiogr
aphy, how he was led to writing the essay, The Series Paintings of Claude Monet
and the Landscape of General Relativity, in which he speaks about the similarity
of Monets motivations in painting his Series Paintingsb and his own motivations in
the series of papers on black holes, colliding waves and scattering of gravitat
ional radiation. In Monets paintings, the same scene is depicted over and over ag
ain under di erent natural illumination and seasonal variations. The valley, the t
rees and the elds, and the haystacks are the same. Super cially, they may appear bo
ring and repetitive. However, the di erent paintings radiate totally di erent aesthe
tic content. When seen as a group, a viewer can obtain a deeply convincing sense
of the continuous nature of the experience in contrast to the shifting nature o
f what one observes. In a similar fashion, the same set of static symbols, which
form the landscape of General Relativity, manifest in di erent roles in equations
, unifying the description of vastly di erent physical phenomena, making the Gener
al Relativity as sometimes described as the one of the most beautiful theories.
b
Chandra is referring to: (1) Haystacks (or Grainstacks), (2) Poplars, (3) Early
morning on the Seine.
x
In concluding that essay, Chandra states he does not know if there has been any
scientist who could have said what Monet did on one occasion I would like to pai
nt the way a bird sings. But we do know of a scientist who spoke like a poet on
one occasion The pursuit of science has often been compared to the scaling of mo
untains, high and not so high. But who amongst us can hope, even in imagination,
to scale the Everest and reach its summit when the sky is blue and the air is s
till, and in the stillness of the air survey the entire Himalayan range in the d
azzling white of the snow stretching to in nity? None of us can hope for a compara
ble vision of Nature and the universe around us, but there is nothing mean or lo
wly in standing below the valley below and waiting for the sun to rise over Kanc
henjunga. With such writings, often lled with parables, quotes from modern and an
cient literature, with his Ryerson Lecture, Shakespeare, Newton and Beethoven an
d his book, Truth and Beauty, Chandra bridged the gap between what C. P. Snow ca
lls the two cultures the culture of sciences and of the humanities. This scienti c
biography, mainly concerned with an intense e ort to understand Nature in the lan
guage of mathematics, may super cially seem too specialized and forbidding. But it
should be no more forbidding than a memoir of a painter, who struggles with his
tools, his trials and tribulations to attain his vision or of a great writer wh
o creates characters and situations beyond ones ordinary imagination, bringing un
expected joy and insight.
Foreword
xi
In early summer of 1995, I had my last conversation with Chandra. I had received
a complementary copy of his last book, Newtons Principia for the Common Reader d
irectly from the publisher. I thanked him for it. He was annoyed that it took so
long for it to be sent. He complained about getting weak, and his inability to
do hard work and needed help to get back to his apartment after a walk. I remind
ed him, the days were extremely hot in Chicago at the time and that he should ta
ke care. I admonished him for working so hard. Take it easy, relax. Yes, that is
what I am doing, he said. I am reading Les Misrables by Victor Hugo. e Chandra died
on August 21, 1995 at the age of 84. The years I spent working with Chandra and
writing his biography were the most enjoyable and the creative years of my life.
As I sat with him in his o ce, among the books, journals, les of correspondence an
d sketches, conversing sometimes hours at a time, I often became transformed, an
d caught a glimpse of the incomparable world which Res Jost so aptly described:
There is a secret society whose activities transcend all limits of space and tim
e, and Dr. Chandrasekhar is one of its members. It is the ideal community of gen
iuses who weave and compose the fabric of our culture.c It is indeed a privilege
and honor to present for publication this scienti c autobiography which evokes an
enduring self-portrait of the man behind science.
Acknowledgements I am grateful to Daniel Meyer and the sta at the Special Collect
ions Research Center of the University of Chicago Library for providing me copie
s of the documents reproduced in this volume.
c
Jost, a noted Swiss physicist, on the occasion of awarding Chandra, the Tamala P
rize on January 9, 1984 in Zurich, Switzerland.
xii
Thanks to Monona Wali for editing parts of this book and Heather Kirkpatrick for
preparing the manuscript. Finally, I would also like to thank the Senior Editor
, Lakshmi Narayanan and her colleagues at World Scienti c for the excellent job in
producing this volume. Kameshwar C. Wali October 2010
Preface
It is unlikely that I shall add any further instalments to this scientific autob
iography that I have written at intervals during the past forty years. I am ther
efore, writing this preface in case there should arise at some future time, enou
gh interest for its publication. I have often described the years 1943 49 as the
happiest in my scientific life. Those were the years when I was immersed in my
investigations on radiative transfer and in the theory of stellar atmospheres: t
he years which culminated with the publication of my Radiative Transfer and which
included my exact solution of Rayleighs problem of the illumination and the polar
ization of the sunlit sky and the unraveling of the continuous absorption coeffi
cient of H and the continuous spectrum of the sun and the stars.
xiii
xiv
Half way during this period of intense and joyous activity, in September 1947, w
e went on a brief vacation to East Orleans, Cape Cod, at the invitation of Ruper
t Wildt. And while at Cape Cod, Lalitha repeated her suggestion of some months e
arlier that I write a history of my series of papers on The Radiative Equilibrium o
f a Stellar Atmosphere. Her suggestion arose from her having observed my total in
volvement in what I was then doing. Before I left for Cape Cod, Paper XXI of the
series had been sent to press, the end of the series (Paper XXIV was the last)
was in sight, and the prospect of starting on my book was imminent. It was thus,
in Cape Cod, in September 1947, that a preliminary draft of the first instalmen
t was written; it was completed two years later when the manuscript of my Radiat
ive Transfer was sent to press in September 1947. The second instalment was writ
ten in 1960 on the completion of my Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability. An
d the last of them was written just about a year ago on the completion of my las
t book on The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes. The various instalments describe
in detail the evolution of my scientific work during the past forty years and r
ecords each investigation, describing the doubts and the successes, the trials a
nd the tribulations. And the parts my various associates and assistants played i
n the completion of the different investigations are detailed. But Lalitha, only
rarely mentioned, was always
Preface
xv
present, always supportive, and always encouraging. And this is the place to rec
ord the depth of my indebtedness to her. But the full measure of it cannot reall
y be recorded: it is too deep and too all pervasive. Let me then record very sim
ply that Lalitha has been the principal motivating force and strength of my life
. Her support has been constant, unwavering, and sustained. And it has been my m
ainstay during times of stress and discouragement. Thus, during the last months
of 1981 when my last book was nearing completion, one snag after another kept on
springing. Each had to be resolved patiently; but time was running short very s
hort. One such snag was particularly intractable. Lalitha identified herself so
completely with my efforts that she said there is pal hanging over everything; wh
en will it lift. That is typical of her involvement in my work and of the way she
has shared in my life: selfless, devoted, and ever patient and waiting. And so,
I dedicate this autobiography, which is indeed my life, to her. S. Chandrasekha
r January 22, 1983
Contents
Dedication Foreword by Kameshwar C. Wali Preface by S. Chandrasekhar I. A Histor
y of My Papers on Radiative Equilibrium (19431948) II. Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (
19481960) III. The Development of the Virial Method and Ellipsoidal Figures of Eq
uilibrium (19601970) IV. General Relativity (19621969) V. The Fallow Period (197019
74) VI. General Relativity; Ryerson Lecture; Separation of Dirac Equation (Janua
ry 1975August 1977) VII. General Relativity; KerrNewman Perturbations (August 1977D
ecember 1978) VIII. 1979 A Year of Failures and of Obligations IX. 1980, 1981: T
he Mathematical Theory of Black Holes
xvii
v vii xiii 3 21 55 75 91 109 127 139 151
xviii
Contents
X. POSTSCRIPT: 1982, a Year that Passed XI. The Beginning of the End (19831985) X
II. Continued E orts I (September 1985May 1987) XIII. Continued E orts II (May 1987Sep
tember 1989) XIV. Continued E orts III (September 1989October 1991) XV. Continued E o
rts IV (November 1991December 1994) Notes & Comments by Kameshwar C. Wali
185 187 199 213 231 251 259
S. Chandrasekhar
A History of My Papers on Radiative Equilibrium (19431948)

I Nov. 43
I Nov. 43 June July
II March May 1944
It all started with a letter from Placzek. He had just returned from England (19
43 Fall). In a letter written from New York he asked me if any tabulation of the
exact darkening function for the standard problem given in Hopfs tract exists. I
had to admit that none existed but it recalled to me Grattons paper (1937) in wh
ich he had applied the method of expansion in terms of spherical harmonics. And
since I was lecturing on Radiative Transfer at this particular time, I went into
Grattons paper carefully and found that his methods could be improved upon. The
calculations as given in Paper I were developed in these lectures. Also, for the
sake of completeness, I had the Hopf function tabulated. However, at this time,
I did not realize that this was the rst of a series of papers. The only other ma
tter I can recall about this paper is that at Aberdeen (April 1944) H. N. Russel
l told me that he had read the paper with considerable interest (this was also t
he occasion he congratulated me on my election to R. S.). During this same visit
to Aberdeen, I received from the Mathematical Reviews a paper by G. C. Wick on
neutron di usion for reviewing purposes. Reading this paper, I realized at once th
at the whole theory of radiative transfer as it existed at that time
3
4
II May 11, 1944
could be done much better by adopting and generalizing Wicks idea of replacing th
e integrals which occur in the equations of transfer by Gaussian sums. On my ret
urn to Yerkes late in April, I announced a colloquium on Some recent papers on Ma
thematical Astronomy. The papers I reviewed were those of Thernoe on Emden functi
ons and of Wick. But for the colloquium, I thought it would be of greater intere
st to actually apply his idea to the standard problem. The calculations given in
II (Secs. 15) were done during the last week of April and were presented at the
colloquium. The calculations showed that the boundary temperature was predicted
exactly on all approximations. When I gave the colloquium, I had not proved this
. (The results of Sec. 6 came later.) However, in concluding this colloquium, I
said that: The clear superiority of this method over anything which has been done
so far is apparent. Indeed, it is di cult to resist the temptation of redoing eve
rything we know by the new method. I remember Henyey looking skeptical. But Sahad
e and Cesco were very enthusiastic: they came to my o ce after the lecture to say
that they would like to work on some problem on the extension of the method. Mrs
. Krogdahl and Miss Tuberg both came to my o ce later to say that they enjoyed the
colloquium, and Miss Tuberg, in particular, expressed that she would like to do
a thesis problem on the method. However, the rst thing I concentrated on was to
establish the HopfBronstein relation exactly. At rst I did not see how it could be
done. I remember that the crucial idea occurred to me after lunch. I had though
t all morning and had not succeeded. But at lunch time, it occurred to me that i
f I understood why it was the rst approximation that gave the exact result, then
I could understand why the general nth approximation also gave the exact result.
A little consideration (also during lunch) showed that this must result from a
relation between the characteristic roots and the zeros of the Legendre polynomi
al (Eq. 68, II). Immediately after lunch, I veri ed that the relation could be eas
ily established.
A History of My Papers on Radiative Equilibrium

5
III May 31, 1944
May 1944
June July Aug. 1944 IV
Sept. 1944
I did not realize then that in the course of the proof of the Hopf Bronstein rela
tion, I had eliminated the constants and expressed the solution in closed form.
It is apparent now (Sept. 1947) that the extraordinary power of the method consi
sts exactly in this: i.e. in the possibility of eliminating the explicit appeara
nce of the constants of integration and expressing the solution in closed form.
I was to realize this only a year and a half later (in Jan. 1946). My immediate
reaction to the whole idea was not one of doing anything beyond what was already
known, but only to do better what was known: In other words, I did not draw the
obvious moral from my proof of the HopfBronstein relation. However, I did want t
o try the method out on more di cult problems. The solution for the Rayleigh phase
function was something to try for I recalled that in Milnes article in the Handb
uch, he says that the problem with a phase function is too di cult to even conside
r formulating the equations! The method worked with surprising ease. And paper I
II was written and completed two weeks after Paper II had been sent in. Again, I
did not realize that the solution can be found in closed form though all the es
sential steps are taken (Sec. 4). At about this time, Placzek visited us and I s
howed him my Calculations at the date. It was apparent to me at the time that Pl
aczek was interested in similar problems in connection with his work at Montreal
. The next few months (JuneJulyAugust) were spent in routine problems. Sahade and
Cesco were to work with me on the problem of absorption lines. They found the ch
aracteristic roots for this problem in the third approximation. Paper IV was sen
t in to press by the end of August. (I may add here that I have regretted this c
ollaboration since Sahade and Cesco did not do their part of the work with due r
esponsibility: I am therefore glad that this problem has now (Sept. 47) been exa
ctly solved.) After Paper IV I thought the problem was in spherical atmospheres.
Here the problem was to nd a means of replacing the derivatives in terms of the
values at the Gaussian division. One evening coming to the Observatory, I was th
inking how this should
6
Oct. 1944 Nov. Dec. 1944
VII Feb. 1945
be done when I met Sahade on the way and told him that the solution for the sphe
rical problem was the most important thing remaining to be done. I said that per
haps in solving the problem one should keep in mind the ux integral. This turned
out to be the right idea: though I had thought fruitlessly for several days. By
next evening, I had found the solution given in Paper V: I remember walking with
Henyey to his house telling him how the problem had been solved. But even after
this, the solution for the case r n in the second approximation was not too easy.
I had to loo to Watson quite a bit before the solution given in V (pp. 102103)
was found. This paper was completed in October, 1944. After this time, I thought
that the non grey atmosphere was the one to concentrate on. One evening, M nch w
as in my o ce and I u was telling him how important it was to bring up some sensib
le ideas for the theory of non grey atmospheres. I showed him the sections in Un
sold where the Rosseland mean was derived. The looseness of the whole argument w
as apparent. M nch thought that the problem u might be too di cult. I said, I did n
ot see any reason why one should not go about it systematically: start with = co
stat = . If varies ad is sesibly costat the the solutio with a must be a
approximatio. The questio simply was I what sese? This will come from a pertu
rbatio theory. Thus talig to M ch, u I developed all the pricipal ideas whic
h are i my Paper VII. O the followig day, I had wored out the (2, 2) approxi
matio ad established the ew method of averagig : 1 = F
0 (1) F d .
Dec. 1944
But I did ot at that time succeed i the geeral solutio. A few days later, I
was i Chicago, ad while waitig i Zachs o ce, I played aroud ad thought that t
he geeral solutio should be foud. At about this time, Miss Tuberg was worig
o lie formatio problem with varyig . Her variational equations were similar
to tose wic occurred in my problem. Se ad evaluated one determinant in te
tird approximation. Te form of er solution
rs
A History of My Papers on Radiative Equilibrium

7
Feb. 1945 VI
VIII Feb. 1945
Nov. 1945
immediately suggested to me tat wat was involved was te Van der Mondie determ
inant and te teory of symmetric functions. A reference to Perron gave te solu
tion as given in Paper VII. Te formal solution was completed by Cristmas, 1944
. But te numerical work delayed te completion to Marc 1946. During tese mont
s, Saade and Cesco ad done some more numerical work for te line formation pr
oblem. Tis was paper VI. Late in te fall of 1944, Kopal wrote to me expressing
is interest in my series of papers and asked if I ad considered te re ection p
roblem and drew my attention to te inconsistency of Milnes solution wit Hopfs re
lation. It was not di cult to work out te teory of te re ection e ect on te new me
tod in fact, it did not take more tan a few ours to complete te entire inves
tigation. Paper VIII originated in tis way. And tus also, my interest in te r
e ection problem. At about tis time Kopal drew my attention to Ambarzumians paper
in te Journal of Pysics and asked wat I tougt of it. Glancing troug Ambar
zumians paper, I decided tat I would return to te problem of di use re ection. But
in te spring and summer of 1945, I ad to turn to oter matters. First, tere w
as te article on Moving Atmosperes for te Bor issue to get ready. And my fre
quent discussions wit Wigner empasized te H problem. Between AprilOctober, 194
5, I wrote te H papers I and II and te papers on expanding atmosperes, includ
ing te matematical one to te Cambridge Pil. I returned to Radiative Transfer
and Di use re ection only in November, 1945: i.e. after te Pil. Soc. Meeting in P
iladelpia. On returning from Piladelpia, it was my intention to go into te
problem of di use re ection. But, as I tougt, te matter was probably one of routi
ne (i.e. to evaluate L s for vrious incident 0 s: I ws still not wre tht the co
nstnts could be eliminted), I ws not too enthusistic bout it. But n unexpe
cted turn ws introduced to my interests when, in converstion with Kuiper, th
e ccurte observtions of Lyot on the polriztion of the light re ected by Venus
cme to the front. The question then ws wht
8
A Scienti c Autobiogrphy: S. Chndrsekhr
IX Dec. 1945
Jn. 1946
Jn. Feb. 1946
the theoreticl expecttions were. But to nswer this question, one ought to hv
e theory of di use re ection. So I returned to the problem of di use re ection which I
hd sort of mentlly shelved. Obviously, the rst problem to tckle ws tht of d
i use re ection with the phse function (1+ cos ). It was when working out this probe
m that it graduay dawned on me that the constants shoud be eiminated. At rst
I did not know the way to go about it, but eventuay the technique became gener
ay cear. The vaidity of the reciprocity principe was a great hep as a guid
ing rue. So Paper IX was nished eary in January. And the reevant cacuations
in the second and third approximations were carried out. And the soution in co
sed form for the probem of Paper III was aso found (actuay somewhat ater: s
ee Appendix Paper IX). The importance of the H-functions was at ast reaized an
d the expression of the soutions in terms of these H-functions as a standard te
chnique became cear. And the possibiity of going to the in nite approximation wa
s vaguey forming in my mind. Once Paper IX was competed, I returned to the pro
bem ofpoarization. Meantime, I had become optimistic and had sort of boasted t
o Henyey about the success of the investigation as a foregone concusion. But wh
en I began to think of the probem, the di cuties of the probem became apparent.
I referred back to the papers of Zanstra, Minnaert and Schuster. I aso discuss
ed with Herzberg. It seemed to me that there was nothing in the iterature which
was a sure guidance. The axiay symmetric probem was therefore the rst to conc
entrate on: because in this case, we know the pane of poarization and the inte
nsities I and Ir in the meridian pane and at right anges to it were obviousy
the parameters to choose. It aso became apparent at this time that the emergen
t radiation from an eectron scattering atmosphere must be poarized: I had in f
act, aready taked to Struve about the possibiities of testing. Finay, in a
weekend, I formuated the reevant equations and was surprised that they were re
ducibe at a. I reca taking the Herzbergs to a movie that evening and expai
ning that I had soved the probem
A History of My Papers on Radiative Equiibrium

9
X
in essence. I was certain about the equations, because with I = Ir , the formu
ae of Schuster were recovered. The paper (X) was written up for pubication with
the numerica soution of the emergent radiation in the second and the third ap
proximations. The soution in cosed form given in Sec. 6 came ater. During the
months foowing, the writing of Paper XI was very hard pressed for time. I had
to go to Madison and ater in Apri I was to give the ecture on Scientist. But t
he importance of getting the soution of Paper X in cosed form was essentia be
fore I embarked on the re ection probem. The soution was found enroute to Madiso
n in the train. At this stage (March 1946) there were two probems overhanging m
e. The rst was the manner in which to parametrize poarized ight and the second
was to show that the H-function as I had de ned it in terms of the Gaussian divisi
on and characteristic roots was reated to the functiona equation of Ambarzumia
n. From numerica evidence, it was cear to me that H() s de ned must tend to the
solution of the functionl eqution
1
H() = 1 + H()
0
( ) H( )d . +
Ma 1946 XI
I consulted Teller, Breit and Placzek regarding the rst problem and von Neumann r
egarding the second: in both cases without an success. The method of parametriz
ing polarized light nall became clear quite accidentall b a reference to Stoke
s 1852 paper: in his collected papers. I recall that, disgusted with m fruitless
e orts in getting advice from phsicists, I collected, on a Saturda morning, all
the books on optics in the librar and saw what each of them had to sa on pola
rization. And nall, when I came to Walkers Analtical Theor of Light (1904), I s
aw vaguel that the paper of Stokes, which is referred to here, was the paper to
consult. However, it was onl later in the afternoon that I went back to the Ob
servator and brought Stokes collected papers. The use of U became clear over the
weekend and b Sunda the equations had been formulated. The azimuth independen
t terms were una ected and the solution alread
10
A Scienti c Autobiograph: S. Chandrasekhar
June 1946 XII
XIII Aug. 1946
found for these terms in April were therefore valid. Paper XI was completed on M
a 13. After this, the principal problem was, therefore, that of relating m sol
utions for the di use re ection with Ambarzumians. But before that, the problem of th
e general phase function had to be solved. This was done in Paper XII (completed
in June). We went to Brown in Jul and after m return, I was rst preoccupied wi
th H (III) and the paper with M nch on the continuous spectra of stars. u Of cour
se, all this time, I was worried about the H functions. The basic theorem (Paper
XIV, Theorem 1) dawned on me accidentall one evening when I was plaing with i
t. I cannot quite recall how the idea came to me. I thought I did not know how t
o proceed for a long while. And suddenl one da I thought I knew! The method in
the rst instance was to assume that the theorem was true and construct a proof go
ing backwards. The next question was to relate it to the Ambarzumian functional e
quations. I couldnt clearl see what Ambarzumian was about. So the best thing to
do was to formulate them for the polarization problem. In this connection the le
ctures of Minnaert on the Reciprocit principle were of great value. His insistenc
e for the case of polarized light, and m dislike for the particular formulation
of his, led me to consider the re ection of partiall polarized light and the for
mulation of the reciprocit principle in terms of the smmetr of the scattering
matrix S. This paper turned out to be crucial for m investigation in Paper XIV
. With some di cult, the functional equation for the scattering matrix S was form
ulated. And its reduction was a heart breaking job. However, when I went to Prin
ceton in September, I had derived the normal equations (XIV, 4952) and the proble
m was to nd , , and . The rst step was to put my solution o papers XI and XIII in th
e orm (41)(44). This requires that q 2 = 2(12 ). I veri ed this numerially in the
Union Station between trains. All the time, in the train and in Prineton, I wa
s worried I ould not prove what I wanted, but the need or establishing the int
egral properties or
A History o My Papers on Radiative Equilibrium

11
XIV Ot. 1946
Jan. 1947
Jan. Feb. 1947
XV 1947
XVI 1947
XVII 1947
Hl () and Hr () beame lear. Soon ater my return rom Prineton, the equivalene
s were established and it was a matter o only a week or two till I had all the
material ready or Paper XIV. This, together with XIII, were ompleted late in O
tober. The prinipal problems I had in mind at this time are stated at the end
o Paper XIV. During November we had a whole train o visitors. Lindblad, Krishn
an, then the Shajns. And I had the Gibbs leture to prepare or. But the routine
o getting the H untions omputed or the various problems was getting under
way. For Rayleigh sattering, they were ompleted beore the Gibbs leture. In e
arly January, I wrote the Gibbs leture and towards the end o January, I began
to look urther ahead . . . (Lalitha was ill during this time). Aording to the
program outlined in Paper XIV (Se. 20), the rst problem was that o ormulating
the equations o transer or elliptially polari ed light. For this purpose I
had to read Stokes paper more areully than I had done hitherto. One the paper
was read, the solution was not ar to seek. One weekend su ed or Paper XV. I wa
s surprised that the matrix was reduible. At about this time, I began to think
o the general laws o sattering and, having orresponded with Hamilton o and on
during 1946, I deided to see him when I was due East in February. Paper XVI wa
s, o ourse, simple. It was a tabulation o H untions. I reali ed at this sta
ge that the main problems o semi in nite atmospheres had been solved. It remained
to go into nite atmospheres. For this purpose, untional equations similar to A
mbar umians had to be ormulated or the ase o nite atmospheres. Moreover, the r
emarkable relationships between I(0, ) and S(, 0) was a soure o onsiderable worr
y. The basi ideas underlying Setion I (Paper XVII) also ame during a weekend.
At this time, I used to disuss a air amount with Ledoux. I showed him the rel
ation on a Monday morning. The untional equations derived in Setion II (Paper
XIV) did not take very muh time. The main di ulty was
12
A Sienti Autobiography: S. Chandrasekhar
XVIII Feb. 1947
April, May, June 1947 XXI
the reali ation that our equations were involved and not two as Ambar umian app
arently implies. All during the preeding year, I had been interested in getting
more adequate tables o the Milne and Burkhardt integrals. These were getting
ompleted at about this time. Papers XV, XVI, XVII and XVIII were sent to press b
eore I went to New York to give a leture to Courants group. At about this time,
I reali ed that one should be able to express H() as a omplex integral. And I g
ot into orrespondene with Tithmarsh, whih turned out to be very ortunate. T
he representation given in the Addendum to my Gibbs leture arose rom this orr
espondene. Again in Marh, I was oupied with routine matters. But the elimina
tion o the onstants was the rst problem to takle. And while I had thought o t
his on and o , I had not onentrated on it. But now this was the only outstanding
problem. So, one weekend I sat down and ormulated the basi problem. The basi
mathematial problem as ormulated in XXI (Se. 3) was ahieved during this wee
kend. I remember taking Ledoux to Walworth that Sunday morning and expressing my
on dene that the problem ould be solved. Later in the day, I thought I had it.
I alled up Henyey to tell him. But on Monday I reali ed that I had not in at
got it. However, I had aumulated enough on dene, and by Tuesday I knew how to
get the solution. (At about this time, I started a orrespondene with Davenpor
t on this problem, who gave later an elegant determinantal solution.) With the i
nterpolation problem (F (x ) = F (x ), = 1, . . . , n, x nd ssigned numbers) so
the expression of the emergent intensities in terms of the bsic X nd Y functio
ns ws immedite. At this stge, it becme pprent tht the X nd Y functions m
ust ply the sme role in the theory of nite tmospheres s the H functions in th
e theory of semi in nite tmospheres. Once the bsic problem ws solved, it remin
ed to crry out the elimintion of the constnts for the vrious problems. Durin
g April nd My this ws ccomplished. And in June I strted writing the pper w
hich ws completed s plnned on June 20. This ws Pper XXI.
A History of My Ppers on Rditive Equilibrium

13
June 1947 XIX XX
Pper XIX is further tbultion of H functions nd Pper XX provides the exct
solution for the stndrd line problem. The di culty here ws to pss to the limi
t
n
limitn
=1
1 k
n
j
j=1
Sept. 1947 (Cpe Cod) XXII Sept. Oct. 1947
The bsic ide cme from the fct tht in the stndrd problem n1 1 (Pper II); Q
= =1 k n j nd this is K(0). By nlogy one j=1 1 would expect tht n k n j ws rel
d to the moment =1 j=1 of H(). Ppers XIX, XX nd XXI were sent to press in June 1
947. The Compton scttering pper ws written during July. The problem hd, howe
ver, been solved in Februry during weekend. It remins now to complete the th
eory of nite tmospheres long the lines of Pper XIV. The bsic theorem ws est
blished in July, but I hve been too busy to strt frontl ttck on the probl
em. Tht is the rst thing I should do when I get bck. But lredy during the vc
tion, I begn to get worried bout the integrodi erentil equtions for X nd Y .
However, I soon convinced myself tht they re comptible with the functionl e
qutions for X nd Y . After we cme bck from Cpe Cod, we hd the Dvenports.
One of the rst things I hd to settle ws the di erence between Kestelmns formul
nd mine. Dvenport locted n error in Kestelmns formul. I m frid tht I cou
ld not get much other ssistnce from Dvenport. A week or so fter the Dvenpor
ts left, I begn the reduction of the functionl equtions governing the lws of
di use re ection nd trnsmission to the X nd Y equtions. First, of course, cert
in integrl properties hd to be estblished. There ws no di culty in this. The r
eduction for the cse (1 + x cos ) was easy enough. But the di culty concerning = 1,
which had haunted me for severa months, began to oom arger. I thought I wou
d get some cues by considering Rayeigh scattering. The reductions were not pos
sibe as it was apparent that in some way X and Y de ned in terms of the
14
reduced number of zeros shoud not be identi ed with the soutions of the function
a equations. From anaogy with the case 0 = 1, it seemed that wherever X and Y
occurred, one shoud use F() = X() + Q[X() + Y() ] and G() = Y() Q[X() + Y() ] .
ccurred to me to nd out what the e
uations were which these functions F and G sat
is ed. And I found that they satis ed the same e
uations as X and Y ! It was then th
at I realized that the solution of the e
uations for X and Y were not uni
ue in
conservative cases. And if not uni
ue, we are entitled to use solutions 1 for wh
ich 0 Y() () d = 0. The standard solutions were thus introduced in the theor. With
the standard solution, the reduction for the Raleigh function was possible on t
he understanding that the functions X and Y de ned in terms of the reduced number
of zeros were in the limit of in nite approximation to be associated with the stan
dard solutions. (At this stage, I had guidance onl from numerical work.) Howeve
r, even so, in the end there was an ambiguit, as the two constants c1 and c2 in
troduced in the solution satis ed an equation of the form (c1 + c2 + a)(c1 c2 + b)
= 0 . The question which of the factors was to be zero could not be decided. An
d for a while I even plaed with the idea of putting both factors equal to zero
on the strength of the principle of mathematical fairness. I nall decided that the
Raleigh scattering should provide the clue. Starting the reductions, the equat
ions looked so impossible that I set Q = 0. (This was in some was fortunate, fo
r though Q turned out later to be an essential feature of the problem, the vario
us conditions on the constants were not so complicated when Q = 0, as the later
were found to be, that the could not be solved and at the same time required t
he essential tricks which were needed later.) The reductions with Q = 0 were car
ried through. The question which remained was: Is Q reall zero? After
A Histor of M Papers on Radiative Equilibrium

15
Nov. 1947
having wasted a week, I decided that I would retain Q, and see what happens. Thi
s was the Sunda when Willie and Frederick came for tea. An error of sign seemed
to indicate that Q was zero. I was ver puzzled about this and I worried mself
all evening, and, as we went to a movie with Bengt, I worried Bengt also. After
we returned from the movie, I started working again and soon realized that Q, w
as not zero. And b next morning, the reductions were completed and Q was found
to be arbitrar. During the afternoon, I wandered around the golf course and sud
denl it occurred to me that the K integral must be used. Immediatel everthing
seemed to become clear, and coming to the Observator, I saw Bengt, and said th
at the ambiguit was resolved. Later in the evening, the conservative isotropic
case was completed. And next da, the di erential equation for Q was also veri ed. T
he ambiguit for the other problems were similarl resolved. After October 15 an
d for the following three weeks, I wrote the paper and earl in November, Paper
XXII was completed. During the four odd ears I have worked on this series of pa
pers, Frances has done all the numerical work: rst in computing the various H fun
ctions in the second, third or fourth approximations and then in the laborious j
ob of iterating them to get the exact functions. Papers XVI, XVIII and XIX are p
ublished jointl with her. Her assistance in the numerical work has been of inva
luable help to me. Indeed, the importance of such assistance for a theoretician
has become ver clear to me. For, the awareness that the numerical calculations
will be done, gives the investigator freedom to think far ahead and on occasions
actuall use numerical evidence in guiding his work. For example, during the in
vestigations of Paper XXII, it occurred to me that the X and Y functions de ned in
terms of the reduced number of zeros must be associated with the standard solu1
tions, (i.e. 0 Y() () d = 0) of the functional equations. I had no reason to expect
this as it was onl a hunch. But its truth seemed inevitable because of the sim
plicit which would result. I did not want to spend m e orts proving this. I was
worried far more with resolving the ambiguit in the solutions in conservative c
ases. So,
16
A Scienti c Autobiograph: S. Chandrasekhar
Nov. Dec. 1947
XXIII Jan. 1948
Feb. March 1948
Frances computed (it took a solid week and more) some standard solutions and the
results convinced me that I was along the right lines. The actual proof for thi
s association of the X and Y functions de ned in terms of the reduced number of ze
ros and the standard solutions in the limit of in nite approximation became clear
onl much later. But b that time, the entire problem had been solved. After Pap
er XXII was completed, I could see that the main effort should, be put in the co
mputation of the X and Y functions. Frances computed several of these in the thi
rd and fourth approximations. But I began to feel that there was not much point
computing these approximate solutions if the were not going to be iterated to o
btain the exact solutions. And hand iterations seemed out of the question. So I
went to New York late in November to the Watson Laborator to see if the could
not be persuaded to put the problem on the I.B.M. machines. Eckert was ver coop
erative and Mrs. Herrick was assigned to the problem. Also, during this time I b
egan contemplating a book on Radiative Transfer and began corresponding with Mot
t and the Oxford Universit Press. The were favorable to the idea and I agreed
to have the manuscript read b Jul 1948. During m absence in the East, France
s had computed the Hfunctions for the problem 0 (1 + x cos ). (Altogether we had
computed by now over forty H functions) these calculations formed Paper XXIII. M
y plan had been to start on my book in January. But I found that there were a nu
mber of things I had to complete rst. One of these was the solutions for X and Y
which would be valid for small values of . The idea ha somehing should be don
e in hese direcions came from discussions wih van de Huls. Van de Huls had
been rying o solve he planeary problem by considering he ligh which had be
en scaered once, wice ec., in he classical manner of King, and so on. Bu I
old him ha he could relae his problem o he sandard problem I had been r
eaing and ha for he laer problem he should arrange his soluion o be in c
onformiy wih
A Hisory of My Papers on Radiaive Equilibrium

17
XXIV April 1948
my exac soluions. If he did ha, he would essenially be geing represenai
ons of my X and Y funcions valid for small values of . This van de Huls did an
d obained, a he same ime, an ineresing inerpreaion of he X and Y func
ions. (I do no believe ha his las is as signi can as van de Huls apparenly
hinks.) From he form of van de Hulss soluion, i was clear o me ha wha h
e was doing was essenially solving he X and Y equaions by an ieraion proces
s saring wih X = l and Y = e / . The surprising hing is ha van de Huls did n
o realize his himself. In any case, once his is realized, he applicaion of
he idea o he general X and Y equaions (van de Huls had considered only he
isoropic case) is immediae. The formal heory is almos rivial; and he only
poin of such a heory would be if i were accompanied by ables of he auxiliar
y funcions. Compuaions were sared on hese. I wroe he paper up in Februar
y, bu he calculaions wen on ino April. Paper XXIV was nally sen in wih an
appendix (wih Frances) on he F and G funcions. Already in March I had begun m
y book on Transfer. I hoped o nish i by Augus. Now ha Frances was leaving, I
raher imagine ha here will be no furher papers in he series. Wha remains
are he odds and ends: bu he compuaions of hese require a person who has e
xperience. Bu once he X and Y funcions come from New York, I should ge my bi
g paper on he Illuminaion of he Sky compleed. I do no suppose ha his will
be ready before Xmas. I shall probably send i o he Royal Sociey for heir Tr
ansacions. The book was compleed in Sepember. Las proofs sen in November 49.
Published February 2, 1950. Copy received February 2, 1950.
This page inenionally lef blank
Turbulence; Hydromagneism (19481960)

1947
A abou he ime my work on radiaive equilibrium was coming o an end, and I w
as conemplaing wriing my Radiaive Transfer, I began o hink of he fuure.
As I old van de Huls, my work (and ha of mos oher heoreical asrophysici
ss) during he wo preceding decades was largely he carrying ou of he progra
m implici in he pioneer invesigaions of Karl Schwarzschild, Eddingon, Jeans
and Milne. Clearly, hey could no have foreseen he resuls of he subsequen in
vesigaions; indeed, hey should have realized hemselves ha heir own e ors w
ould no lead hem anywhere near he soluion of he problems hey had formulae
d. Sill hey had hough of he problems and showed he way for fuure developm
ens; hough heir own e ors mus, from a laer vanage poin, appear no more ha
n skirmishes. And I asked van de Huls, When will we hink of problems, new probl
ems, problems for he rs ime, problems which will nd heir soluions only a deca
de or wo laer? Wih hese houghs I had made up my mind ha once I had wrie
n Radiaive Transfer, I should leave he elds of my pas endeavors and sar on s
omehing enirely di eren. Bu I was no clear as o wha ha was going o be.
21
22
A Scieni c Auobiography: S. Chandrasekhar
Fall 1948
Spring 1949
Afer Radiaive Transfer was nished in Sepember 1948, we lef for a shor vacai
on in Bay eld; and while here, I decided ha I would embark on urbulence: since
urbulence is a phenomenon of he large scale and he essence of asrophysical
and, indeed, also of geophysical phenomena is he scale.d And so, on our reurn
from Bay eld, I sared my Monday evening seminars. The rs audience included: M nch
, Oserbrock, u Edmonds, Huang, Brown and Code. A he same ime, I lecured on
Radiaive Transfer on he campus. My class of wo consised only of Lee and Yang
. The whole of my class of 1948 was o receive he Nobel Prize! I sared my sem
inars wih Taylors paper on The di usion by disconinuous movemen; hen he paper by
Karman and Howarh, and Bachelors repor on Kolmogoro s heory. In he winer, he
paper principally discussed was he one by Heisenberg. I found ha for he sa
ionary case, he soluion of Heisenbergs equaion can be found explicily; also
ha in he case of decay, Heisenbergs inegral equaion, for he similariy solu
ion, can be reduced o a di erenial equaion which can be inegraed. (The ineg
raion of hese equaions was he rs job which Donna underook, besides he pola
rizaion work, which was a lef over.) In he spring of 1949, I spen a monh a P
rinceon. A Princeon, I lecured on Radiaive Transfer and on urbulence. Von
Neumann came o he lecures on urbulence; and discussions wih him disclosed c
erain errors in my judgmen: hus, conrary o my belief a his ime, he Heis
enberg heory does no predic a cu o wavelengh.
d
The quesions Why is asronomy ineresing; and wha is he case for asronomy? ha
ve inrigued me; I have ofen discussed hese quesions wih my friends and asso
ciaes. Graned ha physical science, as a whole, is worh pursuing, he quesi
on is wha he paricular case for asronomy is? My own answer has been his: Ph
ysical science deals wih he enire range of naural phenomena; and naure exhi
bis di eren paerns a di eren levels; and he paerns of he larges scales ar
e hose of asronomy. (Thus Jeans crierion of graviaional insabiliy is some
hing which we canno experience excep when he scale is asronomical.) Of he m
any oher answers o my quesions, I nd he following of Wigner mos profound: The
sudy of laboraory physics can only ell us wha he basic laws of naure are;
only asronomy can ell us wha he iniial condiions for hose laws are.

23
Jan. 1949
Aug. 1949
Spring 1950
Summer & Fall 1950
When in January I was asked o give he Russell Lecure a he meeing of he Am
erican Asronomical Sociey in Oawa, I decided o give i on urbulence. Laer
in Washingon, D. C. I presened a paper on my work on Heisenbergs heory. This
paper was sen o he Royal Sociey. On reurning from Oawa and Washingon, I
concenraed on an essay on Sellar Srucure for a volume on Asrophysics ha
Hynek was ediing. Wih he beginning of he new quarer, I renewed my seminars,
wih an accoun of Robersons paper on Invarian Theory. This led me o generalize
he heory of isoropic urbulence o axisymmeric urbulence: his was a forma
l developmen which was useful in ha i led me o cu my eeh ino he subjec
. The long paper which came ou of his was laer published as a Transacion by
he Royal Sociey. The quesion of gauge invariance was a roublesome one; and
discussions wih Andr Weil and Gregor Wenzel were very e helpful. T. D. Lee had
by his ime joined me a Yerkes. And in he winer and spring, I urned my ae
nion o developing an invarian heory of hydromagneic urbulence. Again, ine
resing bu only formal developmen. Also during spring, I lecured on inersel
lar maer; and his led me o consider Ambarzumians inegral equaion o describ
e he ucuaions in brighness of he Milky Way derived from an invariance princi
ple. I exended Ambarzumians discussion o he case of a nie amosphere; and M nch
found he soluion for he in nie u case. We hus sared our series of join pa
pers; his was o keep me occupied during he following six monhs. I spen a fe
w weeks during he summer a Ann Arbor lecuring on urbulence o heir summer s
chool. I also gave a colloquium on he polarizaion resuls. Uhlenbeck, who pres
ided on he laer occasion, old me ha Kramers had augh him abou Sokes pa
rameers. The rs complee resuls on neural poins in he polarizaion had been
compleed by his ime; and an aricle (joinly wih Donna) was sen o Naure.
24
Jan. 1951
Feb. 1951
Saring in he fall, I spoke on pressure ucuaions in my seminars. A generaliza
ion o hydromagneics was sraighforward and I wroe a shor noe for he Roya
l Sociey. All his work on urbulence during 1950 was carried ou when he a airs
of he Observaory were criical. Sruve had resigned and Sromgren was o join u
s in January. And I was carrying ou he di cul negoiaions relaive o he Asr
ophysical Journal. The laer was in so precarious a sage ha he American As
ronomical Sociey had washed heir hands o he Asrophysical Journal and decided
no o concern hemselves wih he journal. And since we were leaving for India
in February, I lef a day earlier and on a Sunday morning Spizer, Schwarzschild
, and I discussed he whole problem. I laid he case of he Asrophysical Journa
l o Lyman (who had been he chairman of he American Asronomical Sociey commi
ee on publicaions: a commiee which had been dissolved in December). And af
er explaining o him he case, I old him o frame a consiuion considering fair
ly wha I had old him. This he did during he afernoon; he showed me his draf
by laws a a pary in he evening. I agreed ha i would be ok wih he Universiy
of Chicago a srange agreemen beween wo persons neiher of whom had any auh
oriy. The nal agreemen which is now on he books is essenially he one o whic
h Lyman and I had arrived a his meeing; and how i came o be is a di eren so
ry. We lef for India on February 1, 1951. (In England, I was formally admied
o he Royal Sociey by Lord Adrian. Since I was he rs Fellow whom Adrian admi
ed, a paining of his was laer included in an exhibiion by Brian Thomas illu
sraing Ceremonies in London for he Fesival of Briain.) On he reurn rip, I
ook sock of he e ors of he wo preceding years; I was disappoined: a number
of deails had been clari ed. Bu wha was accomplished was no inspiring. One fru
iful idea which occurred o me during his same rip was ha of adaping he i
deas of he heory of urbulence o describe he ucuaions in densiy of he Mil
ky Way. (The fh paper of he series wih M nch originaed in his way.) u

25
Spring 1951
Summer 1951
Fall 1951
On reurning from England, I worked wih M nch on he fh u paper of our series. A
lso, I gave a review paper on Turbulence o he Applied Mahemaics Symposium of
he American Mahemaical Sociey. In seminars during spring (when Ledoux was h
ere on a visi), I developed he heory of densiy ucuaions and he e ec of urb
ulence on Jeans crierion. I also gave a sequence of seminars on shock waves and
he expansion of a gas ino a vacuum. During he summer, I wroe up my shor pap
er on densiy ucuaions and he e ec of urbulence on Jeans crierion. The feeling
ha I had acquired on my reurn igh from India ha I was no really geing a
nywhere wih my e ors in urbulence deepened. As a desperae aemp, I ried o
incorporae ino he heory of hermal insabiliy he ideas of correlaion func
ions, and in paricular, he conceps of axisymmeric urbulence. The long pape
r in he Philosophical Transacions was he resul. I recall ha Oserbrock and
Wayman were he wo criical members of my seminars and helped much o clarify
he ideas in his paper. Wih he beginning of he new quarer, I fel ha I sh
ould perhaps change from urbulence o hydromagneics. Bu I was no really ge
ing anywhere; and by November, I almos fel like going back o some problems in
sellar amospheres and sellar dynamics. And while reurning from he Observa
ory, and wondering wha should I urn my aenion o nex, i suddenly occurred
o me ha I migh generalize he classical invesigaions of Rayleigh and Je rey
s o hydromagneics. And he momen his idea occurred, i was clear o me ha
a very large and ferile domain was open for sudy and invesigaion. In my semi
nar he week following, I was able o presen he enire basic heory of he inh
ibiion of convecion by a magneic eld. Oserbrock was clearly very excied abou
i. I called Fermi and made an appoinmen o show him wha I had done. I was
mos encouraged by Fermis reacion. In fac, I alked abou i a he Insiue s
eminar ha afernoon and Fermi made some nice commens.
26
Winer 1951
Spring 1952
A abou his ime, Burbidge was visiing Yerkes and I recall elling him of he
ood of problems which occurred o me a his ime: he sabiliy of jes, he e ec
of a magneic eld on Jeans crierion, he Taylor problem (Couee ow). December 1
951 was in many ways a mos happy one (in spie of a bou wih mumps!). No only
had I recapured, once again, an enhusiasic feeling for my work, I also recei
ved news of he award of he Bruce Medal. The winer monhs were busy ones. The
paper on he inhibiion of convecion was compleed and sen on January 15. (The
complee soluion for all hree boundary condiions, he variaional principle
and he condiion for oversabiliy were all included in his paper.) And in Jan
uary in rying o ll ou an open dae in he colloquium schedule, I gave one on s
ellar scinillaion largely based on a negleced paper of Rayleigh. The incorpo
raion ino he heory of ideas of urbulence was eviden; and i was only a ma
er of a week before a paper on his was wrien up and sen o he Royal Asron
omical Sociey. Early in March we wen o Berkeley and Pasadena. I gave an accou
n of my magneic inhibiion work in he Bruce Lecure. I me G. I. Taylor a h
is ime in Berkeley. And in Pasadena I lecured on Radiaive Transfer and also o
n sabiliy problems. I was in Pasadena, I rs began seriously hinking of he C
ouee ow problem. (During his spring, Morgan resigned he Ediorship of he As
rophysical Journal and I had o ake i up.) Taylors paper was clearly oo messy. I
had, in fac, given seminars even before going o he Wes Coas; bu he solu
ion for he case when an axial eld was presen was obained only subsequenly: h
e crucial approximaion ha he values of he physical consans are such as o
enail an imporan simpli caion had no occurred o me. Also he quesion of h
e boundary condiions was grealy puzzling. I discussed his wih Wenzel; and i
ndeed during a weekend he spen a Yerkes a his ime, I discussed his maer
wih him an enire morning. We arrived a cerain conclusions; bu I laer found
ha

27
Summer 1952
he conclusions we had reached were unenable. So nex Tuesday (I was a member o

f he Universiy Council a ha ime) when I was on he campus, I had some 15 m
inues o spare. So I called Fermi and wen o consul him, con den ha he would
be able o resolve my di culies. And indeed when I lef his o ce 15 minues laer,
I had wih me he correc boundary condiions appropriae for perfecly conduc
ing walls. Wih Fermis boundary condiions, a variaional principle was available
. Bu he use of he principle required a basis for funcions which ogeher wih
heir rs derivaives vanished a he limis of he inegraion. I was no sais ed
wih my paricular choice for he rial funcion; his maer of he basis was
cleared up only years laer (1957) bu a his ime I was oo impaien o wai
for such re nemens. In any case, he calculaions were long and Donna was occupie
d wih hese calculaions during mos of he summer. When I wroe he inhibiion
paper in January, I was, of course, aware ha he exension o a spherical pro
blem was of grea ineres. I wroe up he equaions bu soon had o give up on
accoun of heir complexiy. When however he paper by Je reys and Bland came ou,
I realized ha he simple spherical problem could be reaed more simply and c
onvenienly han Je reys and Bland had. Indeed, as a sun, Donna and I compued he
characerisic values in he rs approximaion for he wo cases (of a rigid and
a free con ning boundary) for l = 1, . . . , 15 in exacly one day! The carrying
ou of he soluions in he second approximaion ook a few days more. The paper
on Hydromagneic Couee Flow and on he hermal insabiliy of a uid sphere hea
ed wihin were boh compleed and sen o he Proceedings of he Royal Sociey
and he Philosophical Magazine (respecively) on he same day (Augus 29, 1952).
The paper by Je reys on spherical shells appeared a abou he same ime. To exe
nd my mehod o he soluion of his problem, he roos of J( + 1 ) ()J + 1 () J + 1
()J( + 1 ) () = 0 were needed. 2 2 2 2 And Donna started on tem.
28
A Scienti c Autobiograpy: S. Candrasekar
Fall & Winter 1952
Dec. 1952
In working out te teory for te sperical problem, I realized tat errors invo
lving scale transformations were easy to make: I terefore asked Garstang to ce
ck for tem. He did not nd any; but I am afraid e overlooked tat an error ad i
n fact been made. I detected tis only a year later; and it was corrected. In Oc
tober it occurred to me tat te e ect of rotation on termal instability (to te
importance of wic Je reys ad drawn attention a long time ago) could be easily w
orked out. And I realized at te same time, tat te question of overstability s
ould be investigated. A variational principle was available and te work was co
mpleted by December. During tis period, I started my weekly meetings wit Fermi
to discuss ydromagnetic problems. Tese meetings originated at is instance. T
e rst problem we considered included te e ect of H on Jeans criterion, te virial
teorem, te gravitational instability of an in nite cylinder; and te nonsperica
l sape of magnetic stars. Te weeks wic followed are amongst te most excitin
g of my entire scienti c career. Eac Tursday, Fermi and I would discuss a number
of problems; I would ten work tem out during te week; and te following week
we would discuss wat I ad done; and discuss some furter questions. A small b
y product was te e ect of on Jeans criterion. Tis was sent to Strattons volume; bu
t it did not come out for anoter two or tree years (!). In January, news came
of te award of te Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal. Tere is one furter
incident wic occurred at tis time wic I must record. At te Amurst meeting
of te AAS, Herzberg and I ad a long talk on diverse matters. Among oter tin
gs, e told me tat e as been working on standards for wavelengts in te far
ultraviolet. He ad been disturbed by te fact tat te teoretical value of Hyl
leraas for te lowest term of He II was below te experimental value. I told im
tat e need not worry as tere was an error in Hylleraas calculation. Herzberg
was most surprised at tis news.
Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

29
Spring 1953
He said tat many spectroscopists ad discussed te di culty wit Hylleraas value a
t a meeting in Stockolm te preceding summer. And wen I con rmed tat I ad dete
cted an error in Hylleraas in connection wit my H work and wile I ad put it as
ide, I ad no doubts about te existence of te error. Gerard empasized te im
portance of publising my result. I said tat since e ad brougt up te proble
m, we migt work up correctly a twelve parameter function and publis a correct
result. As I was to visit im in Ottawa later in te winter, I ad promised to b
ring im te revised correct value. Tis was te beginning of te revision of t
e two electron problem wic ad been considered as settled for 24 and more year
s! During te winter monts, I continued my weekly conferences wit Fermi and by
te end of Marc, our two papers ad been completed. Also te rst paper on He II
ad been completed (jointly wit Herzberg and Donna); and Herzberg made a retur
n visit to examine ow tese calculations are made. (He wanted to extend te cal
culation to include more parameters.) In spring I spent a mont at Haverford. Be
fore going to Haverford, I ad wanted to study te e ect of a radial temperature g
radient on te stability of viscous ow. Te corresponding roots for te Bessel fu
nctions ad to be computed; and Donna started on tis, wile trying to complete
at te same time er long continuing calculations on polarization. During spring
, a number of odd tings were cleared. First tere was te paper on te polariza
tion of te sunlit sky. Te calculations ad been completed some monts earlier
and during my absence in Haverford, Donna ad typed te tables. Te paper was wr
itten up, tables and all were sent to te American Pilosopical Society for pub
lication in one of teir transactions in early July. Second, te companion paper
(to te one already publised in te Cambridge Pilosopical Society) was also
written up and sent for publication.
30
Summer 1953
Fall 1953
Once tese tings were gotten out of te way, te e ect of H and on termal instab
ility was te cief outstanding problem and Donna embarked on te calculations.
Te calculations are two parametric, more strictly tree parametric. For given v
alues of Q and T , R(a) sould be determined as a function of a, te minimum det
ermined and te calculations repeated for anoter set of T and Q. In evaluating
te minimum, tings were not going smootly; and during one of my absences, on
er own initiative, Donna computed R for a wole range and discovered tat te fu
nction as two minima wose relative magnitudes depended on R and T . Te deeper
of te two minima canges from one branc to anoter at a determinate Q; and a
discontinuity in a occurs at tis value of Q. Tus te discovery tat for a give
n T , and increasing Q, tere is a critical Q at wic a canges from a large to
a small value, was Donnas. (Te question of overstability was not considered at
tis time; it was postponed for a later occasion.) Te essential elements of te
calculations were completed in time to be included in my Darwin Lecture. Wile
tese calculations were going along, I collaborated wit Nelson Limber on a sor
t paper extending Ledouxs metod of determining an approximate expression for te
vibrational frequency from te virial teorem. Also at te same time, I worked
out te effect of H and on Jeans criterion. And in September, te paper on te e ec
t of te radial temperature gradient on rotational instability was also complete
d. Wit te beginning of fall, I wanted to start my seminars on someting di erent
. Te paper by Rayleig on te caracter of te equilibrium of an incompressible
uid of varying density seemed a good paper to discuss. Te idea of extending it
to include viscosity was immediately apparent. But I made a number of errors. I k
new someting was incorrect in my treatment because in te case wen te eavier
liquid was overlying te ligter one, I found tat te arrangement was predicted
to be stable for wave numbers exceeding a certain value. I consulted Wentzel re
garding tis. He was very generous and cecked my analysis. He rst found tat te
basic equations

31
Dec. 1953
were in error in not including te terms in /z, I corrected for tese terms, and t
e di culty persisted. Wentzel ten asked me if I ad paid attention to te require
ments tat roots ave a positive real part and ignored tose tat did not satisf
y tis requirement. I ad not! Fortunately all tis was clari ed before we went to
London in November for te Darwin Lecture. My Darwin Lecture was on problems of
ydrodynamic and ydromagnetic stability. In England I gave several lectures pr
incipally on my stability work. We ad to return from England on a particular da
te, namely, November 27 (wic was a Friday); for I ad agreed to give a lecture
to a special symposium on Applied Matematics (arranged by Peter Weyl) to be e
ld at Nortwestern University on Saturday morning, November 28. And te subject
ad been announced as Caracteristic value problems in ig order di erential equat
ions wic occur in problems of stability in ydrodynamics and ydromagnetics. T
e plane wic left London instead of coming directly went to Azores because of e
ngine troubles, ten to Gander, ten to Boston, and ten to New York. It was a t
rip during wic I was completely sick. In order to get my mind o myself, I began
to tink seriously of ow one could solve Taylors problem in a simple yet in a s
ystematic and an accurate way. And it suddenly occurred to me tat te way to do
it was to split te original di erential equation of order six into one of order
four and one of order two wit four boundary conditions on te solution of te rs
t equation, and wit a coice of a basis wic will satisfy te oter two bounda
ry conditions, te remaining second order di erential equation ten being used to
derive a caracteristic equation. Once te idea ad occurred, it was obvious to
me tat te key to te solution ad been found; and I felt tat it must work. T
is made me so excited tat te air trip became bearable . . . Wit te delay in
te time of arrival at New York, we could catc only a 6 p.m. plane for Cicago.
We arrived in Cicago in time to catc a 10:30 p.m. train from te Union Statio
n.
32
Jan. April 1954
We nally arrived ome well past midnigt. I ad to get up by six te next morning
and drive to Nortwestern University to give my promised lecture. At te lectur
e I presented te solution I ad tougt of on te trip as one wose success was
assured and a foregone conclusion. I carried troug te details of te calcula
tion during te weekend and Donna started on te new metod as one of ig prior
ity. It was all completed in one mont. I sent te paper to Davenport for te rst
issue of is Matematika. Tis paper presents a critical stage in te developme
nt of my ideas in te solution of stability problems. Te symposium paper was al
so written during te same week. Wit tese papers out of te way, te remaining
monts of te winter and spring were essentially devoted to writing up and comp
leting a number of loose investigations. First, tere were te papers on te Ray
leigTaylor instability bot te plane and te sperical problems. I sould menti
on ere tat before going to England, I ad found a variational principle for t
is problem: te rst of te non linear variety. Hide ten used te principle to so
lve several of te remaining problems approximately. Te paper on te plane prob
lem was sent to te Cambridge Pilosopical Society and te sperical problem wa
s also completed soon tereafter and sent to Ferraros Quarterly. Te paper on te
e ect of H and (on termal instability) was completed in April; and after tis we
went to Princeton for tree weeks. But before leaving for Princeton, I worked o
ut te teory of te inibition of convection by a magnetic eld for te case wen
H and g are not parallel. In my 1952 paper, I stated tat wen H and g are not
parallel, te component of H along g was all tat was relevant; and tat te ons
et of inibition must be as rolls. I ad asked von Neumann during my earlier vis
it to Princeton weter tis was obvious to im. He said tat it was not only not
obvious to im, e felt on te contrary tat te onset would not be as rolls. Ma
rtin Scwarzscild seemed to feel te same say. I ad put

33
tis matter aside oping to look into it at some later time. I now felt tat te
matter could not be postponed since te e ect of H and were being considered and
if one ad to take into account te separate inclinations of H and , te number o
f parameters in te problem would become unmanageable. Te simplest context in w
ic to clarify te situation is of course te case wen H alone is present. Eve
n wen H alone is present and is inclined to g, te determination of Rc depends
on a minimization of R as a function of te two wave numbers ax and ay in two or
togonal directions in te orizontal plane. Te variational principle (wic co
ntinues to exist) makes te solution possible. But te calculations are inordina
tely long; and at one time I was not even certain weter I was not getting conf
used wit using complex conjugates in a consistent manner. Wentzel examined my w
orkseets and assured me tat I was not making any error . . . Anyow te formal
teory for te two symmetric cases (bound bound and free free) ad been complet
ed before I went to Princeton, and Donna started on tem during my absence. Te
bound free case is quite a bit more unmanageable: te di culty is in exibiting t
e results in a manifestly real form; and te matter was completely resolved only
after my return. In any event, wen we went to Princeton, it was clear tat in
te matter of termal convection tere remained only two outstanding problems. T
e rst was to solve te overstable case in te presence of rotation for boundary
conditions besides tose for two free surfaces. Tis was important since te exp
eriments of Fultz and Nakagawa wit mercury were in disagreemente wit te resul
ts derived from te Rayleig boundary conditions. Te second outstanding problem
was to allow for overstability in te case wen H and are simultaneously presen
t. Bot tese problems were clearly eavily numerical. And wile I foresaw mont
s of calculations for Donna, tere was not very muc for me to do: te working o
ut of te teory would require only a sligt e ort on my part. It was clear tat I
ad to turn my attention to someting besides stability.
e
Tey ad discovered overstability in accordance wit prediction, in experiments
wit Hg. Teir discovery ad already been announced in Pysical Review.
34
Summer 1954
At Princeton I lectured principally on stability problems. I recall tat Dyson a
nd Goldberger were among tose wo attended my lectures. During te visit in Pri
nceton, Tuckey asked me to talk to is study group on turbulence. And since at t
is time I was disappointed wit te status of te subject, I gave a colloquium,
moderately frivolous and cutting cruel jokes about te superstitions of te subject
and te prevalent complacency in spite of te lack of any really rational teor
y. Martin Scwarzscild wo was present at tis colloquium was clearly irritated
by my frivolity; and at te end of te talk, e told me on our way back to Pros
pect Avenue tat e did not like my frivolity; and in any event wat was I going
to do about it! Tis was like trowing cold water on my face: and I began to t
ink seriously once more about te subject; and I was to continue tinking about
it during te rest of te spring and summer monts. Returning from Princeton, I
concentrated on my second inibition paper and by July all six papers wic I a
d wanted to complete on my return from England ad been written. (Te teoretica
l prediction tat wen H is at an angle to g, te onset of convection must be as
rolls, was later to be con rmed by te experiments of Lenert and Little.) Donna
ten started on te long calculations allowing for overstability in te case we
n is present and te boundary conditions are general; and I started tinking of
turbulence. Wit my renewed interest in turbulence, I began in July a series of
seminars on te teory of turbulence. I gave a total of 14 seminars of wic sev
en turned out to be on a new teory I was developing. It was during tis time t
at it occurred to me (wile driving to Cicago on a Tursday) tat one migt co
ose te set of moment equations by considering te correlations at two di erent in
stants at two di erent places and ten using te quasi Gaussian approximation. I d
iscussed tese ideas wit Fermi during lunc one day and e seemed quite interes
ted in tem. I felt at tis time tat I ad made a real break in te teory of t
urbulence; but tis elation and te opes tat it raised were soon to be dased.

35
Fall 1954
Winter 1954
Te question weter te de ning scalar Q(r, t t ) = Q(r, ) should be even or odd
in was a very roublesome one. I even wen o Madison o consul Wigner who was
spending he summer here. Anyhow, he heory as I worked ou and sen o he Ro
yal Sociey in Sepember had he wrong signs. In fall, saring in Ocober, my T
hursday afernoon lecures were on urbulence. Robers and Prendergas were my r
egular audience; and George Backus was a member of he class. Heisenberg visied
Chicago during he fall. I showed him my paper and he seemed very sais ed wih
he resuls. He referred o i (as well as my earlier paper on his heory) in his
lecure on he campus. These references made my lecures fashionable and my class
increased in numbers. Savage was one of he new recruis. My paper came back fr
om he Royal Sociey wih a referees repor which raised doubs abou he choice
of signs in my equaions. This became a maer of acue discussion every Thursda
y wih Robers and Prendergas. I also discussed i wih Wenzel. And I wroe o
Doob also. Doobs reply, in paricular, lef no doubs ha I was indeed wrong in
my paper. The paper was nally correced in January; and i is his correced ver
sion ha was prined. I was clear ha if my heory of urbulence was along h
e righ lines, hen i could be exended o hydromagneic urbulence as well. A
problem which had occurred o me in 194950 (and abou which I had alked o Fermi
a ha ime) came o he fore: he problem concerns an elemenary heory of hy
dromagneic urbulence along he lines of Heisenbergs heory of hydrodynamic urb
ulence. This quesion occupied me during my seminars during he winer. The prob
lem was nally resolved; and I was asonished ha he heory gave wo modes. Herz
berg who had meanime coninued his calculaions on he ground sae of helium h
ad obained he resuls for an 18 parameer wave funcion. He was generous and i
ncluded me as a join auhor. This paper was communicaed in February.
36
Spring 1955
During he winer quarer, I gave my rs se of lecures for he Physics Deparme
n: i was on Mahemaical Physics (replacing Goldberger who had been scheduled)
. Trehan and Siciy were members of his class. A his same ime, he experimen
s of Fulz and Nakagawa on he onse of hermal convecion in mercury in roaio
n were corning o fruiion; and Donnas calculaions were also coming o an end. A
nd in March he heoreical and he experimenal papers were boh sen o he Ro
yal Sociey. Somewha laer, Nakagawa carried ou experimens on he magneic in
hibiion of convecion wih Scheins magne. I sen a preliminary noe on his resu
ls o Naure. I wen o London in May (by MATS) o aend he Royal Sociey sym
posium on magneo hydrodynamics. A his symposium, I presened my papers on hyd
romagneic urbulence; and described also he rs resuls on he magneic inhibi
ion of convecion. I spoke o he Insiue sponsors in he spring; and an o cer o
f he ONR who was presen a his lecure evinced ineres in he seing up of
a hydromagneic laboraory a he Fermi Insiue. Allison was recepive o he
idea; and Nakagawa was anxious o change his a liaion. And since I was paricular
ly anxious o con rm he heoreical predicions on he onse of hermal insabili
y in he case when H and were bot present, I initiated steps towards setting u
p tis laboratory. In June tere was te symposium at Ottawa wic Herzberg ad
arranged in onor of Dirac. Dirac fell ill; but te symposium was eld in is ab
sence. I gave tree lectures: two on stability and one on turbulence. Wentzel sa
t troug tese lectures; and wen I apologized for te circumstance tat requir
ed is sitting troug tem (wen eac of te subjects ad been trased out in
private wit im) e remarked wit caracteristic generosity, No! it was like ea
ring all of te Ring consecutively, after one ad eard te di erent parts singly
and out of sequence.

37
Summer 1955
Fall 1955
Te principal problem in stability to wic I now turned my attention was to all
ow for overstability in case bot H and are simultaneously present. Te calculat
ions are now muc more complicated: since for eac assigned Q and T te frequenc
y of oscillation for every assigned wave number must also be determined. I knew
tat te calculations would be long and complicated. So tis was to be a standby
for Donna. Meantime, I was tinking of ow to get Kolmogoro s law out of my teory
. Also I began a series of summer seminars on problems relating to te origin of
cosmic rays. Don Wentzel was a summer assistant; and bot Backus and Siciy were
spending te summer at Yerkes at my invitation. During tis summer, I tougt I
ad nally resolved te question of deriving Kolmogoro s law from my teory. Te nec
essary integrations were carried out and I ad te matter settled in my own mind
before leaving for Los Alamosf and Guanajato. At Los Alamos I spoke about my t
eory and Marsall Rosenblut in particular seemed convinced and interested. And
during my absence Donna started on te long calculations of overstability. (Unfo
rtunately, te formulae were in error and te calculations ad to be repeated: f
ortunately tere was not too muc time wasted on tis account.) On returning fro
m Mexico, I started on te accumulated Matematical Reviews. Among te papers I
ad to review, tere was one by L st and Scl ter on force free magnetic elds. I im
mediately u u realized tat tey were solving on te macine, te solutions of t
e wave equation in ve dimensional Eucleidian space; and te solution can of cour
se be found explicitly in terms of Bessel functions and no macine calculations
are necessary. I tougt tat a breaktroug in axisymmetric problems ad been a
ccomplised. Wit Kevin Prendergast, a solution for magnetic stars was also foun
d. And two sort papers were sent to te Proceedings of te National Academy of
Sciences.
f
Ken Watson and Murp Goldberger were beind tis. My clearance came troug a we
ek before I was to go to Mexico. At te conference I was to present Fermis ideas
on cosmic rays.
38
Winter 1956
Spring 1956
Left to myself, I sould ave exploited te new results. But te continued inter
ference and meddling by Backus was a constant irritant. He would ear someting
eiter from me or from Kevin and would immediately start working on it imself.
I am afraid tat tis particular form of aggressiveness from a student was extre
mely annoying; and it was to be a constant source of distraction during te next
six monts. I ad to present at te 600t colloquium in February; and I cose t
e origin of te earts magnetic eld as my subject. I believed tat te times of d
ecay could be prolonged by internal motions. But tis turned out to be a mistake
: I would not ave fallen into te trap but for te constant necessity of aving
to contend wit Backus. One nice result wic neverteless came out at tis tim
e was te proof of te stability of te equipartition solution. Wentzel and Gold
berger cecked my analysis as I could not quite believe te result myself. Te f
rustration of tese monts was due also to te fact tat te Royal Society rejec
ted my second paper on turbulence wit a most discourteous referees report. I wit
drew te paper, but continued te correspondence wit te referee. Te referee
witdrew some of is more blatant remarks; but te wole incident was an unappy
interlude. I went specially to Wasington to talk to von Neumann; and correspon
ded also wit Heisenberg. Te one appy recollection of tis period is te sympa
tetic understanding wic Wentzel sowed. Wen Murp Goldberger asked me ow I
could write to te Royal Society wit suc restraint on te face of suc insulti
ng beavior, Wentzel quietly answered, Candra can a ord to sow suc restraint. In
any event te paper was rewritten and sent to te Pysical Review in February. I
n Marc te papers on te axisymmetric elds and motions and on te lengtening of
te decay times by internal motions were completed. A large amount of calculati
ons was carried out. However,

39
Summer 1956
on te wole, tis period was about te most frustrating in my entire experience
to date. During te winter and spring monts, I lectured on quantum mecanics.
I ad an entusiastic class: te class applauded at te end of te courses. Appa
rently tis was te second time it ad appened in te Pysics Department. Fermis
class in Nuclear Pysics ad similarly been applauded in an earlier year. In sp
ring Siciy died. I ad er and Backus for dinner on a Tursday evening. Se went
into surgery on Friday, and Tuesday se died. I was to go to Baltimore and Was
ington on Tursday: and on tat morning I ad to be one of er pallbearers. I li
ked Siciy; and it was a great pity se ad to die. Since I was to go to Los Alam
os during te summer, I tried to nis te second paper on te e ect of H and before
tat time. Tis was done; and te paper was sent in June. Before I left for Los
Alamos, I arranged for Donna to compute te various Bessel functions needed in
axisymmetric problems in ydromagnetics. Tese calculations were publised by e
r as a Supplement. During te summer in Los Alamos, I learned plasma pysics; at
te same time, I read Landau and Lifscitzs classical elds in preparation for my
lectures on electrodynamics and optics during te following year. In plasma pys
ics, I began wit a study of te Boltzmann equation. (I sould say tat my excur
sion into plasma pysics was not a wolly appy one.) At Los Alamos, I arranged
wit Metropolis te integration of te equations of ydromagnetic turbulence by
metods analogous to tose I ad used in my teory of turbulence. One of te rst
tings I did on returning from Los Alamos was to write a general account of my i
deas on turbulence for te Centenary Volume of te Journal of Madras University.
It gave me an opportunity to state my own case as clearly as I could.
40
Fall and Winter 1956
Jon Sykes and Trean joined my group at tis time. And wile I lectured on stab
ility problems on Tursdays, I took up in my seminars te paper by Cew, Low and
Goldberger and my own e orts wit Watson and Kaufman. It was at tis time my asso
ciation wit Donnelly began. One Tursday afternoon e suddenly appeared at my o c
e at te Institute and said e was interested to talk to me about stability prob
lems in rotating uids; and tat Onsager ad suggested tat e talk to me. I made
an appointment for te following week; but forgot about it. Donnelly appeared ju
st as I was leaving; I apologized and suggested tat if e wanted to see me e m
ust take is cance and look in somewat earlier. And e did. I was impressed by
is persistence and patent entusiasm. Donnelly told me about is problem in He
II; and I got suf ciently interested in it and agreed to collaborate wit im on
is problem. Our association wic was to become a very pro table one was tus beg
un. I really did not understand te real pysics of He II. But given te macrosc
opic description, it was not di cult to work out te stability teory. Tis is wa
t I did. Te two papers wic resulted were sent to te Royal Society in Februar
y 1957. In December, news arrived of being awarded te Rumford Medal and premium
. Tis was a source of some encouragement after a year of frustration. I prepare
d my Rumford lecture very carefully; and wen I went to Boston to receive te aw
ard on Marc 13, I ad te lecture all written up (wic was later publised in
Daedalus). By accident, I found te following quotation from Virginia Wol wic e
xpressed very accurately my attitude to my work of te past years. Tis quotatio
n ends my Rumford Lecture. Tere is a square. Tere is an oblong. Te players ta
ke te square and place it upon te oblong. Tey place it very accurately. Tey
make a perfect dwelling place. Te structure is now visible. Wat was incoate i
s ere stated. We are not so various

41
or so mean. We ave made oblongs and stood tem upon squares. Tis is our triump
. Tis is our consolation. Anoter quotation wic I ave often quoted on lectu
ring on tis problem is te following from Ruskin. Wy did not Sir Josua or cou
ld not or would not Sir Josua paint Madonnas? . . . Tere is probably some stra
nge weakness in te painter, and some fatal error in te age, wen in tinking o
ver te examples of teir greatest work, for some type of culminating loveliness
or veracity, we remember no expression eiter of religion or eroism, and inste
ad of reverently naming a Madonna di San Sisto, can only wisper, modestly, Mrs.
Pelam feeding cickens. Te main problem on wic Donna was concentrating after
te completion of te elium papers, was te problem of te rotating spere. And
tis was completed before I went to Boston and sent to te Pilosopical Magazi
ne. Toug tis paper was a rst break into te subject, I was not altogeter sati
s ed. Te variational principle was discovered somewat later and sent to te Pil
osopical Magazine as a companion paper. My work wit Donnelly ad renewed my in
terest in te exact problem in te stability of viscous ow: i.e. allowing for te
curvature and witout making te small gap approximation. I ad realized tat m
y metod in te Matematika paper would not work. Clearly wat was needed was an
adequate base for te expansion of functions wic togeter wit its rst derivat
ives vanis at two ends. I ad encountered tis problem already in 1952, and te
problem recurred again. I was tinking about tis problem one Sunday and ad a
de nite idea. Tat evening we were at te movie teater in Elkorn. Outside te t
eater after te movie, I ran into Reid (wo ad joined me in January); and I ask
ed im to come ome wit us so tat I
42
Spring 1957
could tell im about it. Tis metod was a literal generalization of te base se
lected in my 1952 paper. Reid worked out te details of te metod during te fo
llowing days. Te application of tese functions to te Benard problem were not
encouraging. However, I appened to call Zygmund in some oter connection, and I
told im about my problem. He said someting about formulating a SturmLiouville
problem; and it suddenly occurred to me tat one must formulate a caracteristic
value problem in fourt order equations. And te suitable problems appropriate
for Fourier type and FourierBessel type expansions are, of course, self evident.
And on te morning we were leaving for Boston, I brie y explained te idea to Reid
and asked im to work it out for te Benard problem to see ow it worked. On my
return, Reid ad worked out te rst approximation for te Benard problem; and t
e metod was unquestionably te rigt one. I developed te corresponding functio
ns for te Fourier Bessel type expansion; and Donna evaluated te caracteristic
roots. Reid and I wrote up a joint paper for te Proceedings of te National Aca
demy of Sciences. Once te suitable basis for expansion ad been found, it was a
simple matter to develop a metod for solving te exact Taylor problem. But a l
arge amount of numerical work was necessary. And tis was Donnas next major job.
Since I wanted te teory to be tested by experiments, I suggested to Dave Fultz
tat e construct a replica of Taylors apparatus wit an inner cylinder exactly
one alf of te radius of te outer cylinder. And to encourage is experimental
e orts, I made a bet wit im as to wo e or Donna and I would get tere rst. Actu
ally te number of matrix elements tat ad to be evaluated were very large; and
I was doubtful tat wit oter incomplete work on Donnas desk we sould get ter
e rst. Actually Fultz did: e teleponed is results wile I was at Los Alamos du
ring te summer. As I said earlier, wile I was at Los Alamos during te precedi
ng summer, I ad arranged wit Metropolis to integrate te equation

43
Summer 1957
Fall 1957
Winter 1958
of ydromagnetic turbulence. By spring, tese integrations were at and; and Don
na carried out te large number of subsidiary calculations needed to exibit te
results. Tis paper was written and sent to te Annals of Pysics in June. Also
I ad written up te paper on te solution of te Boltzmann equation for dilute
plasmas in strong magnetic elds. Most of te ideas in tis paper are due to Ken
Watson. But I smooted te corners out and did te secretarial job on it! And earl
y in July we went once again to Los Alamos. Te year 195657 in contrast to 195556
was somewat less frustrating; and te award of te Rumford Medal to some extent
wiped out te bad feeling of te preceding year. Te summer at Los Alamos was u
neventful. I studied some more plasma pysics. Te principal ting I did was to
polis up te teory of te stability of te pinc wic ad been worked out by
Watson. And wit Kaufman I worked on our fourt paper on te Boltzmann equation.
During te fall and winter, I gave a two quarter course on plasma pysics. Tes
e lectures were later to be written up and publised by Trean. Wile lecturing
on plasma pysics, I got interested in te adiabatic invariance of te magnetic
moment. I worked troug te paper by Scluter and Hartweg; and it occurred to m
e tat a general ierarcy of invariants could be deduced. I was very muc inter
ested in tis; and it was te paper I presented at Lockeed Symposium in Stanfor
d in December. All during te fall, Donna ad been working on te wide gap probl
em. As Fultz ad gone to Europe, te completion of te experiments wit te wide
gap Taylor apparatus ad to be selved for te time being; but Donnelly continu
ed tem as te junior (to become later, te senior!) partner. However, Donnelly
also constructed a viscometer wit a ratio of radii of one alf to test te teo
retical results for te case = 1/2. Tese experiments turned out to be
44
Winter and Spring 1958
extremely successful; and te teoretical and te experimental papers were sent
to te Royal Society in Marc. I knew at tis time tat I must soon embark on my
book on Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability. But a number of tings ad to
be cleared rst. First, tere was te long standing problem on te oscillations o
f a viscous globe. I ad suggested tis problem to Mrs. Fan and later to Edmonds
; but tey could not see teir way towards te solution. Wit te experience I
ad gained meantime in te solution of sperical problems, it seemed to me tat t
e problem could not be too di cult. Te principal idea, tat te problem be consi
dered as an inomogeneous equation for te pressure distribution, came to me at
once. But in working out te teory I was asty and careless wit regard to te
boundary conditions; and te paper as I communicated to te London Matematical
Society in February was erroneous. Te referee saw tat someting was wrong; and
I ad discovered te error myself in te meantime. Te error was corrected and
te revised paper was completed and sent in May. Second, acceding to my request,
Herzberg togeter wit Hart ad obtained a 20 parameter wave function for H . A
nd I wanted to revise my calculations of twelve years earlier using tis new fun
ction. Tis meant evaluating a very large number of new matrix elements. I evalu
ated tem during two or tree weekends; I was glad tat Bill Reid cecked tem a
ll. I set up te formulae and Donna rst computed te corrections wit te plane w
ave approximation for te free state. Tis paper was completed in April. Te nex
t ting was to evaluate te weigt functions so tat te Hartree functions could
be used. Te formulae were set up during a week I was in Cicago at tis time;
and Donna completed tem during te remaining monts; and as a joint paper tis
was sent in to te Astropysical Journal in June. Tird, I ad promised te ter
mal panel of te Defense Department to work out te teory of te di use re ection o
f a pencil of radiation by a plane parallel atmospere. In particular, I wanted

45
Summer 1958
to set up te integral equation from te principles of invariance. Tis I did in
a sort paper I sent to te Proceedings of te National Academy of Sciences in
June. I gave an account of tis paper at an Institute seminar were besides Urey
and Reid only two or tree oters were present. Since no one knew of my work on
Radiative Transfer, I spoke about te wole eld in a general way for te entire
our and a alf. And Bill Reid remarked to me later, It is a pity Candra tat no
ne of te astronomy students ave a cance to ear you on tese subjects. Fourt,
te time ad come to send an article I ad promised for te Planck Festscrift.
Since I ad wanted to clear up te termodynamic signi cance of te variational p
rinciples in termal stability problems for a long time, and since te principle
s must be clari ed in my book, I tougt a good deal about tis. Te old paper by
Je reys was too special and too inelegant. Moreover, I was anxious to clarify te
principle in case of overstability. Tis later puzzled me greatly; but te solut
ion given in te paper occurred to me wile I was talking about it in my seminar
. Tis paper was sent in June. Fift, I ad promised Anderson and Segre to write
up an introduction to Fermis papers wit astropysical interest. Tis was a di cul
t assignment: but it could not be postponed. And nally, I was interested in te d
evelopment of variational principles dealing wit ydromagnetic equilibrium con gu
rations. Woltjer was devoting considerable attention to tis; but I am afraid t
at wit tis many distractions, my part in it was unsatisfactory and inconclusiv
e. Before I left for La Jolla for te summer, I arranged for Donna to extend te
calculations in my 1953 Matematika paper. Te summer in La Jolla was an unprod
uctive one except for one ting. Rosenblut wanted me to look into te rotating
pinc. And I discovered te variational principle wic exists for tese problem
s wen one considers k 2 as te caracteristic value parameter instead of w 2. O
n our return from La Jolla, I wrote out tis principle for
46
Fall 1958
Winter 1959
Spring 1959
te simplest ydrodynamical problem for te Jubilee number of te Indian Matema
tical Society. Also during my stay at La Jolla, Allan Kaufman and I corrected an
oversigt in our Paper III: it was added as an Appendix to our paper IV. Te fa
ll was full of distractions. Lalita went to India. I ad to go to Los Alamos tw
ice; once for a ydrodynamical symposium and once in connection wit te Serwoo
d Committee. Ten in December, I was to give te same lecture at six of te camp
uses of te University of California. And moreover, tere was te 700t colloqui
um in December; I ad decided to present on general relativity wic meant a goo
d deal of additional study. Te only pro table ting wic appened during tese mon
ts was during my lecture at Berkeley. Friedman was present at my lecture and e
suggested wat seemed a considerable improvement of te tecnique of my Matema
tika paper. I worked tis metod out; and Donnas calculations sowed tat te new
metod did not provide any substantial improvement over my earlier metod; in f
act, none at all. Wit te New Year, te beginning of H.H.S. (H.H.S. stands for
te book Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability) could not long be postponed.
But I was lecturing on Quantum Mecanics during te spring and fall; and tere w
ere still a number of distractions. Dirac visited in Marc; and moreover, te qu
estion of te asymptotic relation, Tc = C(1 )4 as (1 ) wic was apparently valid
for te Taylor problem was worrying me. Several attempts, wic seemed promising
, were tried; and two or tree monts were lost (bot my time and Donnas time) in
following deceptive trails. Finally in te spring, I started on my book in earn
est. And te rst capter was written in April. And for anoter year te book was
to occupy me. Before I get into te details, I sould say one ting. I wanted t
e book to ave a certain logical structure wit symmetry and pattern. And tis r
equirement of a pattern forced lines of investi

47
Capter II May June
Capter III July
Capter IV July August
Capter VI Aug. Sept.
gation wic would not be suspected by a casual reader of te book. Also as it t
urned out, almost all of te numerical work incorporated in te publised papers
ad to be redone di erently; and a large amount of new material ad to be worked
out and assembled. In all tis, besides Donnas constant e ort and attention, I ad
also te assistance particularly of Reid and Vandervoort. In writing Capter II
te principal questions wic ad to be clari ed were te Boussinesq approximation
, te proof of te extremal principles, te cell patterns, and a description of
te experiments. Te calculation of te streamlines for te exagonal pattern al
one took more tan four ours of plotting and drawing not to mention te ours s
pent on calculation and interpolation. In writing tis capter I ad to clarify
my ideas on te vorticity teorems, te TaylorProudman teorem, and te propagati
on of waves in a rotating uid. Te calculations of my original paper (I) ad to b
e recomputed by using a more systematic treatment based on a symmetric caracter
istic matrix. Te question of overstability ad to be clari ed: an error (and a mi
sstatement) in Veroniss paper was found in tis connection. Te results of Goro on
te e ciency of convection in te overstable regime were most timely. Te introdu
ction to ydromagnetics wic tis capter includes required careful selection.
Te matter of te boundary conditions and its peculiar role in te meaning of t
e variational principle and te establisment of a new invariant were all matter
s wic required attention and care. Capter V was a straigtforward one. Capte
r VI required a good deal of redoing. Te new treatment based on te toroidal an
d poioidal functions resulted in a drastic rearrangement of te material. Te pr
oblem of te onset of instability in sperical sells was completed and clari ed.
Lyttkens sent is results in time and wit unexpected promptness. And te variat
ional principle and its termodynamic signi cance ad to be treated far more gener
ally tan iterto. Te rst six capters were completely typed by October.
48
Capter VII Sept. Oct.
Capter IX December
Capter VII on Couette ow required a large amount of additional work: te modes o
f vibration of a rotating column uid; te stability of non viscous Couette ow; te
perturbation teory for te Taylor problem for 1 0, an analysis of alternative me
tods; te question of over stability; and nally an account of all te available
experiments. And, of course, te cell patterns. Capter VIII led to a ost of ne
w problems: te real meaning of DiPrimas peculiar results (tis became clear wen
I analyzed te regions of te uid wic were unstable according to Rayleigs crit
erion and explained it to Reid during one of is visits); te question of spiral
ow (tis is te Goldstein problem wic I ad wanted to examine since 1952). It
was clear tat Goldsteins analysis of te latter problem was inadequate; but I wa
s unprepared to nd tat e was altogeter wrong. Bot te non viscous and te vis
cous ows ad to be discussed; and, I arranged for Fultz and Donnelly to verify my
teoretical calculations as promptly as possible for inclusion in te book. Two
sort papers on tese subjects were sent to te National Academy in November an
d December. Wit all tese new investigations, Capter VIII could not be nised b
efore te end of November. Starting Capter IX, I realized tat te patterns of
te early capters required tat I discuss te non dissipative Couette ow rst. Sev
eral new results ad to be worked out; in particular I realized tat a magnetic e
ld of a certain strengt could stabilize all adverse ows; and tat some of Reids c
alculations on non viscous ydrodynamic ows could be used to determine te exact
numerical constants. A feveris excange of correspondence wit Reid ad to be c
arried out; and two sort notes for te National Academy resulted. Turning to t
e dissipative ows, te general case ad to be treated; and Nibletts calculations f
or insulating walls ad to be repeated. My original metod of solution was clear
ly unsatisfactory; and te teory was worked out anew by using te C and te S
functions tabulated by Harris and Reid. Te general case of

49
Capter X Jan. 1960
Capter XI Feb. 1960
negative was also treated; results for = 1 were to be included and nally te asymp
totic forms for Q ad to be discussed and te relevant equations investigated. A
nd nally tere was te problem of te curved cannel; and Lebovitz undertook to d
o tis. On te experimental side, it was satisfactory tat Donnelly and Ozima su
ccessfully concluded teir experimental work in time for inclusion in te book.
Again in writing on te RayleigTaylor stability, te e ects of rotation and magnet
ic eld ad to be included as well as surface tension. I found tat surface tensio
n could be included in te equations of motion as delta functions; and tat te
treatment can be uni ed. In treating te e ect of te magnetic eld wen it is in te
direction of g, I ad to contend wit a novelty: te absence of a dispersion rel
ation in te stable case. Te clari cation of tis involved subtle questions. My rs
t impressions turned out to be erroneous; tis became clear during a discussion
wit Dalitz. My nal resolution of te paradox in terms of te re ection and refract
ion of te Alfven waves was as surprising as it was simple. In te unstable case
, in contrast, tere is a de nite dispersion relation; and tis ad to be evaluate
d. Again, in treating te problem in case H was at rigt angles to g, I discover
ed tat te e ects could be interpreted in terms of an anisotropic surface tension
: a useful concept wen I came to treat te HelmoltzKelvin instability. Capter
XI also included an account of te oscillations of viscous globe and of a viscou
s drop. Capter XI on te Kelvin Helmoltz instability raised many new problems.
Te e ect of rotation was particularly troublesome. A non algebraic caracteristi
c equation ad to be considered. Discussions wit Kaplansky and David Safer wer
e most useful. Actually te matter could not be resolved at te time; I ad to l
eave it open. Te problem was nally resolved in te pressure of te last weeks; a
cance remark of Kaplanskys during an earlier discussion ad te essential clue.
I asked Vandervoort to do some numerical work on
50
Capter XII Marc
Capter XIII April
te various brances of te solution; and on te basis of tis work te problem
was nally clari ed. In treating te e ect of a orizontal magnetic eld on te Helmolt
z instability, an error vitiated te early arguments and delayed te capter for
several days: te matter was nally cleared up only during te last days! In te
capter on te stability of jets and cylinders, te inclusion of te e ect of visc
osity in te capillary as well as te gravitational instability was a major unde
rtaking. A large amount of miscellaneous calculations ad to be done by Donna on
a basis of ig priority. In treating te e ect of uid motions, I was quite annoye
d by Treans clumsy treatment of te problem: e ad e ectively concealed all te s
ymmetries and I ad to do te wole ting de novo. Te stability of te pinc a
d also to be included. Wit all tese many new investigations, te capter could
not be nised before te last days of Marc. Only tree weeks were now left. (Fo
rtunately, my Weizmann Lectures ad been postponed by a week.) Starting Capter
XIII under extreme pressure, I realized tat te virial teorem sould ave to b
e formulated in tensor form. Te existing treatments ad many loopoles and were
quite unsatisfactory. I developed a wole new approac in discussing te proble
m one morning wit Nelson Limber. I was quite pleased tat te conservation of a
ngular momentum is a consequence of te virial teorem; and tat te non speric
al nature of magnetic stars was an immediate corollary. My earlier treatment of
te pulsation problem wit Limber ad to be generalized as well. But it was an e
xciting week in spite of te extreme pressure under wic I was working. (I late
r wrote up tis work as a paper for Bellmans journal.) Te rest of Capter XIII d
eals wit Jeans criterion and in particular te e ects of rotation and magnetic eld.
Fortunately Vandervoort ad done all te necessary numerical work. It was about
April 7 or 8 wen tis capter was completed.

51
Witout starting on te last Capter XIV, I ad to organize all te gures. (Tose
for te rst six capters ad been sent earlier. I sould ave said tat during a
ll tis time, te illustrations were being drawn and kept more or less up to dat
e.) Wen all tis was nised, I was so tired tat I decided to go to New York to
give my invited talk to te American Matematical Society.g On returning from Ne
w York, te weekend and Monday were spent on te various sections of te book w
ic ad been left incomplete: te experimental sections in Capters VIII and IX,
te revisions of Capters X and XI and oters. It was nally on Tuesday morning t
at I started on Capter XIV. Tis capter was to include te variational princi
ples as te beginning of a new story. Freeman et al.s principle was to be te main
teme. But is paper was depressing reading: it was so complicated and so clumsy
, tat I actually tougt tat I would abandon te idea of aving a Capter XIV.
I knew tis would disappoint Donna and so I decided tat I would start on te c
apter anyway and write out te principle for te incompressible case wic I kn
ew I could develop ab initio. Once I ad written it, I could see ow te princip
le could be generalized to allow for compressibility witout aving to read Free
man et al.s paper. Te teory was fully worked out by late Wednesday evening; and
I wrote up a rst draft before going to bed. Early on Tursday morning, I started
my second draft. By noon I was ready for te nt draft. (By tis time, I was in
a constant state of nausea.) But wen I ad come to te end by 5:00 p.m., I was
not satis ed wit wat I ad written. So I ad to start all over
g
Tis trip was an altogeter nigtmaris one. I ad a bad cold and some temperatu
re. And Russell Donnelly insisted on my redrafting is letter to te Pysical Re
view on is results on te ydromagnetic Couette ow in te otel in New York. Nex
t day wen I got onto te platform for my lecture, I felt so parced tat I insi
sted on aving a glass of water: to te consternation of te Cairman. But sever
al people (apparently noting my sickness) dased out to get me some water. I was
sivering in te plane all te way back; and on arriving midway, I decided neve
rteless to drive back ome. On arrival I found I ad a temperature of 103. Next
morning I got up early and refused to ave my temperature taken since I ad to
work anyway.
52
again; and it was nally completed by 9:30 p.m. I called Donna at tat time and s
e came over to start typing te last capter. Most of Friday was occupied in llin
g in te formulae for Capter XIV, and various minor details. (To make matters w
orse, Mrs. Sco eld ad been called away; and I ad to make arrangements for te A
stropysical Journal in my absence.) Anyway by about 5:00 p.m., te manuscript w
as complete and ready; and I could at last start tinking about my Israel trip a
nd te Weizmann Lectures. Early on Saturday morning, Norman Lebovitz drove us to
OHare. And at Idlewild, we ad two most enjoyable ours wit Martin and Barbara
before we took o for England and Israel. In London te following day, April 24, t
e manuscript was anded over to Mr. Wood of te Clarendon Press.
Tis page intentionally left blank
Te Development of te Virial Metod and Ellipsoidal Figures of Equilibrium (196
01970)
1960
It all began wile writing Capter XIII of Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stabil
ity in Marc of 1960. Tis capter was to include te formula wic Limber and I
ad derived for te frequency of radial pulsation of a magnetic star. But since F
ermi and I ad sown tat magnetic stars are unlikely to be sperical, te conce
pt of radial oscillations is untenable. I recalled te earlier papers of Rayleig
and Parker on te tensor virial teorem; and it seemed to me tat wat Ledoux a
d accomplised for radial pulsations of a sperical star wit te aid of te sca
lar virial teorem, sould be carried out for magnetic stars, wit te aid of t
e tensor virial teorem. But on examination, it appeared tat te papers of Rayl
eig and Parker did not provide an adequate base. And attempting to tink troug
te matter ab initio, I realized te importance of de ning te tensor potential
vij and te associated potential energy tensor ij . The key formula vij ij = ()k d ,
k v as well as the gene alization of the fo mula fo i , hich Limber and I had
derived, are preented in Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability.
55
56
A Scienti c Autobiography: S. Chandraekhar
Spring 1961
The baic idea underlying thee development came to me one morning hen alkin
g to the obervatory along the golf coure. I called Nelon on reaching the obe
rvatory and developed the entire theory in explaining the idea to him. I realiz
ed already at thi time that the tenor virial theorem mut have ide applicatio
n to the tudy of rotating and magnetic tar. But Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnet
ic Stability had to be nihed; and a year a to go by before I eriouly returne
d to the ubject. Hoever, I rote up thee part (of the book) a a paper (1) f
or Bellman journal; and it a publihed in the ame year. I remember dicuing
the theorem ith Woltjer later that fall and telling him ho I a planning to
ue it for a ytematic tudy of the claical ellipoidal gure. It eemed to me
that Woltjer a entertaining imilar idea; but upon hearing of my on plan h
e apparently abandoned them. An unforeeen event (crucial for the further develo
pment) happened that Chritma. Norman Lebovitz, ho a my tudent at that tim
e, had been orking on the dynamo problem. But it a getting nohere. So I ugg
eted to him that he conider applying my tenor virial method to the problem of
ocillation of the Maclaurin pheroid. My idea at that time a that the probl
em could be olved approximately by auming a linear form for the Lagrangian di
placement. At rt Norman a reluctant to embark on a ne thei ubject, but i
th hardly ix month left to complete hi thei he had no choice. So he underto
ok to invetigate the problem; and oon, he became very enthuiatic. During the
inter I a extremely buy ith the proof of Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic S
tability. But occaionally Norman ould report to me on hi progre. I recall m
y light annoyance that contrary to my uggetion that he make a linear aumpti
on for , he was attempting to solve the p oblem eactly. He neve theless pe siste
d and his successful eact solution of the p oblem was beyond anything I had fo
eseen.
Vi ial Method and Ellipsoidal Figu es of Equilib ium

57
June 1961
August 1961
F om the p esent vantage point, the th ee things that No mans thesis accomplished
we e the following: (1) to show that the p oblem can be solved eactly, (2) tha
t the evaluation of Di (on which vij depended) was not elementa y, and (3) that th
e vi ial equations we e equi ed to be supplemented by a solenoidal condition. No
mans success convinced me that the application of the tenso vi ial theo em shoul
d be pushed with vigo . Thus, my plan of 1960 that I pu sue gene al elativity w
ith an undivided mind was to be f ust ated. It did not seem so at the time; but
the classical ellipsoids we e to abso b a la ge pa t of my e o ts in the seven fol
lowing yea s. But afte 1963, it was ca ied out la gely in p otest. I felt an o
bligation fo the subject. Pe haps it was misplaced. But I lost some c ucial yea
s. And when No man left fo M.I.T. afte taking his Ph.D. deg ee in June, we pl
anned to meet in Maine (whe e I was to spend pa t of June and most of July) and
discuss the cou se of futu e developments. But one thing occu ed to me ea lie :
Is the e a gene alization of Emdens fo mula fo to rotating tar? It a a imp
le matter to derive the generalization and I rote a Letter to myelf. A theorem on
rotating polytrope (2) a publihed that ummer. I made ome addition to it
hile I a in Maine. (The original Letter contained only the formula for ; in the
revied (publihed) verion, formulae for 11 , 22 , and 33 are alo given.) In Jul
y, Norman viited u in Maine; and e decided that the rt problem to be attempte
d a to develop a general theory of the ocillation of rotating gaeou mae
baed on the tenor virial theorem. On returning to Yerke in Augut, I found
ome paper from Norman aaiting me. In thee paper, Norman had undertaken to re
duce the upermatrix and derived ome baic formulae. But the development could
be much impli ed by conidering the uperpotential . And August was a heti mont
h. The rst paper on the superpotentials in the theory o Newtonian gravitation (3
) and
58
September 1961
Otober 1961
1962
Spring 1962
the paper On the osillations and the stability o rotating gaseous masses (4) wer
e both ompleted that month. In many ways, it was also an exiting month: semina
rs almost every day with requent telephone alls to Norman at M.I.T. We were to
leave or India on September 2. And Norman drove rom Boston to meet us at the
airport in New York; and we spent several hours at the airport going over the nal
manusripts o the two papers. And thus our ollaboration during the next ew y
ears began . . . Earlier in the same week, the rst opy o Hydrodynami and Hydro
magneti Stability had reahed me. And with the book in my hand and the two pape
rs, ull o promise, ompleted, I was ontent when the plane took o or India tha
t evening. Thirty six hours later, I was in a new world. We were in India during
the our months, SeptemberDeember. During those our months we traveled widely
Bombay, Calutta, Kharagpur, Jamshedpur, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Madras, Ba
ngalore, and Kodaikanal; and I gave as many as seventy letures. And while we we
re in Delhi we were invited to dinner by Nehru; and the evening was a most memor
able one. The Letter (5) on the interpretation o the double periods o the Beta
Canis Majoris stars was prinipally Normans ontribution. The Letter was sent to
the Astrophysial Journal during my stay at the Statistial Institute in Calut
ta. We returned to the United States in January 1962. And during the winter and
the spring quarters I gave a rst ourse in Applied Mathematis and these letures
were to take a substantial amount o time. And the rst researh item on the agend
a was to write out my seond paper on the stability o visous ow between rotating
ylinders using the adjoint equation. And meantime, Norman had sent his workshe
ets on the appliation o virial method to the osillations o rotating polytrop
es. Norman had learly been working steadily during my absene. I worked through
the sheets and was able to simpliy some o it. But I reali ed that the rst thin
g I had
Virial Method and Ellipsoidal Figures o Equilibrium

59
to do was to learn the details o the derivation o the expressions giving the p
otential o an ellipsoid. I did not nd Kellogg to my taste. I ound Ramsay and Ro
uth muh more satisatory; and I started working through Routh. And soon I dis
overed to my astonishment that the potential Di = G i d | |
v
Sp ing 1962
which had given conside able di culty to No man, was de ived in Routh by an enti e
ly elementa y method. Not only Di , but also the potential due to any polynomial
dist ibution in an ellipsoid could be found by the same elementa y methods (due
o iginally to Fe e ). This discove y of Fe e s potentials was to be basic to a
ll subsequent developments. I called No man and told him about what I had found.
This was the o igin of the pape on The potentials and the supe potentials of ho
mogeneous ellipsoids (7). In this pape , the notation was standa dized and the sy
stematic use of the A symbols was o iginated. The second pape (6) on the supe p
otentials was a logical antecedent. Du ing this time (Feb ua yMa ch) the calculat
ions pe taining to the oscillations of a otating polyt ope we e p oceeding. But
what was uppe most in my mind was to nd some means of locating the point of bifu
cation along the Jacobian sequence. So constantly was this in my mind that it a
lmost became an obsession. Then on a F iday in May, it suddenly occu ed to me t
hat the second o de vi ial equation could not in p inciple dete mine the desi e
d point of bifu cation; and that one must go to the highe o de vi ial equation
s. And this fact became fu the appa ent in a telephone conve sation with No man
. I developed the thi d o de vi ial equations ove the weekend. And I was able
to show how the point of bifu cation can be located by using one of the integ al
p ope ties p ovided by the vi ial theo em. LyndenBell a ived at Ye kes du ing t
his same weekend. And in a semina on Monday, May 24, I was able to announce the e
nti e development togethe with the nume ical dete mination of the
60
A Scienti c Autobiog aphy: S. Chand asekha
Summe and Fall 1962
neut al point. Lynden Bell commented afte the semina that my method appea ed t
o him as a t iumph of notation. The discove y of the usefulness of the thi d o de
vi ial equation was one of the few moments of eal ehila ation in this enti e
ba en pe iod. Howeve , at this point my unde standing of the usefulness of the
thi d o de vi ial equations in these contets was incomplete and some of my ea
lie ideas we e actually e oneous. They we e eventually co ected. The pape (8
) on the location of the point of bifu cation along the Jacobian sequence was w
itten du ing the month following; and some of the ea ly misunde standings we e c
o ected in the Note added in p oof to this pape . This pape , togethe with its c
ompanion pape s (6) and (7), was completed in June. No man came to Ye kes in Jun
e: and du ing the month he stayed we completed the pape (10) on the polyt opes
as well as the fulle pape (11) on the Beta Canis Majo is sta s. No man had bee
n inte ested in the oscillations of the comp essible Maclau in sphe oid. It was
clea to me that the only new esult that one can obtain he e pe tains to the ad
ial pulsations . . . neve unde stood why No man felt the detailed analysis conta
ined in pape (9) as necessa y. Anyhow this pape was also w itten du ing this s
ame pe iod. The p incipal p oblem that loomed la ge at this time was the thi d h
a monic oscillations of the Jacobi ellipsoid. This p oblem equi ed the evaluati
on of ij;k in general an their appropriate combinations. I as somehat isappoin
te that the eighteen equations coul not be reuce further than into to syste
ms of orers 7 an 8, respectively. A novel point in the solution as the elimin
ation of the rst-orer virial equations by setting the Vi s equal to zero. A furth
er point is that the virial equations shoul be supplemente by three solenoial
conitions. During the fall months, the calculations on the thir-harmonic osci
llations of the Jacobi an the Maclaurin spherois ere going ahea.
Virial Metho an Ellipsoial Figures of Equilibrium

61
Fall 1962
Winter 1962
Spring 1963
In August, I ent to Warsa to atten the conference on general relativity. At t
his time, the e nitions of quantities such as vij , ij , an ij;k seeme to me very
important. An this early point of vie is expresse ell in the publishe vers
ion of a public lecture (12) I gave at Berkeley. In November, I learne of the a
ar of the Royal Meal. An this aar helpe to elevate my sinking enthusiasm
of this perio. Inee on the ight to Lonon, I orke out the theory of the Jean
s spherois by the virial metho. While in Englan, I ent to Cambrige to visit
Lyttleton an Lynen-Bell. But my visit ith Lyttleton as to leave a permanent
feeling of istaste. By January the papers (13, 14) on the thir-harmonic oscill
ations of the Jacobi ellipsois an the Maclaurin spherois ere complete; also,
the paper on the Jeans spherois (15). At this stage I ha a clearer iea of the
role of the equilibrium relations provie by the virial theorem for the purpos
es of locating neutral points an points of bifurcation. An the etaile paper
(16) on the points of bifurcation along the Maclaurin, the Jacobi, an the Jeans
sequences clari es most of the points at issue. But one misunerstaning still re
maine; an this as correcte in a Corrigenum publishe later. A somehat i erent
problem that Norman an I ha formulate for ourselves concerns the non-raial
oscillations of stars; the problem as to establish the Scharzschil criterion
by a irect normal moe analysis. The virial metho coul be applie to the solu
tion of this problem an the paper (17) as complete uring a brief visit to Ha
rvar in another connection. From this point on, the subject as propelle essen
tially by a feeling of obligation that the subject of the classical ellipsois r
equire someone to put it in orer. An so I unertook the problem of the Roche
ellipsois ithout any iea that anything really ne oul evelop. While this
ork as in progress, I ent to Yale to give the Silliman Lectures. The invitatio
n ha come a year earlier. At that
62
A Scienti c Autobiography: S. Chanrasekhar
Silliman Lectures
time, I as enthusiastic about the hole subject; an I ha agree to give the l
ectures on The Rotation of Astronomical Boies. The lecture by Whittaker on Spin in
the Universe as very much on my min. But by the time April 1963 came aroun, I
ha evelope consierable colness toars the subject; an the lectures ere
to some extent isappointing. I regaine some enthusiasm uring my last lecture;
an Bill Rei, ho ha come from Provience for the lectures, thought the last
as inee the best. At the en of the last lecture, Brouer, in proposing a vote
of thanks presente me ith his copy of Volume III of Darins Collecte Papers th
is copy ha been given to him by E. W. Bron, ho in turn ha receive it irect
ly from Darin. I greatly appreciate this generous act of Brouer. Also in Apri
l, I gave the lecture on The Case for Astronomy to the American Philosophical Soci
ety. I as not please ith my lecture; but the ritten version makes some amen
s. It as also at about this time (March) that I ha mentione to Roberts the im
portance of getting better limits on the ellipticities of sloly rotating masses
than ha been obtaine before. He took up this problem an in his usual fashion
rape it so that the problem came out bleeing. An his results i not really
go beyon hat ha been knon. I took up the problem an shoe hat coul be o
ne. Robertss only comment as, Ho o you o it; you make me feel ashame . . . . A
nyho this as the origin of paper (18). A major problem in this area still rema
ins. To return to the Roche ellipsois. I as slo in realizing that ynamical i
nstability oes not set in at the Roche limit. In June of this same year, Leoux
visite Yerkes an spent a eek. During his visit, I arrange a series of semin
ars. An in one of them (on June 17) I talke on The Roche Limit So Calle. In thi
s talk I pointe out that the Roche ellipsoi oes not become ynamically unstab
le at the Roche limit. Leoux as quite surprise. Apparently he ha aske one o
f his stuents (Robe) to examine this problem; an seeme isappointe that I ha
inepenently gone

63
Summer 1963
Roche
Fall 1963
ahea ith it. In this talk I recalle Leouxs rst application of the scalar viria
l theorem to rotating an non-rotating stars; an ho one of his basic papers a
s ritten in 1945 in Stanleyville, Congo; an ho I ha the opportunity to eit
the paper for publication. During August I gave several lectures on the virial m
etho at the Bouler Summer School. It as also at Bouler that corresponence
ith Norman clari e the reason hy the Roche ellipsois o not become unstable at
the Roche limit. His short paper, folloing mine, as relevant four years later
hen the problem of the secular stability of Roche ellipsois as nally solve. I
n September, I rote out my Bouler Lectures. Here I ha the rst opportunity to c
larify to myself the central role of Ferrars potentials for these evelopments. I
n September, I evelope also a general variational principle (21, 22) applicabl
e to rotating masses. While Norman an I unertook the application of this princ
iple to improve our earlier paper (base on the virial metho) to the non-raial
oscillations of stars, I let Ostriker an Clement make the principal applicatio
ns. Ostriker applie it successfully to the problem of oscillations of compressi
ble cyliners, hile Clement rote a series of three very goo papers on the ext
ension of the principle to rotating stars. At this time, my interest in general
relativity as increasing. But I felt that the subject of the classical ellipsoi
s shoul be complete ith a nal re-examination of Darins problem. The formal theo
ry as not i cult: inee, it is straightforar. But for the rst time, I began to
appreciate ho unimaginative Darins ork really is: he seems to have ha no for
mal sense nor a compensating physical sense . . . I recall Eingtons comparison
of Darin an Poincar to Pannekock an Unsl ith the implication that e o Panneko
ck an Darin sought to solve a problem by unimaginative numerical computations;
an that they i not make any serious attempt to examine the physical (or the
mathematical) origin of their results. Eington use the or brilliant ith resp
ect to Poincar e an Unsl. I o not kno if I share Eingtons enthusiasm ith o
64
Winter 1964
Spring 1964
respect to Unsl; but I certainly agree no ith his evaluation of o Darin (thou
gh at the time I thought that Eington as neelessly harsh). I rote the paper
on the Darin ellipsois (23) hile on a toeek visit to Stanfor (hich Schi h
a arrange). At this time, I thought that ith this paper all of the classical
problems ha been solve. An the paper (24) hich Norman an I rote for Rossel
ans Commemoration Volume as to have been the nal summary. Inee ith the riting
up of my Silliman Lectures in the back of my min, I turne to the problem of th
e stability of a rotating liqui rop. I ha illustrate this problem in my Sill
iman Lectures ith some beautiful movie lms that Dave Fultz ha mae for me. I fo
un that Rayleighs ork as incomplete. An I kne that the virial metho coul b
e extene to this problem. But I as too istracte ith many things to concent
rate fully on this problem. An the symmetry of the surface energy tensor Sij a
s prove by Wentzel. In aition to my papers on the ynamical instability of st
ars (III, IV, an V) approaching the Scharzschil limit, I as using my variati
onal principle (papers 21, 22) to complete (together ith Norman) our earlier pa
per (17) on the non-raial oscillations. An uring the spring e ere orking o
n this paper (25). But an error in my unerstaning of the variational principle
as correcte uring the summer. An these corrections together ith our move f
rom Williams Bay to Chicago all conspire to make for an exceptionally harasse
summer. An unforeseen event in the spring le to a trail that as to occupy me a
nother three years. In the spring of this year, I ent to Ne York to give a tal
k at the Courant Institute on the virial metho. I ha arrange to meet Uhlenbec
k at the Rockefeller Institute the folloing morning to iscuss ith him some i
eas on the statistical mechanics of gravitating particles. This iscussion i n
ot lea anyhere; but as I ha the af-

65
Summer 1964
Winter 1964
1965
ternoon free I ent to Stecherts book store. An brosing through the ne books,
I foun the Dover reprints of Bassets to volumes on Hyroynamics. I bought them
an glancing through these volumes on the ight back to Chicago, I foun that Bas
set ha a chapter on liqui ellipsois. An here in Basset for the rst time I sa
references to the ork of Dirichlet, Deekin an Riemann. I immeiately realiz
e that there as much more to be one ith the virial metho. But I lai my tho
ughts asie hoping to return to these topics at a later time. No uring the sum
mer of 1964, hen e ere making our nal move from Williams Bay, I returne to Ba
sset. At no time i I really rea Bassets account. I looke into his account only
to n out hat the problems ere that Diriehlet, Deekin an Riemann ha formula
te. To get into the subject, I rst consiere the Deekin ellipsois. The proof
that the geometry of these ellipsois is the same as that of the Jacobi ellipso
is as simple enough. But I as not prepare to n that the frequencies of the s
econ-harmonic oscillations of the Deekin an the Jacobi ellipsois are the sa
me. The point of bifurcation along the Deekin sequence as clearly of interest
to istinguish the to sequences. An the virial metho as most suite to the
solution of this problem. Inee, the metho shos itself to its best avantage
in these latter contexts. In November of 1964, I spent a eek in Harvar here I
gave lectures on relativity an on the ellipsois. The analysis of the equilibr
ium an the stability of the Deekin ellipsois ere complete uring the fall
(paper 27). The paper on the rotating liqui rop (paper 26) as also complete
at about the same time. My interests uring the fall an inter ere primarily i
n eveloping a post-Netonian hyroynamics. Nevertheless I as propelle into s
tuying the Riemann ellipsois in the special case hen the irections of and we
re parallel. 1965 was to be a busy year. First there were the two weeks o letu
ring at Columbia. Then there was the trip to Newastle upon Tyne; and nally there
were the preparations or the London
66
1966
Conerene on Relativity at whih I was to give an invited talk. But the alula
tions pertaining to the Riemann ellipsoids were ontinuing. While the paper (28)
was ompleted in April, prior to my departure to Newastle, and even though I h
ad most o the analysis ompleted or the ase when and are not parallel, I am a
raid that the paper as I originally submitted it had several misunderstandings.
At Newastle I gave a leture on the historial bakground o Riemanns problem;
and o the partiular role that Bassets book had played in introduing me to the
subjet. Sydney Chapman, who was in the audiene, told me later that he was plea
sed with my reerenes to Basset: apparently Basset had been looked down upon by
Lamb and others. But Basset was ertainly more sensitive to the epoh making h
arater o the work o Dirihlet, Dedekind and Riemann than Lamb was. It was onl
y ater my return rom the London Conerene that I expliitly isolated the two
bounding sel adjoint sequenes. (Norman had disovered these sequenes independ
ently while leturing on these topis in Lige.) But I also ound that the S type
ellipsoids e beome unstable along the sel adjoint sequene x = 1 (whih he had
not). The relation o these results to the equilibrium o the ellipsoids o type
III was still not lear. However, all these ats and their inter relationships
beame lear subsequently while disussing these matters with Norman. He was mo
st pereptive even though at this time we had e etively eased the day to day ol
laboration o the earlier years. The study o the ellipsoids o types I, II and
III was arried out intermittently during 1965 and the seond paper on the Riema
nn ellipsoids (paper 29) was ompleted only in February 1966. But there was stil
l the question onerning the disrepanies between the results o my stability
analysis and Riemanns statements in his paper. Norman who had studied Riemanns pap
er lari ed the matter beautiully; and his paper ollows mine in the Astrophysia
l Journal.

67
1967
With the ompletion o the work on the Riemann ellipsoids the subjet had indeed
ome to an end. And so when I was asked to give the opening address at the inau
guration o the Warren Weaver Hall housing the Courant Institute, I hose Ellipso
idal Figures o Equilibrium or my subjet. The substane o this leture was lat
er published (30) and e etively orms the rst hapter o the book I was to write.
I now began to think seriously o writing up my Silliman Letures; but devoting
it exlusively to ellipsoidal gures. I disussed the useulness o writing suh a
book with both Bill Reid and Norman. They thought that I should and that it wou
ld be most worthwhile; but what else ould they say. But I was too preoupied w
ith developing my post Newtonian work that I laid the matter aside. In the winte
r and spring o 1967, I beame interested in the variational ormulation o the
axisymmetri pulsation osillations o a rotating mass this interest originated
in a parallel interest in the orresponding problem in the post Newtonian theory
. And sine Norman was interested in a related problem at the same time, we agre
ed to work on this subjet together. In early 1967, one urther launa appeared
in the subjet o the ellipsoidal gures: I had not disussed the ourth harmoni
osillations; and these are relevant or the post Newtonian theory o the Malau
rin and the Jaobi ellipsoids whih I had ompleted by this time. So with onsid
erable resistane, I arried out the long and laborious alulations Donna was o
great assistane in the redutions o the expressions or the various matrix e
lements and this paper (31) was nally ompleted in August. And my paper (32) with
Norman on the axisymmetri osillations o uniormly rotating mass was also om
pleted at about the same time. The time was at last at hand to write up my Silli
man Letures. Chapter I was to be an historial introdution. My leture to the
Courant Institute in Marh 1966, with suitable modi ations, beame this hapter.
68
Deember 1967
Chapter II on the virial method had to be written and planned with the knowledge
aquired over the years; and all o the basi ormal developments had to be gat
hered together here. And this hapter was not easy to write. In ontrast, Chapte
r III was not di ult to organi e sine my Boulder Letures provided a basis. By O
tober, the manusript or the rst three hapters were ompleted prior to the Mi
higan 150th year anniversary elebrations. (In preparation or the elebrations I
had to learn about gravitational ollapse; and so had given a number o seminars
on this topi in August and September.) Returning rom Mihigan, I started on C
hapter IV on Dirihlets problem. I ound Normans Lige letures on The Riemann e elli
psoids extremely useul in writing this hapter. In at, Norman had sueeded in
ormulating Dirihlets problem so ompatly that I all it the RiemannLebovit or
mulation in this hapter. However, I had to demonstrate the relation to the viria
l theorem. Chapter IV was ompleted beore leaving or Liege and Rome in Novembe
r. At about this time, I had seen the paper by Camm on the virial theorem in ste
llar dynamis. It seemed to me that Camm had aomplished very little. And so I
asked Leeh to investigate the matter along the lines whih seemed obvious to me.
And this paper was also written up beore we let or Europe. I sent the paper
(33) to the Monthly Noties. In Lige I learned that Robe had been investigating t
he seular e stability o the Rohe ellipsoid by Poinars method. The idea o e ap
plying the virial method along Rosenkildes generali ation whih I had laid aside
or sometime beame an urgent one. And so on returning rom Lige, I worked out th
is theory and disovered to e my astonishment that the Rohe ellipsoid is seula
rly unstable preisely between the Rohe limit and the point o onset o dynami
al
h
Edward Lee did his graduate work or the Ph.D. with me during the years 196668. W
hen he ame to see me or the rst time to nd out i I would be his sponsor, I sugg
ested that he might be interested to explore the extension o my virial methods
to stellar dynamis; and asked him to look through my Boulder Letures. He ame
bak a week later to say that he ound the Boulder Letures very boring!.

69
Winter 1968
instability. Ai enman was helpul in seuring the neessary integrations in the
small interval between the two limits. I wrote this paper (34) or the Ananda Ra
u Memorial Volume. Sine I was going to La Jolla in January, I wanted to omplet
e Chapter IV on the Malaurin spheroid beore the New Year. With some e ort this w
as aomplished. The organi ation o Chapter V on the Jaobi and Dedekind ellips
oids required that I loate the point o biuration by an atual onstrution o
the pear shaped gure. The onept o linear independene modulo the ellipsoid t
hat I had developed earlier in the post Newtonian ontext was most helpul in th
is onstrution. The (n 1) drat o Chapter V was written in La Jolla. In Februa
ry and Marh and early April, I worked ontinuously to omplete Chapters VI, VII
and VIII. The book was written under protest. But it was written; and by a uri
ous aident, I was able to hand the manusript personally to the Yale Universit
y Press on the th anniversary o the last o my Silliman Letures. June 1968 Pos
tsript:
Summer 1968
I had supposed that with the handing o the manusript o my Ellipsoidal Figures
o Equilibrium to the Yale University Press, I had ome to the end o this part
iular trail. But it was not to be, or I ontinued to be vaguely irritated by t
he sour note on whih the book had ended: the last setion o the book on the Darw
in ellipsoid onluded with the statement that the matter o the stability o th
e ongruent Darwin ellipsoids was unresolved. And I elt that it was inongruous
or a book, laiming to have ompleted the theory o the lassial ellipsoids,
to end with a onession that there was yet a urther problem to solve. While I
was gnawed by this at, I did not do anything about it during the spring and th
e summer: I was too preoupied with the problem o determining the onserved qu
antities in the seond post Newtonian approximation; and moreover, I
70
Fall 1968
had to prepare or the Nehru Memorial Leture I was to give in New Delhi in Nove
mber. In September (ater our return rom Seattle where I was leturing at the B
attelle Institute) I began to think seriously about the problem o the stability
o the Darwin ellipsoid and how it should be resolved. I had by now deided tha
t a last setion on the solution to this problem must be added to the book; and
there was no time to lose sine the proos o the book were supposed to start o
ming in by Deember. I rst tried to persuade Norman that he should think about th
is problem stating that we (meaning he and I) had an obligation to solve it. He wa
s not persuaded; and added that or his part he elt no partiular sense o obli
gation. So let to mysel, I rst onsidered the problem o how one an isolate th
e on guration whih ould be quasi statially deormed without violating any o t
he equations o equilibrium whih determine the Darwin sequene. What was alled
the Rohe limit in my original paper did not isolate this neutral point. Formul
ated with this limited objetive, the problem was not di ult to solve. And the ne
utral ellipsoids that were isolated were indeed at the distane o losest appro
ah. At the same time, the solution to this problem dislosed the nature o the
oupled osillations that must be onsidered to settle the question o the stabi
lity one and or all. I hastily derived the required harateristi equation be
ore leaving or India so that the alulations ould be arried out during my a
bsene. The analysis is one with many pitalls more indeed than I reali ed at th
e time and I asked Norman to hek it. On my return rom India, and ater omple
ting the work on the seond post Newtonian approximation, I started writing the
last setion o the book. And while writing out the theory, as I had developed i
t beore I went to India, I disovered that I had made a serious oversight: I ha
d not allowed or the relative motion o the enters o mass o the two ellipsoi
ds. I orreted or this error and it enlarged the order o the harateristi m
atrix rom our to six. By

71
this time, I was so aware o the possibility o errors that I deided to have th
e analysis srutini ed by Maurie Clement. He promptly disovered that I had mad
e another serious oversight: I had simply overlooked the at that the oriolis ter
m resulting rom the variation o wit t sould be evaluated wit respect to te
common center of mass of te two ellipsoids. Te caracteristic equation ad to
be corrected once again. And wen te caracteristic roots were determined after
all tese corrections ad been made, it emerged to my total surprise tat te e
ntire Darwin sequence is unstable. I was so suspicious of te result tat I ad
te calculation cecked at every stage. (I am afraid tat all tese frequent cor
rections tried Donnas patience sorely.) Te paper (35) and te last section of t
e book were tus written; and te sour note on wic te book ad originally ended
was tus eliminated. Te question wy te congruent Darwin ellipsoids were unst
able was at rst a puzzle. As I said it was unexpected: Norman Lebovitz, Jerry Ost
riker, and Maurice Clement were as surprised as I was. However, it gradually daw
ned on me tat te result, far from surprising, is indeed natural under te circ
umstances: te instability clearly arises from resonant forced oscillations indu
ced on one by te natural oscillations of te oter. Since Donna ad already mad
e extensive calculations on te requisite natural modes, it seemed wortwile to
ll in tis last lacuna in te teory of classical ellipsoids. Te formal teory
of tese resonant forced oscillations is very simple; but te necessary numerica
l work is fairly prodigious. Te calculations were completed by early summer. Bu
t I got around to writing te paper (36) only in October. I do not believe tat
I sall be writing any more papers on tis subject. And I sould be receiving pr
inted copies of Ellipsoidal Figures of Equilibrium (37) in a few weeks. November
1969
General Relativity (19621969)

My rst introduction to general relativity was troug Eddingtons lectures in 1931.
And I ave still retained te entusiasm I ten acquired for Eddingtons matemat
ical teory of relativity. In 1933 during one of our walks, Dirac told me tat i
f e were interested in astropysics, e would want to work on cosmology; and e
asked me wy I was not interested in te subject. I recall tat my reply was I w
ould rater ave my feet on te ground. My principal reason for tis reluctance t
o get seriously interested in relativity was te ardly veiled contempt, I could
sense, wic pysicists like Bor and oters ad for te work of Eddington (on
fundamental teory) and Milne (on kinematical relativity). And muc later, durin
g a visit by McCrea (to Cicago in 195?), Wentzel asked me wy I ad never worke
d on relativity. My reply, alf jocularly, was tat relativity ad proved to be
te graveyard of many teoretical astronomers and tat I was not prepared for bu
rial not just yet. And, in a more serious vein, I added tat astronomers wo wen
t into general relativity were prone to play for ig stakes; and tat my own ap
proac to science was more conservative . . . However, wen I was writing Hydrod
ynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability I began
75
76
Jan. 1961
Summer 1962
to tink about te eld to wic I sould turn next; and I talked about it to some
friends, particularly Gregor. I asked im wat e tougt of my venture into ge
neral relativity. He said, Wy not, and wen I expressed my doubts, long entertain
ed, e said, Wat can you lose? If your e orts do not succeed, does it really matte
r? Wy not pursue wat you wis to. And so gradually I came to te view tat I s
ould spend te following years on general relativity: rst learning and ten explo
ring if one wit my background could make any pertinent contributions. And so du
ring te summer of 1960 I began my study; and I started earnestly wit a series
of some twenty seminars on Scrodingers Space Time Structure, on Riemannian geome
try (Weaterburn), and cosmology (Tolman). And during te fall quarter, I gave m
y rst 400 course on general relativity. But as it turned out, my intention of 196
0 was to be frustrated since Normans success in solving te problem of te oscill
ations of Maclaurin speroid exactly was to lead me astray; and te classical el
lipsoids were to absorb muc of my time during te following eigt years. Still,
I kept up my study of relativity intermittently, and I continued to give my 400
course on relativity every year. And twice (in 196364 and again in 1967) te cou
rse initially sceduled for a quarter was extended to two quarters by petition b
y te students. And my e orts to contribute to te subject were not entirely in va
in. In January 1961, Jim Wrigt got interested in my account of Gdels universe in
my lectures during te fall quarter. And we o worked out togeter te geodesies
in Gdels universe. Tis was my o rst paper (1) in general relativity. During 1962 a
nd 1963, I was too occupied wit te classical ellipsoids to do muc tinking in
general relativity. However, largely to get a personal feeling for wat te rel
ativists were tinking about, I went to attend te Warsaw Conference on general
relativity. Te National Science Foundation gave me a travel grant to go to te
Conference toug in my application I ad stated tat I was not an expert, tat
I was not giving any invited talk, tat my object in

77
Spring 1963
Fall 1963
Winter 1963
wanting to go to te Conference was merely to get a feeling for wat te experts
were tinking, and nally, tat if a travel grant was not awarded, I simply would n
ot go! By spring of 1963, it became clear tat te application of te virial met
od to te ellipsoidal gures was becoming routine (at tat time I tougt tat on
ly te Roce and te Darwin ellipsoids remained to be treated); and I began to d
evote more serious attention to general relativity. And I suggested to Contopoul
os (wo was spending tat winter and spring wit me) tat we migt derive te vi
rial teorem appropriate for te post Newtonian equations of Einstein, Infeld an
d Ho mann. Te derivation was not too di cult, and we wrote a sort paper (II) on it
. An unexpected opening appeared in te fall of 1963 wen I was lecturing on te
Scwarzscild interior solution to my class in general relativity. I was aware
of te papers Iben and Micel ad sent to te Astropysical Journal. Teir consi
derations appeared to me too euristic; and it occurred to me early in December
tat it would be quite straigtforward to develop te analogue of Eddingtons puls
ation teory in te exact framework of general relativity and solve a basic prob
lem rigorously. Indeed it was easy, but in my excitement I made an error in writin
g te condition for adiabatic cange (following te motion) in te framework of
general relativity. I discussed te matter wit Wentzel; but e was not critical
enoug. And te Letter (III) I sent to te Pysical Review in January 1964 cont
ained an error. Te error became clear to me soon after my return from Stanford
in February. I made te necessary correction during a ectic week and sent an er
ratum to te Pysical Review Letters. Fortunately, te erratum was publised jus
t in time: Misner, Zapolsky and Fowler were already on te trail. It was at tis
stage tat my closer association wit Tooper began. Tooper, wo was interested
in general relativity, ad seen me during te summer of 1963 wit respect to is
Letter to te Pysical Review tat ad been rejected. Also, e was interested i
n
78
Spring 1964
Summer 1964
Fall 1964
Dec. 1964
getting a sponsor for is tesis. Tooper made a very good impression on me. And
so wen in January 1964, I ad found te variational metod for ascertaining te
stability of general relativistic con gurations, I returned to my old problem of
te dynamical stability of te wite dwarfs approacing te critical mass; and T
ooper and I collaborated on a small investigation of tis problem (IV). And as o
ne sould expect, te con gurations become unstable already at moderate densities.
Te discovery tat dynamical instability sets in already wen te relativistic
corrections are small suggested tat I sould obtain te equations of ydrodynam
ics in te post Newtonian approximation. Wit tis in view, I included an accoun
t of te EinsteinInfeld Ho mann teory in my spring lectures on general relativity.
(Tis second quarter of tese lectures was given in response to a petition signe
d by some tirty students.) Te spring and summer of 1964 were distracting wit
our move to Cicago e ected in tree stages: from 5550 Dorcester to 4800 Cicago
Beac Drive in April, te transfer of te Astropysical Journal to Cicago in Ju
ly, and nally te complete move from Williams Bay in October. And wit all tis,
I was working on te rotating liquid drop and was starting my investigations on
te Dedekmd and te Riemann ellipsoids. And so it was in November of 1964 tat I
seriously turned to te problem of deriving te equations of ydrodynamics in t
e post Newtonian approximation. I ad already worked troug te LandauLifseitz
treatment of te EinsteinInfeldHo mann teory. But I did not know ow teir de nition
of te Lagrangian was to be extended to ydrodynamics. And so I spent most of N
ovember reading Focks book; but I did not nd tat very elpful. And suddenly I rea
lized (in early December) tat I could follow Landau and Lifscitz in solving fo
r te metric coe cients; and ten use te Bianci identities to obtain te equatio
ns of motion. Given tis idea, I was able to derive te basic equations during t
e Cristmas olidays.

79
Spring 1965
By te end of January, I ad also derived a variational principle for treating t
e non radial oscillation of a gaseous mass in te post Newtonian approximation.
And I sent my Letter on tis subject to te Pysical Review on January 25 (VI).
During te following monts, my principal e ort was towards getting my tree pape
rs (VII, VIII, and IX) completed before te London Conference on General Relativ
ity. I ad been invited earlier to give one of te principal our talks at tis
Conference; and I decided now to give it on my post Newtonian work. Spring was a
busy time even oterwise. I was completing my rst paper on te Riemann ellipsoid
s. And I ad agreed to spend two weeks in Columbia; tere was a trip to Newcastl
e in April pending; and ten tere was te London Conference. At Columbia I gave
tree lectures on te post Newtonian teory. At te rst of tese lectures, I was
surprised to nd van de Hulst in te audience. I told im, Henk, you ave not ear
d me since te late 40s wen you and I were interested in radiative transfer. I a
m afraid my interests ave strayed very far from tose common interests of ours.
I am afraid you will not recognize me. Later tat evening, we were to drive out
wit Henk to te Spiegels for dinner. On te way Henk said, Candra, contrary to w
at you said, I sould ave recognized you at te lecture, even ad I been blind
folded and even if your voice ad canged to an unrecognizable extent. At Newcast
le in April, I gave similar lectures. I was deligted tat Cowling came from Lee
ds to ear tem. Toug under considerable pressure, I did complete my tree pap
ers on post Newtonian equations before leaving for te London Conference and for
a weeks oliday in Switzerland afterwards. But as a consequence of tis pressure
, I am afraid tat I came to te wrong conclusion wit respect to te validity o
f te Scwarzscild criterion in general relativity. My formulae were correct, b
ut I ad misinterpreted tem. Bondi seemed to sense tat someting was wrong.
80
Summer 1965
Fall 1965
Winter 1965
Spring 1966
Summer 1966
Te London Conference was quite stimulating. I ad pleasant excanges wit Synge
, Fokker and Fock. Returning from Switzerland, I was preoccupied wit correcting
my errors in te post Newtonian and te Riemann ellipsoid papers. And ten in A
ugust, tere was te summer scool at Cornell were I ad to give some lectures.
In te fall of 1965, I began to tink about solving te problem of te Maclauri
n speroids in te post Newtonian approximation. Tere were unexpected di culties.
Tese were concerned wit te question of te displacements tat sould be used
to deform te Newtonian gure to obtain te post Newtonian gure. By a series of tr
ials and errors, I nally got on to te essential concept of displacements linearl
y independent modulo te speroid. And te problem was nally solved. One unexpect
ed result wic emerged was te absence of a nite solution at a certain de nite poi
nt along te Maclaurin sequence. I realized tat tis point must be a point of N
ewtonian Instability of te Maclaurin speroid for fourt armonics. (And tis w
as te reason wy I went into a detailed analysis of te fourt order virial equ
ations.) Once te problem of te Maclaurin sequence in te postNewtonian approxi
mation ad been solved and completed (paper X, June 1966) it was logical to proc
eed wit te corresponding teory for te Jacobian sequence. Tis problem also c
reated some fres problems; and some unexpected identities ad to be establised
. Te analysis, eventually, became a tour de force; but I ave te feeling tat
no one really cares. To a large extent, tese problems could be solved only by o
ne wit te experience I ad gained wit classical problems. But te metods are
far too special and I doubt if anyone as made te e ort to understand te result
s. Te paper (XII) on te Jacobian sequences was completed in October. In August
, I was occupied wit a problem I ad suggested to Contopoulos already in 1963.
Is tere a transformation to te center of mass in te EinsteinInfeldHo mann teory?
Contopoulos ad

81
Winter 1966
Spring & Summer 1967
Fall 1967
e ectively solved te problem; and since our original understanding was to write i
t jointly, Contopoulos wanted it tat way. But wen I started working troug Co
ntopoulos1 derivations, I found tat a number of obscurities ad to be resolved.
And teir resolution took some time. I nally sent te paper to te Royal Society
(XI). Originally, it was my intention not to give any lectures during te acade
mic year 196667. But I canged my mind and decided to give a course on te matem
atical foundations of relativity during te winter quarter. Tese lectures were
to consist of te elements of topology and di erential geometry. And wile giving
tese lectures, I ad weekly conferences wit Saunders Mac Lane. He was most el
pful in initiating me into te spirit of te modern metods. By petition of te
students, tese lectures were continued during te spring quarter. In tese late
r lectures, I used Trautmanfs Brandeis Lectures as my principal text. Trautman vi
sited me for a few days in May. And Penrose spent tree weeks in June and July.
Trautman gave tree lectures on is ideas on conservation laws in general relati
vity; and Penrose gave a series of six lectures on is metod of spin coe cients.
Teir visits were unusually stimulating to me and to my students. During te spr
ing and summer monts I began an investigation of te oscillations of rotating m
ass in te post Newtonian teory. But te Newtonian teory ad to be understood r
st. And since Norman was interested in a related problem, we agreed to work toge
ter on tis pase of te problem. Tis work was completed in August. Ten I wor
ked out te corresponding teory in te post Newtonian framework. But tat paper
remains to be written (in June 1968). Also during te fall, I started looking s
eriously into te problem of te post post Newtonian teory. Te basic equations
were derived, togeter wit Nutku, in November; and in December, wile in Austi
n (Texas) for a Dirac Symposium, I was able to locate te conserved density in te
post post Newtonian teory.
82
But te isolation of te oter conserved quantities ad proved di cult. Moreover,
te completion of my Ellipsoidal Figures of Equilibrium ad been a constant preo
ccupation during August 1967 April 1968. Looking back over te past eigt years s
ince completing my Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability, I nd tat te period
as been one of constant distraction, interruption, and frustration. It was not
possible to pursue a single teme wit a single mind. Te alternation between g
eneral relativity and te classical ellipsoids, te feeling of obligation interf
ering wit wat one wanted to pursue, and te growing responsibility associated
wit te Astropysical Journal, all ad contributed teir sare. June 1968
July & Aug. 1968
I ad been worried all winter and spring ow I was going to determine te conser
ved quantities in te second post Newtonian approximation. In te framework of t
e rst post Newtonian approximation, I ad succeeded in isolating tem essentiall
y by a process of inspection; tis was possible since te equations of motions w
ere su ciently simple tat wit some familiarity wit tem one could feel ones way
towards te necessary manipulations. Te equations in te second post Newtonian
approximation were far too complicated to ope tat one could succeed similarly
in its context as well. And sometime in May or June, it occurred to me tat wat
was needed was an algorism tat will avoid te necessity of intuitive or trick
manipulations. Once te need for suc an algorism was realized, te idea tat on
e must, for tis purpose, turn to te pseudo tensors was a natural one. I was rst
inclined to favor te Einstein pseudo tensor: I suppose because I ad known it!
But I soon abandoned it and turned to te LandauLifsitz pseudo tensor: It ad t
e clear advantage tat its use required no separate calculation for isolating t
e conserved angular momentum.

83
All tese facts gradually became clear to me and in July (wit my students Nutku
and Greenberg safely dispatced to te Brandeis Summer Scool!) I started on t
e evaluation of te LandauLifsitz complex. Since te idea ad rst to be tested, i
t was important to ceck it in te framework of te rst post Newtonian approximat
ion in wic te conserved quantities ad already been isolated. Te rst quantity
to evaluate was of course t00 and 00 . On evaluating 00 and comparing it ith the
conerved matter energy denity, c2 u0 g, the need to de ne the notion of the equal
ity of two quantities modulo dive gence became clea . And the fact also eme ged
that 00 c2 u0 g de nes, modulo dive gence, the ene gy conse ved in the lowe app oima
tion: in the st post Newtonian app oimation, the quantity isolated tu ned out t
o be the conse ved ene gy in the Newtonian app oimation. I then ealized that t
he evaluation of 00 and c2 u0 g in the f amewo k of the second post Newtonian app o
imation will dete mine the conse ved ene gy in the st post Newtonian app oimat
ion: a ci cumstance which would p ovide a valuable check on the whole p ocedu e.
The net quantity I evaluated was 0 still in the rst postNewtonin pproximtion;
nd it ws esy to verify tht 0 , modulo divergence, greed with the conserved li
ner momentum tht I hd isolted erlier. Then roceeding to the second ost-New
tonin roximtion, I veri ed tht 00 c2 u0 g evaluated in this app oimation did i
ndeed ag ee, modulo dive gence, with the conse ved ene gy of the st post Newtoni
an app oimation. All of the fo egoing was done du ing July and p io to going t
o Seattle. I was the efo e able to give an account of these esults in my lectu
es at the Battelle Institute. I thought that Dyson was pe haps the pe son most
esponsive to my app oach. Kip was gently c itical; Ba deen seemed to indicate th
at he knew it all; and Taub was plainly i itated that he had not thought of it
all in the st place: they we e, as he said, almost implicit in his pape s.
84
Sept. & Oct. 1968
Retu ning to Chicago in late August, I asked Nutku st to check all the calculati
ons I had ca ied out du ing his absence. Then we sta ted on the mountain of cal
culations that had to be scaled to isolate all of the conse ved quantities in th
e second post Newtonian app oimation. The o de in which we ca ied out the cal
culations was about as follows: (i) Since 00 hd lredy been evluted, 0 ws cle
rly the
untity next in order of riority. Evluting it, I ws surrised tht
it could not be reduced, modulo divergence, to
untity con ned only to the volu
me occuied by the uid. The
uestion rose: Is this eculirity of the rticul
r guge in which the eld e
utions hd been solved? Or might it be tht in noth
er guge 0 could be reduced, modulo divergence, to
untity con ned to the volume
occuied by the uid? The deendence of the conserved
untities on the choice of
guge ws therefore to be investigted. It ws not di cult to show tht 00 c2 u0 g was
independent of the gauge chosen in the second post Newtonian app oimation; thi
s independence is clea ly necessa y since it efe s to a quantity conse ved in t
he lowe app oimation. But on evaluating 0 in generl guge, it seemed t rst th
t by no choice of guge cn the conserved momentum be reduced, modulo divergenc
e, to the volume occuied by the uid. This ws n error tht ws corrected lter.
A guge with the re
uired roerty does exist. Corresondence with Professor St
chel ws helful in eliminting the originl error. (ii) We next exmined how t
he derived e
utions of motion deended on the choice of guge. To our surrise,
we found tht the e
ution s derived ws formlly vlid in ll guges. (iii) I
n view of the fct tht the conserved liner momentum ws not, in the chosen gu
ge, con ned to the uid, the
uestion of i i the reltionshi between the e
utions, ,i
=0 nd T;i=0 , rose. Agin the reltionshi ws rst studied in the frmework of
the rst ostNewtonin roximtion since t appropriate to this approximation requi
red a knowledge of the Christo el symols in the second post-Newtonian approximati
on.

85
Jan. 1969
The (, )-component of the pseudo-tensors appropriate to the rst post-Newtonian appr
oximation, i.e. to O(c2) was the efo e evaluated using the full knowledge of the
Ch isto el symbols dete mined in the second post Newtonian app oimation. And the
ema kable fact eme ged that all te ms of O(c2 ) in t which were derived from an ex
plicit knowledge of the second post-Newtonian approximation cancelled separately
. This was clearly a result of considerale signi cance for the evaluation of t in t
he higher approximations. A further fact that emerged was that in the rst postNew
tonian approximation the equations satis ed y i nd T i were identicl. (iv) The nex
t
uestion tht ws to be decided ws whether the identity of the e
utions sti
s ed by i nd T i ws mintined in the second ost-Newtonin roximtion s well.
The evlution of t to O(c4 ) is ve y long and tedious; and the eduction of i the e
ution ,i=0 ; inclusive of terms of O(c4 )) equally long. They we e ca ied out b
ut the accidental omission of a single te m in the evaluation of resulted in the e
quations satis ed y i nd T i being di erent. The ossibility tht this discrency m
y be due to n error in the evlution of was rst suggested to us y Dr. Estarook.
When the error was corrected the equations did agree. (v) The last remaining qu
antity to evaluate was the conserved energy in the second post-Newtonian approxi
mation. The evaluation of this quantity requires the knowledge of g appropriate fo
r the third post-Newtonian approximation. Most of the requisite calculations wer
e carried out prior to our departure to India. What was left was completed after
our return. And the entire theory was ready to e written up y Christmas. I sh
ould add that during the fall quarter I had devoted a larger part of my course o
n relativity to post-Newtonian methods. Before I could start writing up my paper
s on the conservation laws in general relativity and on the second post-Newtonia
n approximation, I had to write rst the paper on the Darwin ellipsoid and
86
A Scienti c Autoiography: S. Chandrasekhar
Fe. 1969
March 1969
May & June 1969
the last section of the ook. The discovery at this time of errors in my analysi
s of the coupled modes of oscillation of the Darwin ellipsoid was a source of co
nsiderale distraction. Also my Richtmyer Lecture had to e written up efore th
e end of January. With all these pressures, only the paper on the conservation l
aws (XV) was written in January. The organization of the paper on the second pos
t-Newtonian approximation was not an easy matter: some 400 odd pages of calculat
ions had to e astracted and summarized. Most of Feruary was taken up with it.
My paper on the second post-Newtonian approximation (XVI) was written jointly w
ith Nutku. I ought to state here that Nutkus collaoration with me on this paper
was e ective and essential. Nutku was enthusiastic and keen; and much of the long
and laorious calculations were carried out and checked y each of us in turn. W
ith the many distractions I had to contend with, and with my low spirits general
ly, I dout if this long and di cult work would have een completed without Nutkus
youthful enthusiasm. In March, I wrote out the variational principle I had deriv
ed (a year earlier) for the oscillations of a uniformly rotating mass in the rst
post-Newtonian approximation. This paper (XVII) was my contriution to the Wentz
el Festschrift which Namu and Freund were preparing. Aout this time, all the gal
ley proofs of my Ellipsoidal Figures of Equilirium had also een read; and so i
t was with some relief that I welcomed my visit to Pisa where I was to participa
te in a small conference on pulsars: it gave me one free day in Florence. The co
mpletion of the second post-Newtonian approximation left the determination of th
e radiation-reaction terms that must appear in the next one-half-approximation a
s the last major prolem to solve. Some months earlier Kip Thorne had visited Ch
icago and had given a seminar on the weak eld limit of his exact theory of non-ra
dial oscillations of neutron stars. It ecame clear from his

87
July & Aug. 1969
discussion that the Sommer ed radiation condition at in nity must somehow e applied
to start the 2 1 -post-Newtonian approximation. 2 But I was not in complete sym
pathy with Kips approach. I tried to read Peres papers in which he claimed to have
determined the radiation-reaction terms in the framework of the original Einste
in lnfeldHo mann theory in agreement with the predictions of the linearized theory o
f gravitational radiation. I could make no sense of his papers. At last, I came
upon Trautmans 1958 paper in the Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences; and
I also recalled his Kings College Lecture notes in which the same ideas were also
descried. Trautmans program made sense to me; and I was convinced aout its ess
ential soundness. I could roadly see the outlines of the theory that would emer
ge. I was extremely anxious to work out some of the details efore the Cincinnat
i Conference on general relativity at which I was scheduled to give an account o
f my post-Newtonian work. My con dence in the eventual outcome of the theory was s
o great that I gave a rief description of my ideas at the farewell seminar orga
nized y Namu for Wentzel. I had talked aout this particular prolem to Wentze
l over the years; and I thought that it would e appropriate to present the solu
tion at the last of his weekly seminars. By the time of the Cincinnati Conferenc
e I had worked out some of the analytical results; and I gave an outline of the
new theory in my lecture. But as it turned out I was at that time under a misapp
rehension aout the total correctness of Trautmans procedure. On returning from t
he Cincinnati Conference, I egan to develop the theory of the 2 1 -post-Newtoni
an approximation with care. 2 It soon ecame clear that I was not getting the re
quired agreement with the linearized theory. And I realized that, contrary to my
earlier elief, Trautmans nal result was also in contradiction with the linearize
d theory. Clearly there was something wrong. I was puzzled y this discrepancy s
ince I had acquired y this time total conviction in the essential correctness o
f Trautmans asic ideas. Then on
88
a Sunday (August 24) when I was trying to go over in my mind the di erent steps in
Trautmans reasoning, it ashed on me that he was wrong in working with the energy
momentum tensor T ij : he should have een working with the Landau complex ij . I
recst my results in terms of ij ; the rst result tht emerged ws most surrisin
g: 00 0 the 2 1 -ost-Newtonin terms do not contribute to 3 nd 4 . At 2 rst, this
seemed to be ctstrohe; but soon it becme cler tht 00 0 the vnishing of 3
nd 4 re bsolutely essentil for the logicl consistency of the theory! With th
e rdition-rection terms uni
uely nd unmbiguously determined, it did not tk
e very long to show tht the redicted rtes of dissition of energy nd of ng
ulr momentum were consistent with the linerized theory of grvittionl rdit
ion. The lst remining roblem ws to determine the contribution 1 of the 2 2 ost-Newtonin roximtion to the conserved energy. Some delicte
uestions conc
erning convergence hd to be nswered. But with the bsic con dence in the correct
ness of the theory, it ws not di cult to resolve ll of them. By erly Setember,
it ered tht there were no loose threds hnging. And it ws ossible to wr
ite u the nl er (XVIII) on the 2 1 -ost-Newtonin roximtion s well s
my 2 er (XIX) for the Proceedings of the Cincinnti Conference just in time t
o llow weeks holidy in Ce Cod before the beginning of the new
urter. 1 Th
e comletion of this er on the 2 2 -ost-Newtonin roximtion brings to n
end roject I hd formulted for myself in 1962 t the Wrsw Conference on g
enerl reltivity. And over the yers I never lost sight of my bsic objective.
I only wish tht I hd not been so constntly distrcted tht I could hve rriv
ed t this stge of my understnding of generl reltivity few yers erlier.
November 1969
Generl Reltivity (19621969)

89
Postscrit Once the rdition-rection terms hd been determined, it ws cler t
ht the highest riority hd to be given to the solution of the following two r
oblems. (1) How does the Jcobi ellisoid evolve by virtue of the fct tht it m
ust rdite grvittionlly? (2) Does the dissition of energy by grvittionl
rdition induce, in the mnner of viscosity, seculr instbility of the Mcl
urin sheroid t the oint of bifurction with the Jcobin se
uence? (Ostriker
hd rised the ltter
uestion with me some months erlier.) I sked Esosito t
o look into these roblems. His fmilirity with the viril techni
ues ws not s
u cient to mke ny rogress; nd I myself could not return to their considertion
before the Christms recess. And I ws nxious to comlete the solution of the
two roblems before the nnul Americn Physicl Society meeting in Chicgo lte
in Jnury. (At this meeting I ws to chir session on grvittionl rditio
n.) Strting to think bout the roblem during the Christms holidys, I soon re
lized tht the rst roblem to resolve ws the trnsformtion to uniformly rot
ting frme the
untity dn I/dtn (n = 2, 3, 4, 5) occurring in the rdition-re
ction terms nd exressed in n inertil frme. The method to be used ws clerl
y n dttion of tht (due to Lebovitz) described in Chter IV of my E.F.E. A
nd I ws surrised tht in the context of wht I needed the re
uired trnsformt
ion could be written out exlicitly. With the single technicl roblem resolved, t
here ws no dif culty in writing out the e
ution which determines the evolution o
f the Jcobi ellisoid by grvittionl rdition. And Donn integrted the e
u
tion in two di erent wys to ensure the correctness. However, the determintion of
the recise symtotic behvior s the Jcobi ellisoid roched the non-rdi
ting stte t the oint of bifurction ws
uite unexectedly troublesome. The
di culties were eventully resolved fter fruitful discussion over lunch with No
rmn Lebovitz. Turning next to the roblem of the toroidl oscilltions of the M
clurin sheroid llowing for rdition rection, I found tht the
90
A Scienti c Autobiogrhy: S. Chndrsekhr
solution could be e ected without ny rel di culty. But I ws concentrting so excl
usively on the mode tht becomes neutrl t the oint of bifurction tht fter
hving solved the roblem, I overlooked the crucil fct tht the mode which bec
omes seculrly unstble is not the one which becomes neutrl but the one which
c
uires the fre
uency 2 at te point of bifurcation. And te rst version of te pa
per I sent to te Pysical Review Letters stated wrongly tat gravitational radi
ation does not induce secular instability. (A fact of some interest in tis conn
ection is tat bot Jim Bardeen and Kip Torne tougt tat gravitational radiat
ion sould not be expected to induce instabilities; and tey were smug about te
result as I ten stated.) However, two weeks later I realized my orrible overs
igt; and a completely corrected manuscript was sent to te Editors. Since te L
etter ad not been set in type, I tougt tat te printed version would be enti
rely correct. But in spite of all te care I took, te proofreader failed to not
ice tat te last sentence of te abstract ad been canged. Te result was tat
te abstract in te publised version states a result contrary to wat is estab
lised in te main text. An erratum was publised two weeks later. But tis unfo
rtunate episode succeeded in killing all te joy tat tere migt ave been in e
stablising a result wic I believe is of considerable importance for te probl
em of gravitational collapse. April 1970
Te Fallow Period (19701974)

1970
July August
Te demonstration of te secular instability of te Maclaurin speroid by a Dede
kind mode induced by gravitational radiationreaction, toug it was to play an e
nduring role in subsequent developments, ended anticlimactically (as I ave writ
ten earlier). It foresadowed a long period of disappointments of many kinds: bu
t tese were yet to unfold. Wit te work on te post Newtonian approximation ca
rried out as far as I cared, it was necessary to tink about te directions in w
ic I sould proceed. Partially on tis account I arranged a summer scool wit C
arter, Ellis and Geroc for te monts of July and August. Te two monts of te
summer scool turned out to be very strenuous: wit tree lectures and a semina
r every week. I worked out a full set of notes for te lectures by Geroc and El
lis wit te ope tat tey migt be elpful in formulating my own future scient
i c plans. It did not turn out tat way. In fact, already in July it occurred to m
e tat a systematic investigation of axisymmetric perturbations of rotating syst
ems would be a wortwile undertaking. In particular, I felt certain tat a form
ula for 2 for lo rotation,
91
92
can be obtained, exactly a in the Netonian theory, i.e.
2 2 2 = 0 + 2 1
September
here 0 i the value appropriate for the radial ocillation of the non rotating
tar and 1 depend only on the proper olution belonging to 0 and the pherically
ymmetric part of the ditortion caued by the rotation. I a aare that the de
velopment ould re
uire elaborate algebraic ork and I thought that John Friedm
an, ho a completing hi rt year a a graduate tudent, might be helpful. So I
explained the program to him aking him if he ould like to collaborate ith me
on the ork and arning him that it ould be a full to year project and ould
re
uire that he accompany me to Oxford in 1972. I alo told him that I could not
promie to tart on the ork before October and that he hould prepare himelf
meantime. Friedman a reponive to the uggetion. To return to the ummer ch
ool, I arranged a eek rece during the lat eek of July in order that I could
go to St. Andre to give the opening theoretical talk on hite darf at an I.
A.U. Sympoium arranged by Luyten. (I really did not ant to participate; but I
felt obliged on account of Luyten.) The ummer chool ended on the lat Friday o
f Augut ith a luxuriou fareell tea arranged by Peride. And on Sunday e ere
to leave for England: to give the opening addre to an International Conferenc
e on Radiative Tranfer at Oxford on the folloing Tueday and for a to eek ho
liday in Cornall and the Moor. It a a di cult matter turning my thought aay
from relativity and to radiative tranfer a ubject on hich I had not talked fo
r ome tenty year. Finally on Sunday afternoon, I called Norman to come to hea
r me attempt a rehearal of my talk. In that ay, I thought I could be forced in
to thinking about the ubject or at leat get into a more reponive tate of mi
nd. Norman a agreeable; and the e ort to talk conecutively for an hour a very
helpful. That a my only preparation. We left later that evening for London an
d arrived in Oxford late on Monday afternoon; and my talk a cheduled for the
folloing morning. To my coniderable
The Fallo Period (19701974)

93
October November
December
urprie, I found that once I tarted to talk, the enthuiam of the fortie cam
e back to me. It a probably one of the more elo
uent lecture that I have given.
I concluded by thanking the audience for their patience ith an ancient mariner!
We left before the end of the conference on our to eek holiday in Cornall, Da
rtmoor and Exmoor. The alk along the coat from Larmona Cove to Land End i ti
ll freh in my memory. We returned to Chicago late in September and I plunged in
to the variou matter that had to be attended preparatory to my retirement from
the Editorhip of the Atrophyical Journal by March 31, 1971. I hall not go i
nto thee matter here: they form a eparate tory. At the ame time, to prepare
myelf for the ork on axiymmetric ytem, I devoted my fall lecture on gene
ral relativity to Cartan calculu. I ac
uired u cient familiarity ith the modern
method by deriving the Scharzchild and Oppenheimer Snyder olution by the c
alculu of exterior di erential form. I alo orked out the variou e
uation app
ropriate to tationary axiymmetric ytem. By early December I a ready to em
bark on my projected ork on axiymmetric ytem. I orked out the variou eld e
uation auming the ame form for the metric a in the tationary cae but let
ting the variou metric coe cient to be function of time a ell. In other ord
, I orked ith the metric d2 = e2 (dt)2 + e2 (d t)2 + e22 (x2 )2 + e23 (x3 )2 ,
ere , , , 2 an 3 ere alloe to be functions of x2 , x3 an t. At this stage I i
not realize that this as not the most general form of the metric that one must
use. Nevertheless, orking ith this special case i help in the eventual unrav
eling of the problem. With the beginning of the Ne Year, I as anxious to make
some progress before I turne to other matters that require attention. So setti
ng 2 = 3 Frieman an I trie to erive a variational principle for axisymmetric o
scillations of a uniformly rotating star. After many false starts, e ere able
to cast the expression for 2 in a ymmetric form. While the analyi a rong i
n detail
January 1971
94
February March
becaue e ere not orking ith the mot general form of the metric e did unde
rtand the di erent role of the initial value and the dynamical e
uation. In par
ticular, e undertood the role of the e
uation enuring the conervation of
entropy, baryon number and angular momentum, beide the other hich derive fro
m the eld e
uation themelve. With the variational principal derived albeit in
it retricted form I felt con dent that the back of the problem had been broken.
So I aked Friedman to ork out the general cae (i.e. 2 = 3 ) and derive the gener
al variational principle. He ucceeded in deriving a ymmetric form, but it a c
lear that he a not enitive to elegance: he had paid little attention to the re
uirement that the formulae mut at all tage manifetly reduce to the earlier
ork if 2 a et e
ual to 3 ; and hi formulae did not manifetly atify thi re
uirement. But I had to put thi matter aide and turn toother hich re
uired i
mmediate attention. Beide inding up the a air of the journal, I had three pape
r to rite before the end of March hen e ere due to go to India. To of the
e paper ere related to my earlier ork on the potNetonian deformation of th
e Maclaurin and the Jacobi ellipoid. In the earlier paper, I had not normalize
d the pot Netonian con guration ith repect to the Netonian con guration for e
ual angular momentum and baryon number. Toard thi end Bardeen had redone my M
aclaurin ork, ab initio, by a ne method. I a anxiou to ho that the renorm
alization could e
ually be e ected by upplementing my earlier ork ith ome elem
entary calculation; and alo that the ame method could be extended to renorma
lize the Jacobian gure a ell, particularly a Bardeen felt that he a not up t
o it. Actually, hi method ould not ucceed for the Jacobian ellipoid: they
ere too pecial. The re
uiite calculation had been carried out by Donna during
the ummer and the fall; and I ihed the paper to be ritten up before the en
d of March. Beide, a paper for the Synge Fetchrift a due at the ame time. I
had decided during the ummer that I ould redo my 1938 paper on compoite con gu
ration coniting of iothermal core and

95
April May June
July
homogeneou envelope in the frameork of general relativity and ho that the p
iraling of the ma radiu curve one nd in general relativity ha a claical ba
i. The re
uiite integration had alo been carried out during January and Feb
ruary; and the paper had to be ritten. Thee three paper took mot of February
and March. (I ent a preprint of the paper on the relativitic iothermal ga
phere to Martin Scharzchild ith the incription, Dedicated to the memory of Ka
rl Scharzchild, Robert Emden and Edard Arthur Milne ith repectful admiratio
n by the u and v function.) With the three paper ritten and ith the Atrophy
ical Journal changing editorhip on March 31, e left for Bombay ith a conide
rable ene of relief. Apart from a eek in Bombay, I viited Bangalore here La
dy Raman hoed me around the Raman Intitute and Ramaehan told me in detail o
f Raman lat day: extremely intructive and touching in many ay. The to mont
h after our return from India ere full of ditraction: a coure on Mathematic
al Phyic, the meeting of the National Academy of Science at the end of April,
and the Convocation Addre in June. So it a only after the end of the
uarte
r that I could reume ork on axiymmetric ytem; and earnetly only during th
e three eek in July at the Maachuett Intitute of Technology ith C. C. Li
n group. The rt thing that a on my agenda hen I got to the Maachuett Int
itute of Technology a to reduce the expreion for 2 into a elf adjoint form
hen 2 = 3 but till not on the mot general form for the metric. By carefully fol
loing the treatment in the cae 2 = 3 , it a poible to cat the expreion fo
r 2 in a form hich a not more complicated than in the cae of e
uality. Thi
a about all I could do during the three eek at the Maachuett Intitute o
f Technology. Returning to Chicago by the end of July, I had jut about a month
before leaving for our three month at the California Intitute of Technology. A
nd again during thi month I had to devote my attention to other matter.
96
Augut
September October November
Firt, there a the matter of collating ome ide ork on the application of th
e tenor virial theorem to tellar dynamic hich I had been puruing ince our
return from Cornall. I had alay been intereted in the application of the ten
or virial theorem to the problem of collape of pherical and pheroidal ytem
. The di erential e
uation for a cluter collaping ith a uniform denity i eay
enough to rite. One ha to integrate a pair of coupled ordinary di erential e
ua
tion. Donna had been integrating thee e
uation for variou initial condition
in her pare time all during the fall, inter and pring. It remained to aemb
le the reult and rite the paper; and thi I did. Another paper I rote during
thi month expree my on attitude to the Derivation of Eintein E
uation. Ove
r the year i.e. ince 1962 I had gradually developed a peronal approach to the
matter; and I thought that it might be ueful to put it on record. Trautman had
encouraged me to rite it: he appeared ympathetic to my point of vie. During
my time at the Maachuett Intitute of Technology, I had orked carefully thr
ough Hartle paper on the e
uation governing loly rotating mae in general r
elativity. I had done it primarily a a preparation to nding the e ect of lo rota
tion on the onet of dynamical tability. While tudying Hartle paper, it occurr
ed to me that it ould be orthhile to ork out the tructure of loly rotatin
g homogeneou mae in general relativity ince that ould enable one to tudy
the e ect of rotation at more intene gravitational eld than are poible ith mo
re conventional neutron tar model: homogeneou con guration can exit don to R
= (1.125)2 GM/c2 hile neutron tar model become untable already hen R = (2
2.5)2 GM/c2. I had alo derived the baic e
uation appropriate for the cae of
uniform energy denity at thi time. Thi a to be one of my ide project for
the next to year. By the rt of September e ere in Paadena. At long lat, I
could concentrate on the ork on axiymmetric ytem hich had been interrupted
o often. The rt thing to do a to pecialize

97
the reult e had obtained for the cae of lo rotation. Several overight an
d miundertanding had to be corrected: for example, the urface integral hic
h had been o cavalierly ignored had to be included and carefully examined. Alo
, the reult had to manifetly agree ith the variational expreion for radial
ocillation hen 2 is set equal to zero. (Even so, te expression was not; reduc
ed at tat time to its most practical form in wic te integrations are con ned t
o te volume occupied by te uid; tis was accomplised muc later.) Te next que
stion tat ad to be settled, once and for all, was te one tat ad been gnawin
g me from te beginning, namely, was te metric tat I was using te most genera
l one? Actually, some discussions wit Trautman earlier in spring ad in fact pr
ovided me wit te rigt clues; but I did not follow tem at te time. Wen I be
gan seriously to contend wit tis question, te relevance of Trautmans remarks b
ecame clear and I realized at last tat te form of te metric wit wic I sou
ld work was ds2 = e2 (dt2 ) + e2 (d t q2 d2 q3 d3 )2 + e23 (d2 )2 + e23 (d3
ith the additional est iction that w, q2 , and q3 occu only in the combination
s q2 2, t q3 3 t and q3 q3 2. 3
The gene alization of the ea lie wo k to allow fo the additional te ms in the
met ic was elatively st aightfo wa d though many of the subtleties became clea
only as the months went by. The net matte to be conce ned with was the isolat
ion of the va iable which ca ied the info mation on the emitted adiation. Fo
this pu pose, I evaluated the Landau comple following Co nishs p esc iption. How
eve , when the time came to etu n to Chicago, all the questions had not been fu
lly cla i ed. The stay at the Califo nia Institute of Technology was p ofitable. I
had no inte uptions; and the fact that all the ast onome s avoided me actually
cont ibuted to my ecove ing some sanity. I did
98
Decembe
1972
Feb ua y Ma ch
Ap il
get to know Kip Thomes students, pa ticula ly P ess and Teukolsky. One unpleasant
inte lude was my having to go into su ge y fo a fou th he nia ope ation. We e
tu ned to Chicago by the st of Decembe . Du ing this month, I t ied to w ite up
the wo k that had been completed up to that time as two pape s. The st pape was
to assemble the basic equations; and the second pape was to be devoted to the
va iational p inciple and its eduction in the case of slow otation. The second
pape was also to obtain the gene al c ite ion fo the occu ence of a neut al
mode. I thought that the latte c ite ion could be obtained by eimposing the ga
uge condition (2 3 ) = 0 allowed unde stationa y conditions. But this was an e o
that was co ected only late in Ofo d. In any event, the two pape s we e w it
ten and sent to the Ast ophysical Jou nal, just p io to ou depa tu e on 2nd Ja
nua y fo ou si months in Ofo d. I felt ve y ti ed du ing my st month in Ofo
d. But the whole quietness of the Ofo d atmosphe e and the walks down the Tham
es had an eno mously soothing e ect. By Feb ua y, it became clea that the manne
in which we had made the passage to the neut al mode was not satisfacto y in fac
t w ong! John aised many objections; but it was not clea to me what was p ecis
ely w ong. Du ing a visit to Camb idge, we had a long discussion with Ca te and
Schutz but without esolving the matte . Finally, one day I a gued the matte c
losely with John; and in this way I was able to locate the p ecise place whe e t
he a gument had gone ast ay. Once the e o was located, it was not di cult to es
olve the enti e matte . The solution as given in the published pape was obtaine
d late that same day. The second pape was evised and esubmitted in Ma ch. Be
fo e going on to the p oblem of how to inco po ate adiation, it seemed that ou
condition fo a neut al mode specialized to vacuum met ics should yield Ca te s
theo em. It was Johns insistence that the e was an identity he e that must be iso
lated that led to the eventual solution. This pape was w itten and submitted in
Ap il. It
The Fallow Pe iod (19701974)

99
May June
July August
was also in Ap il that I gave my talk on the stability of elativistic systems a
t the Royal Ast onomical Society. Net, I began to think of the Halley Lectu e t
hat I was to give in May. The Lectu e was to be, On the Inc easing Role of Gene a
l Relativity in Ast onomy. We went to I eland the week befo e the Lectu e to pa t
icipate in a function a anged by the I ish Academy in hono of Synges 70th bi th
day; and fo a sho t holiday afte wa d d iving ac oss I eland. We had left ou c
a at Heath ow; and coming out of the ga age onto the main highway, I had a ve y
bad accident: a ca coming down the highway c ashed into ou s. By the shee est
accident, none was hu t. The back of ou ca was completely dest oyed. This was
on Satu day evening; and my Halley Lectu e was scheduled fo Tuesday. It was my
intention (p io to leaving fo I eland) to devote the enti e Sunday and Monday
to w iting out the Lectu e. Thinking back, I am still astonished, that afte the
shock of the accident, I was able to concent ate and w ite my Lectu e as I had
planned. Du ing May and June, the e we e two p oblems which occupied me. The st
was to inco po ate p ope ly, in the va iational p inciple we had de ived, the su
face integ als ep esenting the emission of g avitational adiation. The p inci
pal p oblem he e was to obtain the co ect asymptotic behavio s of the va ious m
et ic coe cients; and John and I had esolved most of the di culties; but the e we e
still some questions elating to the Landau comple. Meantime, it had occu ed
to me that the condition fo the occu ence of neut al modes app op iate fo bif
u cation by a Dedekind mode could be obtained by a st aightfo wa d t ansc iption o
f the analysis of the time dependent aisymmet ic case. The e is a simple ecip
ocity between the equations gove ning azimuth independent stationa y systems and
time dependent aisymmet ic systems. This ecip ocity is fundamental. That is a
bout whe e I had got by the time ou Ofo d pe iod came to an end. We etu ned f
om Ofo d du ing the last week of June. Since we we e to go to Athens (to give
an invited talk at the Fi st
100
Septembe
Eu opean Meeting of the I.A.U.), Thessaloniki (to visit Contopoulos), and T iest
e (to attend the Symposium in hono of Di acs 70th bi thday), I had just about tw
o months to clea up a numbe of things. The st item on the agenda was to comple
te Pape IV of the se ies on aisymmet ic systems. This pape was to discuss the
way the va iational p inciple is to be used when allowance is made fo the emis
sion of g avitational adiation. The basic calculations had al eady been made; b
ut consistency with the equi ements of the LandauLifshitz comple had not been e
stablished. Afte some ha d thinking, the matte was esolved and it was possibl
e to send the pape o just p io to ou depa tu e to Eu ope. But the main p oblem
that inte ested me at this time was to asce tain whethe along the Ke sequenc
e the e was a point at which a neut al non aisymmet ic mode of defo mation was
possible. I had established the condition fo this in July and had found that th
e integ ands dive ged on the stationa y limit. And it was my idea at this time t
hat one must simply set the pe tu bations to be identically equal to ze o inside
the e gosphe e. I was not su e whethe setting eve ything equal to ze o inside
the e gosphe e by fact was justi ed; and I wanted to take the occasion of the meet
ing in T ieste to discuss this question with the elativists. Fo the same easo
n, I decided to visit Ehle s in Munich du ing the week between the visit to G ee
ce and the meeting in T ieste. But the discussions p oved inconclusive; and inde
ed, et ospectively, I believe that I made a se ious e o in t ying to get the
advice of othe s. (I still believe that my o iginal idea is co ect and that it
must be pu sued.) Meantime, John wished to dissociate himself f om these e o ts si
nce he was not in sympathy with my views in fact, his pa t in ou collabo ation
had e ectively ceased by this time. Both in Munich and in T ieste, I epeatedly qu
estioned a numbe of elativists (including Wheele , Dese , Ehle s, T autman, Re
es and Pe sides) whethe the e was anything basically w ong in setting the pe tu
bations identically equal to ze o inside the e gosphe e and allowing a disconti
nuity in the second de ivatives of pe tu bed

101
Octobe Novembe Decembe
1973
Ap il
met ic coe cients on the stationa y limit. The esponse was mostly to the e ect that
it was pe missible; but it was clea to me that none of those whom I questioned
eally unde stood the natu e of my conce n. In T ieste, I was to give a talk on
the Ast ophysicists View of the Unive se. The talk was essentially a epetition of
my Halley Lectu e. I also had to give a b ief talk on Fe mi. F om the eactions
that we e ep essed, the talk on Fe mi was the g eate success! Retu ning to Ch
icago, I had seve al p oblems in mind. The st was to complete the pape with F i
edman on the C ite ion fo the Occu ence of a Dedekind like Point of Bifu cation
Along a Sequence of Aisymmet ic Systems. At this stage, it occu ed to me that
one should develop an analogous c ite ion in the Newtonian f amewo k, pa ticula
ly, fo di e entially otating systems. I discussed the p oblem with No man sugges
ting that we might collabo ate on de iving the c ite ion. And, of cou se, I was
constantly and continually t oubled by my ideas on the Ke met ic. At this time
, I also decided to emba k on dete mining the post Newtonian defo mation of the
Dedekind ellipsoid. The yea ended with the pape with F iedman completed in its
essentials. And No man had shown that the conse vation of u0 pe ba yon in gene
al elativity is eplaced by the Be noulli integ al in the Newtonian theo y; an
d the p ospect of getting a Newtonian analogue of the elativistic c ite ion see
med assu ed. On the Ke met ic, I had de ived the se ies epansions on the stat
iona y limit which made the pe tu bations and thei de ivatives vanish on the st
ationa y limit. That was how things stood when the yea ended. With the New Yea
, I decided that I should give p io ity to completing the two pape s (one with J
ohn and the othe with No man) on the c ite ion fo a Dedekind like point of bif
u cation on the elativistic and the Newtonian f amewo ks. And the e was also pe
nding the eview of the Wigne Salam book (dedicated to Di ac) fo Contempo a y Ph
ysics. None of these tasks elicited any enthusiasm. With eluctance, I was able
to complete these th ee assignments du ing the month following the end of the qua
te .
102
May
June July
Besides, du ing the winte I had thought of gene alizing the wo k with No man to
obtain a c ite ion fo the onset of dynamical instability of di e entially otati
ng sta s by a quasi stationa y analysis. I asked No man if he would ca e to cont
inue to collabo ate with me on this etension. But he was not inte ested. Also t
he postNewtonian analysis of the Dedekind ellipsoids was not going too well: the
analysis tu ned out to be fa mo e subtle than I had thought; and my p og ess w
as th ough making one e o afte anothe . And on the Ke met ic, because I was
not nding much suppo t fo setting the pe tu bations inside the e gosphe e to be
ze o, I thought I would continue the solutions inside and see if the bounda y c
onditions on the ho izon could be satis ed and this attempt, as it tu ned out, was
a mistake. In May, I had to go to Delhi in connection with the 100th annive sa
y celeb ations of the Unive sity of Delhi. Retu ning f om Delhi, I wanted to cle
a my desk befo e getting into the stability of the Ke met ic. Fi st, I concen
t ated on de iving a va iational ep ession in te ms of which one can isolate th
e onset of dynamical instability along a sequence of di e entially otating sta s.
The equi ed etension of the ea lie esults with No man tu ned out to be ve y
slight. On this account, I thought the pape should be a joint one; but No man
declined. Afte w iting this pape , I tu ned to the p oblem of slowly otating h
omogeneous masses in gene al elativity. I had sta ted on this p oblem two yea s
ea lie . While at Ofo d, I had suggested to one of Sciamas g aduate students, M
ille , that he could get his teeth into elativistic ast ophysics by wo king wit
h me on this p oblem. Since I had al eady wo ked out the fo mal theo y, his p ob
lem was to unde stand the theo y as I had wo ked out, make it mo e eplicit, and
put the equations on a compute . Mille was ve y conscientious and analyzed the
p oblem, both analytically and nume ically, much mo e tho oughly than was my in
tention. In any event, he had done mo e than his sha e and by June he had sent m
e all of his wo k. I collated the enti e mate ial and sent the pape to the Mont
hly Notices. By the time the two pape s we e w itten, we

103
August
Octobe
1974
Janua y
had to leave fo Aspen whe e we we e to spend a month du ing July and August. In
Aspen, I concent ated on educing the va iational p inciple we had de ived app
op iately fo the non adial oscillations of sta s and fo the Schwa zschild bla
ck hole; and looking fu the into the stability of the Ke met ic. I wanted to
get my ideas clea in p epa ation fo the talk I was to give at the Cope nicus S
ymposium in Wa saw in Septembe . I made some p og ess. The peace I had hoped fo
in Aspen was shatte ed by Lalithas accident esulting in a b oken ankle. It happ
ened while we we e up in the mountains; and with no one a ound to help us, it wa
s a shatte ing epe ience. Fo tunately, the b eak was a clean one and the accide
nt was not by any means as se ious as it might have been. But the accident did
equi e ou cancelling the holiday in Poland that we had planned with the T autma
ns, afte the Symposium in Wa saw. Afte etu ning f om Aspen, I had time only t
o w ite out my Wa saw talk; and the matte of the Ke met ic was left inconclus
ive. It was clea f om the eaction to my talk at Wa saw that I was alone in thi
nking that the Ke sequence may bifu cate at some point. Retu ning f om Wa saw,
I nally decided to w ite my a ticle on black holes fo Contempo a y Physics whic
h had been p omised fo the p eceding Ch istmas. I did not feel su ciently enthusi
astic to go it my way in the Ke p oblem; and as a esult a long pe iod of inacti
vity followed. The only positive thing I did do du ing the fall was to nally eso
lve the matte of the post Newtonian Dedekind ellipsoids. The yea ended, as it
began, with doubts and f ust ations. And I found myself in the hospital by New Y
ea s Eve with angina pecto is. The New Yea began with the ealization that my at
tempt to confo m with the establishment in continuing the solutions, which vanish
on the stationa y limit, into the e gosphe e was a mistake: John had meantime sh
own to his satisfaction and appa ent delight that the non adiative solutions I
had found inside the e gosphe e can be eliminated by a gauge t ansfo mation. Cle
a ly, I should have
104
Feb ua y Ma ch
Ap il May
stayed with the position I had taken p io to the T ieste meeting. Now it looked
lame to go back to that position; but that is eally what I should have done an
d what I needed to do. But my spi it had been b oken; and I did not feel like emba
king on the la ge scale computing that would be necessa y to settle the questio
n. So that was that. In Feb ua y, I was able to w ite up the pape on the postNe
wtonian Dedekind ellipsoids. It was a long haul; and the nal esult that the solu
tion dive ges ve y soon afte the sequence bifu cates f om the Maclau in sequenc
e was a su p ise; and it could p ove to be an impo tant esult to have establish
ed. With the coming of sp ing, I wanted ve y badly to shake o the mood of pessimi
sm that had g adually engulfed me du ing the p eceding eighteen months. It seeme
d best to discontinue my e o ts towa ds p oving the instability of the Ke met ic
. I had a feeling of being imp isoned in my own ideas; and I wanted to b eak awa
y. Finally, one day in Ma ch, it occu ed to me that I should t y to identify th
e Ze illi function in my gauge and elate it to the Ba deen P ess equation, i.e.
the equation to which the Teukolsky equation educes in the limit a = 0. At st I
t ied the ReggeWheele method of nding a linea elation among the de ning scala s
by equi ing that the second o de eld equations follow f om the st o de equatio
ns. I found that this led nowhe e: the second o de equations we e identically s
atis ed by vi tue of the st o de equations. Finally, I used the gauge t ansfo mat
ion elating my scala s with the ReggeWheele scala s to nd out what Z is in te ms
of mine. Once the identi cation was made, it was st aightfo wa d enough to check
that it satis ed the Ze illi equation. The net p oblem was to elate the NewmanPen
ose 0 with Z. Fortunately, while at Oxford, I had checked Johns calculation relati
ng 0 with the scalars in our gauge. After some very elaorate calculations, it was
possile to relate 0 , rather a function (which is 0 times a simple factor), with
Z and its derivative. The prolem was now to derive the BardeenPress equation fr
om
The Fallow Period (19701974)

105
June
July August
Septemer
the Zerilli equation. It was at this stage that some extraordinary identities wh
ich lie concealed in the theory were disclosed. Meantime, I had also een thinki
ng how to determine the quasinormal modes of the Schwarzschild lack hole. Steve
Detweiler had independently een working on this prolem y directly integratin
g the Zerilli equation. It seemed to me that a etter way would e to transform
the wave equation to the Riccati form. Detweiler agreed to collaorate with me o
n this prolem; and during the month of July he was ale to complete this work.
We agreed that after his summer holidays in Europe, he would return to continue
to work with me in Septemer (efore our intended departure to Europe). During J
uly, I was occupied with the transformation of the Teukolsky equation in the axi
symmetric case to a one-dimensional wave equation. The rst steps were not di cult.
But the analysis yielded one less equation than the numer of functions that had
een introduced. There was clearly a considerale latitude in otaining the sol
ution. I made the simplest assumption consistent with what I knew to e true in
the Schwarzschild case and otained a solution of the equations. But on this met
hod, a quadrature was needed to otain the potential. I was not too happy with t
his result; ut was reconciled with it. My plan was to integrate this equation d
uring Septemer when Detweiler was to work with me. But then I had the heart att
ack which resulted in an immediate cancellation of our planned visit to Poland a
nd the six months in Munich afterwards. Detweiler came in early Septemer and we
went through the plan of integrating my equation to determine the Zerilli-potent
ial appropriate for Teukolskys equation in the axisymmetric case. Detweiler carrie
d out a large numer of integrations efore he left for Maryland y the end of S
eptemer. It was planned that he would return for a weeks work in early Novemer.
A minor piece of writing I had done earlier during the summer was an appreciati
on of Marian von Smoluchowski as the founder of the physics of stochastic phenome
na. This article was for a rochure which the Polish Physical Society was plannin
g to pulish in honor
106
Octoer
Novemer
Decemer
of its most distinguished physicist. I had written it at the request of Professo
r Ruinowicz. I was discharged from the hospital y mid-Septemer; and during th
e convalescence, I decided to rst write my two papers on the equations governing
the Schwarzschild and the Kerr lack holes; and then the joint paper on the quas
i-normal modes. I wrote the rst two papers during Octoer. Also, during Octoer I
wrote up my talk to the Innominates in April 1973, On Some Famous Men. It was Gom
ers idea that I should pulish my talk in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
The joint paper with Detweiler on the quasi-normal modes of the Schwarzschild l
ack hole was written during Novemer; ut it was not sent in efore early Decem
er. A surprising new turn to my ideas on the reduction of the Teukolsky equation
came when Detweiler announced that y making a set of assumptions di erent from m
ine he was ale to otain an analytic solution of the asic equations that gover
ned the transformation of the Teukolsky equation to a one-dimensional equation.
The interpretation of the new solution was y no means clear since there were fo
ur possile potentials which could e complex esides. The key to the interpreta
tion came when, during Detweilers visit in Novemer, the underlying relation etw
een the ReggeWheeler equation and the Zerilli equation ecame clear. We decided a
t this point to withdraw my earlier paper on the Kerr metric and rewrite it join
tly de nova with the new point of view. Gradually during the months of Novemer
and Decemer the whole thing fell into place; and all the requirements for the c
orrectness and consistency of our interpretation were veri ed. So when Detweiler c
ame to Chicago for his Christmas holidays, the prolem had een fully clari ed; an
d I could start writing the paper. One prolem to which we wanted to turn our im
mediate attention was to relate the di erent Z-functions (appropriate for the diff
erent potentials) to the perturation of the metric coe cients. The algorithm for
relating Z to the metric perturation was clear. We
The Fallow Period (19701974)

107
foresaw some interesting possiilities and there were further prolems on the ho
rizon. With these developments in prospect, I felt moderately enthusiastic aout
assemling all these results for the Weyl Lectures I was to give in the fall. A
t long last, I seemed to have gradually emerged from my fallow period. January 8
, 1975
1971 The post-Newtonian e ects of general relativity on the equilirium of uniform
ly rotating odies. V. The deformed gures of the Maclaurin spheroids (continued),
Ap. J. 167 (1971) 447453. March Criterion for the instaility of a uniformly rot
ating con guration in general relativity (S. C. and John L. Friedman), Phys. Rev.
Lett. 26 (1971) 10471050. March A limiting case of relativistic equilirium (Gene
ral Relativity, ed. L. ORaifeartaigh, in honor of J. L. Synge (Clarendon Press, M
arch 1972), pp. 185199. The post-Newtonian e ects of general relativity on the equi
lirium of uniformly rotating odies. VI. The deformed gures, of the Jacoi ellip
soids (continued), Ap. J. 167 (1971) 455463. March On the derivation of Einsteins
equations, Amer. J. Phys. 40 (1972) 224 234. August Some elementary applications
of the virial theorem to stellar dynamics (S. C. and Donna D. Elert), M.N.R.A.
S. 155 (1972) 435447. Septemer 1972 On the staility of axisymmetric systems to
axisymmetric perturations in general relativity. I. The equations governing non
stationary, stationary, and pertured systems (S. C. and John L. Friedman), Ap.
J. 175 (1972) 379405. January On the staility of axisymmetric systems to axisymm
etric perturations in general relativity. II. A criterion for the onset of inst
aility in uniformly rotating con gurations and the frequency of the fundamental m
ode in case of slow rotation (S. C. and John L. Friedman), Ap. J. 176 (1972) 7457
68, revised. January Staility of stellar con gurations in general relativity, Os
ervatory 92 (1972) 116120. April
eld
108
On the staility of axisymmetric systems to axisymmetric perturations in genera
l relativity. III. Vacuum metrics and Carters theorem (S. C. and John L. Friedman
), Ap. J. 177 (1972) 745756. April The increasing role of general relativity in a
stronomy (Halley Lecture for 1972), Oservatory 92 (1972) 160174. May
General Relativity; Ryerson Lecture; Separation of Dirac Equation (January 1975Au

gust 1977)
January 1975
The year egan with writing the much postponed paper on the transformation of th
e Teukolsky equation for axisymmetric gravitational perturations into the form
of a one-dimensional wave equation. As I have written earlier, the key step was
due to Detweiler: he rst noticed how the equations governing the transformation (
I had derived earlier) allowed an explicit solution; I had taken many of the key
steps and carried out the required laorious reductions; ut I had failed to pu
sh along the right direction. However, the analytical demonstration that all fou
r potentials we had derived yielded the same re ection and transmission coe cients w
as my contriution. And Steve had veri ed the predictions y direct numerical inte
grations. So, I think it was fair that we wrote it as a joint paper. (Incidental
ly, the demonstration, in the joint paper on the quasi-normal modes of the Schwa
rzschild lack hole, that the solution of Zerillis equation (for a given n, 1, an
d ) can be tranformed to obtain a olution of the ReggeWheeler e
uation a hon
in the context of thi paper; and it a in thi manner that the e
uality of th
e re ection and tranmiion coe cient derived from the to e
uation a etablih
ed for the rt time.) The paper a ritten in January and communicated to the Ro
yal Society. (1)
109
110
February March April
May June
The month of February, March, and mot of April ere devoted almot entirely to
preparing my Ryeron Lecture. Indeed, a larger part of the preceding month (in
cluding the eek in the hopital in September) ere pent toard the ame end:
I devoted, in e ect, more thought, tudy, and e ort toard preparing thi lecture
than to any other lecture, or coure of lecture, that I have ever given. The pr
eparation conited in reading everal biographie of Shakepeare, hi onnet (
in A. L. Roe edition) very carefully, and litening ith the text (together
ith Ruth and Norman Lebovitz) to all the great tragedie (in their Marloe editi
on); reading everal biographie of Beethoven (particularly Turner and Sullivan
); and imilarly reading everal biographie of Neton; beide, the live of Ru
therford, Faraday, Michelon, Moeley, Maxell, Eintein, Rayleigh, Abel; and bo
ok and eay by Hadamard, Poincar and e Hardy; and the ork of Keat and Shell
ey and mot particularly Shelley A Defene of Poetry and King Hele biography of
Shelley. The Ryeron Lecture a given on April 22; and thinking back over the t
ime and the e ort I took toard it preparation, I experienced a ene of atifa
ction and ful llment hich no imilar e ort had given me. In early May, there a th
e ympoium hich Norman (and other) had arranged for the occaion of my 65th b
irthday. It a during the ympoium that I found that Steve had branched o on hi
on and had derived a real potential to decribe electromagnetic perturbation
by a method di erent from the one e had ued. But I a anxiou to go on in my d
irection; but Steve a clearly reluctant to go along ith me: he a not commit
ted to my point of vie. And o I felt that I had to continue on my on line; a
nd ince Steve had ucceeded by hi method to treat the general non axiymmetric
cae, I felt the preure on me a greater. So, after the ympoium I took up
the problem of electromagnetic perturbation. Retricting myelf rt to the axiy
mmetric cae, I a able to obtain a very imple potential (though complex) char
acterizing the problem. But the
uetion of the general non axiymmetric
General Relativity; Ryeron Lecture; Separation of Dirac E

uation
111
cae remained. Thinking of the problem one evening, the thought uddenly occurre
d to me that by a change of the independent variable, the Teukolky e
uation for
the non axiymmetric cae can be tranformed into the ame form a it ha in th
e axiymmetric cae. But the tranformation a double valued for < , the fre
u
ency at hich uper radiance begin. In the electromagnetic cae, the potential
V (r) in the ne variable could be ritten don ithout any calculation; and the
potential being real for > c (= m/a) the reaon for the re ection coe cient R 1 a
ecame manifet: the potential barrier at the horizon became in nite. And the manne
r of onet of uper radiance for < alo became clear (though my particular mann
er of croing the ingularity in the potential I choe at thi time had to be r
evied later). I completed the paper by late June and could end the paper (2) t
o the Royal Society before going to Varenna. On the hole, my impreion i that
Steve a not pleaed ith thee alternative development. All during the three
preceding month, there a an unhappy epiode hanging over me and gnaing at m
e continuouly. In March, I received a paper from Moni
ue Taoul in hich he h
ad pointed out an error in my treatment of the coupled ynchronou ocillation
of the Darin ellipoid. (The original paper a ritten in great ruh and ith
out the crutiny that I hould have ihed: I had aked both Clement and Lebovit
z to examine my analyi; but they did not have the neceary time.) Since Tao
ul had made upplementary remark holly at variance ith my on aement of
the problem, I felt that I hould treat the general problem of coupled ocillati
on and not only the cae of ynchronim and redeem myelf. I developed the nece
ary formulae; and left them ith Norman for hi checking before I left for Var
enna. (And I had Donna check that my ne formulae gave in agreement ith Taoul
value for the ynchronou cae.) Alo before going to Varenna, I arranged ith
R. V. Jone that my article on Of Some Famou Men, publihed in the Bulletin of t
he Atomic Scientit, ould be reprinted in the Note and Record of the Royal S
ociety (3).
112
July
Augut
September
At Triete and Varenna, I had long dicuion ith Steve ith repect to our t
o method. I had di culty in convincing Steve that e had to method but not to
antagonitic point of vie. I had the feeling that my approach a deeper and p
rovided not only a uni ed treatment of the entire problem of Kerr perturbation bu
t uni ed it alo ith the treatment of Scharzchild perturbation; and Steve a
unilling to concede. I felt that the di erence a one of judgment and not of ub
tance. In any event, I a able to convince Steve u ciently to rerite hi on p
aper omehat di erently; and peruade him alo to generalize our earlier reult
on axiymmetric gravitational perturbation to cover the general cae. (I think t
hat Steve ha ince gradually come to my vie though he ha never aid o.) At V
arenna, I gave the opening talk of the to eek ummer chool that Ru ni had arran
ged. My talk a entitled, Why Are the Star a They Are? (4) In the talk I expre
ed a point of vie that I had long maintained but to hich I had never given pu
blic expreion. I a glad that at lat there a a forum here I could expre
thought that had ettled in my mind ome forty year earlier. Returning to Chi
cago, I had everal thing on my dek: the Varenna lecture, the paper on the co
upled ocillation of the Darin ellipoid, and the preparation of the Weyl Lec
ture to be given in October at the Intitute for Advanced Study at Princeton. A
nd in connection ith the Weyl Lecture, I felt it a important to olve the Ma
xell e
uation in Kerr geometry completely; and I gave precedence to thi over
all other. The problem of olving for the potential decribing the Maxell eld
in Kerr geometry, turned out to be more ubtle than I thought at rt. In fact, at
a certain tage I almot gave up. A ne idea (Sec. 4 of the publihed paper) a
ved the ituation at the lat moment. I turned then to the Darin problem. Norman
had checked my analyi in the meantime, but I have the impreion that he a a
gaint my publihing the paper. I felt di erently: I became

uation
113
October November
December
January February March 1976
convinced that the anti ymmetric ynchronou ocillation ere more important t
han the ymmetric ocillation that I had conidered earlier and in hich treatm
ent Taoul had found the error. Alo, Taoul remark at the end of her paper m
irepreent, in my vie, the hole ituation. And I even ent to the extent of
aying in the introduction to my paper that hat I a riting a only a potcri
pt to her. Well, I rote the paper (5) and ent it to the Atrophyical Journal
re
ueting that my paper follo Taoul. It did; and the unhappy epiode ended.
I till think that it ould be ueful to evaluate the for the general problem o
lved in my paper. I rote my paper (6) on the Solution of Maxell E
uation in Ker
r Geometry oon afterard. And I a ready for my Weyl Lecture. It a at thi
tage that the idea rt occurred to me that I might rite a book on the Scharzc
hild and the Kerr Black Hole for the Clarendon Pre: only the idea a forming
in my mind. I made up my mind later after the Lecture. October and November e
re buy month. Firt, the Weyl Lecture and to eek in Princeton. In November
, I had trip to Cornell, Princeton, and William Bay (for the dedication of the
ne dome). Then three eek in India. Returning from India early in December, m
y rt aignment a to rite the econd paper on the potential appropriate to re e
ction and tranmiion of non axiymmetric gravitational ave by the Kerr black
hole. Steve had carried out the neceary generalization; and I had rederived
them in my on ay hile I a at Princeton. I a able to rite thi paper (7)
and end it to the Royal Society on January 1, 1976 (aupiciouly a I rote to Ev
an). During December, I alo rote out my econd lecture at Varenna on Linearize
d Perturbation of the Scharzchild and the Kerr Metric (8). We pent January,
February and March in Princeton; I had o ce both at the Intitute and at the Univ
erity in Jadin Hall. My original intention in going to Princeton a to ork t
ogether ith Murph Goldberger on the novel potential barrier problem my
114
tudie on black hole perturbation had dicloed. But Murph a too occupied i
th Chairman dutie; and I a intereted more in embarking on my long potponed
tak of integrating the entire et of the NemanPenroe e
uation governing the p
erturbation of the Kerr metric. But I had to tart at the beginning. Firt, I h
ad to learn the tetrad formalim; and then advance to the NemanPenroe formalim.
I a not particularly enamored by the ubject; but I tuck to it. Apparently no
ne of the other I talked to (including Bill Pre) had really bored into the la
t detail: for example, I could not get anyone to tell me hy there are only 18
Ricci identitie. Mot of January and February ere pent in orking through th
e baic. And then I tarted reading the paper of Pre and Teukolky. I a, f
rankly, repelled by them. For example, I did not ee that the author hoed any
puzzlement by the eparated e
uation not being expreed in term of the opera
tor L and D, hen the Starobinky relation beteen the function belonging to
= +2 and = 2 ere in term of thee operator. Or again, ho can a relation b
eteen S+2 and S2 involve M hen the e
uation governing thee function do not i
nvolve it? And nally, can it really be the cae that the decoupling of the e
uati
on and the eparation of the variable depend on a commutation relation hich
tretche over everal line? I therefore tarted ab initio; and oon found that
the hole analyi can be preented ith implicity and an elegance hich a pl
eaing to me at any rate. The key relation a an elementary commutation relatio
n involving L and D. Once I had obtained the baic e
uation in my form, the St
arobinky relation for the function belonging to = 1 ere eaily derived. But
for the function belonging to = 2, it a really complicated; but I did deriv
e the radial relation beteen 2 R+2 and R2 I a too tired to verify the correpon
ding angular relation. (I veri ed it later after returning to Chicago. I may paren
thetically add that the e ort taken to derive, ab initio, the Starobinky relation
uing my formalim ere to prove immenely ueful later.)

uation
115
March
I rote up my account of the decoupling of the e
uation and the eparation of t
he variable. And ince my derivation ere imple, it occurred to me that I cou
ld try eparating the Dirac e
uation hich had been conidered a one of the imp
ortant unolved problem of the theory. So I began ith an early paper of Dirac
(in the Planck Fetchrift) in hich he had ritten hi e
uation in a tetrad fra
me. I took the e
uation a Dirac had ritten it and tranformed it to a null fra
me appropriate to the NemanPenroe formalim. The e
uation I derived looked com
plicated. I had to leave the matter at thi point ince e had to return to Chic
ago. But let me top at thi point and ay a little about ome other happening
hile at Princeton. In many ay the opportunitie I had to take long alk ith
Andr Weil and Freeman Dyon ere e among the mot rearding. On one of my alk
ith Andr, I aked him hether hi attie tude to mathematic had changed over the
fty year I had knon him. He replied that from hi early age, he had alay i
hed to read the claic in the original; and that applied to Dante and Cauchy
e
ually; and that hi attitude to mathematic had alay been the ame a that o
f Hadamard ho once aid, Mathematic i like ham: all of it i good Dan le Jamb
on, tout et bon. But Andr did add e that he felt that a he gre older hi abilit
y to generate freh idea became feebler; and on that account he himelf a pe
nding mot of hi time riting a hitory of the theory of number and editing pa
per of uch great claicit a Eintein. On another occaion Weil recalled th
at he a preent at a reception for Eintein by Romain Roland; and that at the
reception he a preent during a converation beteen Eli Cartan and Eintein
hen Cartan aked Eintein hy he had not alloed for torion in hi theory; and
Andr felt even then that Eintein did not really e undertand hat Cartan a tal
king about! I had been afraid of giving Andr a copy of my Ryeron Lecture. e But
Andr had heard of it and aid that I a not fair in treating him e that ay. (Bu
t I could not tell him that it a due to my very ae of
116
April
him.) So I arranged for a copy to be ent to him. After reading my Lecture, Andr
admonihed me for my reticence in not coming out e explicitly ith my on vie.
I told him that I a not ure of them anyay. And a I a leaving, Andre in h
i o hand manner aid, Chandra, that i a beautiful lecture you gave a compliment I
treaure more than any honor I have received. My alk ith Dyon ere e
ually re
arding. Dyon, of coure, i very modet about himelf. But he did ay that hi
violin teacher a a Milton enthuiat; and that he (the teacher) peruaded him
to read Milton Paradie Lot hen he a eight; and that he had often gone back
to Milton ince that time perhap ome fty time. (And here I am, not having read
it completely from end to end even once.) On returning to Chicago, my rt though
t ere the eparation of the variable in Dirac e
uation in Kerr geometry. I g
ave my derivation of Dirac e
uation to John Friedman to check. He returned int
ead ith a impler derivation of Dirac e
uation hich made them look alo impl
er. Looking at the e
uation, I aked incredulouly, John, are thee the e
uation
hich one ha failed to eparate? Hi aner a ye. I aured him that I a ce
rtain they could be eparated. But I could turn to them only after upper that e
vening ( 8 oclock). By ten oclock I had eparated them; and I ent over the reducti
on carefully to check that I had not erred along the ay. I had not; and I call
ed John at about eleven oclock (p.m.) to ay that I had eparated Dirac e
uation.
John reply a, I did not doubt you hen you aid thi afternoon that you ould!
And the next day I gave a eminar on my eparation. I rote the paper (9) during
the folloing eek; and ent it to the Royal Society ith the re
uet that they
give the paper expeditiou proceing: hich they did. The paper appeared in th
e June 15 iue. Having olved the Dirac e
uation, I felt that I hould complete
the dicuion of the to component neutrino e
uation in the manner of the othe
r e
uation. The reduction to a one dimenional ave

uation
117
June July Augut
e
uation a urpriingly eay; but I could not ee ho the abence of uper rad
iance a going to emerge. It a at thi tage that I realized that I a not e
ntirely correct in my formulation of the boundary condition in my electromagnet
ic paper of the year before; particularly ith repect to the de nition of the ing
oing ave at the horizon and the condition to be ati ed acro the ingularity
. John Friedman and (more particularly) Robert Wald ere very helpful in tracing
my error. And I a able to get the cooperation of Steve in making the necea
ry numerical calculation; and alo for providing me ith an example of an integ
ration through the ingularity . . . In pite of our impending departure for Cam
bridge, it a poible to complete the paper on the neutrino e
uation before le
aving for England by the 27th of May. On ettling don in Cambridge, my rt thoug
ht a to get into the problem, I had o long potponed, of the complete integra
tion of the NemanPenroe e
uation governing the gravitational perturbation of
the Kerr black hole. I rt conidered the linearized Bianchi identitie in the ga
uge 1 = 3 = 0. These equations relate the perturations in the tetrad with the per
turations in the spin coe cients , , , , nd in 2 . (1) These e
utions seemed to sugg
est tht the erturbtion 2 in 2 must vnish: otherwise, mny bizrre identities mus
t be stis(1) ed; nd they seemed unlikely. So I ut 2 = 0: in the rst instnce s
I wrote. But very soon I decided tht rudence ws the better rt (1) of vlour
nd restored 2 . (Eventully, it turned out tht my rst (1) susicion bout 2 ws
justi ed!) In ny event, I relized tht the linerized Binchi identities relted
the erturbtions in the sin coe cients to the erturbtions in the bsic tetrd
. And I ws t loss to know how to roceed: the lineriztion of the Ricci ide
ntities (the 18 NewmnPenrose e
utions) seemed fr too comlicted to strt with
. But discussion with Sul Teukolsky (who ws fortuntely in Cmbridge t tht
time) directly led to the considertion of the linerized commuttor reltions
which relted the erturbtions in the bsic null tetrd (exressed through m
trix A) directly to the
118
erturbtions in the sin coe cients. And it becme cler tht the e
utions to co
ncentrte on were the 16 e
utions which relte the (1) elements of A nd 2 to th
e known erturbtions in eight sin coe cients , , , ad i , , , (the ltter ex
terms (1) of A nd 2 through the Binchi identities). And since the e
utions re
lting A to , , , had the forms that the equatios for the potetials of the Maxwel
l eld that I was familiar with, I assumed that the solutio must start with the s
olutios of these equatios. Ad it all seemed so very easy. I was so co det of
this approach at this stage (by the ed of Jue) that I actually too The Complet
e Itegratio of the NewmaPerose Equatios Goverig the Gravitatioal Perturba
tios of the Kerr Metric (othig short of it!) for my tal to the Hawig Sympos
ium i early July. I this co det mood I wet to Varea where I gave ve lectures
o the perturbatios of the Schwarzschild ad the Kerr metrics: my tals were p
ricipally cocered oly with the potetial-barriers aspects of the problem tho
ugh I did metio the possibility of the complete itegratio of the NewmaPeros
e equatios. Returig to Cambridge, I bega to study the various systems of equ
atios systematically. I foud that oly six of the eight equatios of System I
(the commutator relatios simpli ed with the aid of the liearized Biachi idetit
ies) were liearly idepedet. Ad I thought that the remaiig problem was to
determie the arbitrary fuctios (four of them) itroduced i the solutio of t
he equatios of System II (derived from the ow solutios of , , , (At this stage
, I was ot very clear about the fact that the solutios for , , , were uspeci ed to
the extet of the uow relative ormalizatio of 2 R+2 and R2 .) But the reul
ting e
uation eemed (1) unolvable. I put the matter aide and tried to determin
e 2 which at this stage I had left as an unknown. By a comination of (1) various
equations, I was ale to show that 2 was identically zero: a surprising conclusi
on after some very massive reductions. (Retrospectively, this was the major resu
lt otained in Camridge.)
General Relativity; Ryerson Lecture; Separation of Dirac Equation

119
Septemer Octoer
Octoer Novemer
I then explored various avenues for determining the unknown functions introduced
in the solutions of the equations elonging to System II. Many false trails and
many misunderstandings. At one point, I thought that I had succeeded in writing
Teukolskys equations in self-adjoint form and that I had cracked the prolem. Wi
th this delusion, we went on our weeks holiday in the Lake district. But on the s
econd day of our trip, I realized my mistake: which spoilt the vacation. There w
as nothing to do except await our return to Chicago. Returning to Chicago in mid
-Septemer, I renewed my attack on the prolem. I soon realized that I must aan
don my method of solving the equations of System II in the manner I had solved f
or the vector potential for a Maxwell eld: the asic prolem was that there seeme
d to e no simple way of solving for the aritrary functions that were introduce
d at that stage. So I aandoned the approach I had followed from the outset and
started out afresh. (Retrospectively, I am surprised, that in spite of months of
frustration that followed, the particular lines I chose at each stage among var
ious alternatives as they appeared were exactly the right ones to have taken.) T
he new method of solving the equations (giving priority to the solutions of Syst
em I) very soon led to an integraility condition. And I simply did not know how
I should go aout nding its implications. How indeed was one to verify immensely
complicated identities involving expressions including the third derivatives of
the Teukolsky functions? With the puzzle unresolved, we left for Berkeley where
I was to give the Hitchcock Lectures. We visited Santa Barara at this time and
I had a chance to explain to Hartle and Chitre the nature of the prolem I was
knocking myself against: ut they could give no assistance. At this time Saul Te
ukolsky visited Chicago; and the discussions contriuted to my understanding for
the rst time that there, underlying it all, was the question of the real and the
imaginary parts of the Staroinsky constant. And since I still did not know how
to verify (or deduce the consequences of) the integraility condition, I
120
Decemer
January 1977
wondered, if I had perhaps, made some mistake in the massive reductions that led
to integraility conditions in the forms I had derived. Fortunately, Xanthopoul
os volunteered; ut he had to start from the eginning and he had to e allowed
at least a month. During the period Xanthopoulos was checking my calculations, I
decided to look into the possiility of separating the variales of the equatio
ns governing the perturations of the KerrNewman lack hole. At one point, I thou
ght I had succeeded in the separation; ut I realized my mistake. In any event,
this interlude helped mei understand the meaning of the tetrad freedom; and disc
overing the phantom gauge in which 1 and 3 are re ected and transmitted y the Kerr l
ack hole exactly as though they were electromagnetic waves. This last is a surpr
ising fact which is not yet fully understood. Roger Penrose thinks that there is
something deep here. Xanthopoulos discovered one minor error; ut it left the i
ntegraility condition in tact: it simply had to e confronted. Thus pushed agai
nst the wall, I nally realized that the only way open to me was to replace the de
rivatives of the Teukolsky functions (oth radial and angular) in terms of the f
unctions themselves; such replacements are possile with the aid of the Staroin
sky relations. And it ecame clear that the end result must e the determination
of the real and the imaginary parts of the Staroinsky constant as well as the
relative normalization of the radial functions elonging to s = 2. The New ear s
tarted with darkest gloom. The calculations that were needed to proceed with the
integraility condition were long and complicated; and the hoped-for end result
seemed almost hopei
During our stay in Camridge, we went over to London to visit Miranda Weston-Smi
th (E. A. Milnes grand-daughter) and her mother, Meggie Weston-Smith. Miranda was
concerned that her grandfathers memory was not adequately perpetuated; and on th
at account she wanted to found a Milne Society. I warmly supported her initiativ
es and agreed to help her in any way I could. Miranda later wrote and asked me f
or an evaluation of her grandfather which she could use for her pulicity purposes.
I promised to send her such an evaluation efore the new year. So in order to keep
my promise, I took the week efore the new year to write an essay Edward Arthur
Milne: Recollections and Re ections (17). I am glad I had the occasion to write thi
s essay and pay my triute to my rst and most trusted scienti c councilor: It is no
w deposited with the Royal Society.
General Relativity; Ryerson Lecture; Separation of Dirac Equation

121
Feruary
March
April May
less to attain. And there was the unhappy episode of the Dedekind ellipsoids wai
ting in the rear all the time more on this later. Besides, I had the weekly lect
ures on the Black Hole to give. Still, I persisted. And to add to my nervousness,
I felt my health was deteriorating (which indeed it was). At long last, the rea
k occurred unexpectedly one evening when a particular transformation involving t
he constants suddenly simpli ed the expressions and the end appeared as a distant
light. Some further work showed that the end was really in sight. I ecame so su
re that I called Xanthopoulos to say that the ackone of the prolem had een
roken. But it took a week to complete all the calculations. And after 100 pages
and more of further reductions, the real and the imaginary parts of the Staroin
sky constant were determined and so was the relative normalization constant of 2
R+2 and R2 . Once the integrability condition a reolved, the completion of the
olution a accomplihed ith unexpected bru
uene. But there ere till a l
ot of ancilliary matter to ind up. At thi point in my lecturing, I decided to
look into the matter of the derivation of the Kerr metric. A imple and a direc
tly veri able derivation a abolutely neceary if I a to proceed ith the boo
k I had planned. I tarted ith the eld e
uation a John Friedman and I had rit
ten don in 1971. The e
uation took very imple form, and the gauge could be c
hoen in uch a ay that the occurrence of the horizon a it doe in the Kerr me
tric appeared mot naturally. In fact, every axiymmetric olution can be made t
o have a horizon exactly a the Kerr metric. Alo, a pair of real e
uation emer
ged in place of Ernt complex e
uation. It took ome e ort to ee the variou inne
rrelationhip in the ubject. The reolution of the variou problem, a far a
I a concerned, a fairly traightforard, particularly ith Xanthopoulo help
ith hi time and undertanding. With the end of the
uarter, it a incumbent
on me to tart riting the three paper: one on the derivation of the Kerr metri
c;
122
April May 1976
and to devoted to the integration of the NemanPenroe e
uation. I decided to
rite to paper: one eentially preenting the derivation of Teukolky e
uation
and the Starobinky relation from my point of vie; and a econd (and a longe
r paper) on the linearized Bianchi identitie and the commutator relation. The
paper on the Kerr metric (11) a ent to the Royal Society in mid April; and th
e rt (12) of the to paper on the NemanPenroe e
uation to eek later. But i
t took all of May to rite the econd paper (13). No I hould rite about the e
piode of the deformed gure of the Dedekind ellipoid in the pot Netonian appr
oximation on hich I had orked intermittently during 1972 and 1973. The princip
al reult of the tudy a that the olution to the e
uation diverged early alo
ng the e
uence; and there a no point of ecular (or dynamical) intability at
the point of divergence. I therefore et up the re
uiite fourth order virial e
uation to determine the onet of the fourth harmonic intability along the e
uence. I had to deal ith a 16 16 matrix and all early e ort to olve it failed.
But I developed a method of reducing the 1616 matrix to a 66 matrix by uitable co
mbination of the ro and column. Donna carried out a number of uch reduction
. While I a in Princeton, I gave a ample of the 6 6 matrix to Bill Pre and
ondered if he could nd it root. He a ucceful in thi; and he generouly
olved a hole et of them. The intability did occur ay don the e
uence her
e one might have expected. I no became more uneay about my on pot Netonian
calculation and called Taoul in May, before e left for England, and aked hi
m if he had ever checked my pot Netonian calculation on the deformed gure of
the Dedekind ellipoid; and I explained my caue for uneaine. He aid that he
ould ak hi ife to check my paper. Moni
ue Taoul dicovered an error: the
perturbed velocity eld I had aumed a not general enough. But the correction
to allo for thi ere eaily made. And Donna a to make the correction hile
I a in England. On returning from Cambridge, I found that the correction had
made no di erence. Then an error

uation
123
June July 1977
in applying the boundary condition (for the boundary urface to be a treamline
) a dicovered. So Donna had to go through the hole calculation once more. A
nd hen in April I tarted riting the Correction and Ampli cation to the 1974 pap
er I found an error in one of M. Taoul formulae hich I had tacitly aumed. A
nd o one had to tart all over again. Donna again (ith unbounded patience ith
my error) undertook to revie the calculation: they ere completed in May. So
in June after my three paper on the Kerr metric had been ritten, I took anoth
er eek to rite a Correction and Ampli cation to the 1974 joint paper (14). It al
l ended in a comedy of error: there a indeed no reaon to have expected, in the
rt place, any pecial relationhip beteen the Netonian point of intability
(ecular or dynamical) ith the point here the potNetonian e
uation governin
g the deformed gure of the Dedekind ellipoid diverge in pite of Bardeen! But t
here ere error of analyi in the original paper; and I am glad that they have
been corrected at long lat. Thu by the end of June, all of the four paper h
ich ere a terrible burden and a continuou nervou drain on me all during the f
all and inter ere at lat ritten and ent for publication. In July, I rote o
ut my converation ith Hardy and Littleood relating to Ramanujan attempt to c
ommit uicide. So much perfumed nonene ha been ritten about Ramanujan that I
felt ome record of thi tragic apect in the life of Ramanujan hould be depo
ited ith the Archive of the Royal Society. I alo included an account of my di
covery of the one and only authentic photograph of Ramanujan. Both thee accoun
t are no ith the Royal Society (15, 16). I alo rote my long potponed intro
ductory part of the joint revie ith N. Serdlo of the three Neugebauer volume
(18). In Augut e ent to GR8 in Waterloo, Canada, here I gave a talk on the
Kerr metric. On our return I had my long potponed aorto catherization; it indi
cated heart urgery (cheduled for
124
tomorro). So thi period of interet in the Scharzchild and Kerr black hole
ended a it began in a hopital. Billing Hopital, Augut 24, 1977
Reference
(1) On the e
uation governing the axiymmetric perturbation of the Kerr black
hole (S. C. and S. Deteiler), Proc. Roy. Soc. 345 (1975) 145 167; (February 1975
) RYERSON LECTURE, Shakepeare, Neton, and Beethoven or pattern of creativity,
delivered April 22, 1975. (2) On a tranformation of Teukolky e
uation and the
electromagnetic perturbation of the Kerr black hole, Proc. Roy. Soc. 348 (1976
) 3955. (July 11, 1975) (3) Verifying the theory of relativity, Note and Record
, Roy. Soc. 30 (1976) 249260. (June 3, 1975) (4) Why are the tar a they are? V
arenna Lecture. (September 23, 1975) (5) On coupled econd harmonic ocillation
of the congruent Darin ellipoid, Ap. J. 202 (1975) 809814. (September 11, 19
75) (6) The olution of Maxell e
uation in Kerr geometry, Proc. Roy. Soc. 349
(1976) 18. (September 15, 1975) (7) On the e
uation governing the gravitational
perturbation of the Kerr black hole (S. C. and S. Deteiler), Proc. Roy. Soc. 3
50 (1976) 165174. (January 1, 1976) (8) On the linear perturbation of the Schar
zchild and the Kerr black hole, Varenna Lecture. (December 19, 1975) (9) The
olution of Dirac e
uation in Kerr geometry, Proc. Roy. Soc. 349 (1976) 571575. (
April 21, 1976) (10) On the re exion and tranmiion of neutrino ave by a Kerr
black hole (S. C. and S. Deteiler), Proc. Roy. Soc. 352 (1977) 325338. (June 2,
1976) (11) The Kerr metric and tationary axiymmetric gravitational eld, Proc.
Roy. Soc. (April 15, 1977) (12) The gravitational perturbation of a Kerr black
hole. I. The perturbation in the
uantitie hich vanih in the tationary tat
e, Proc. Roy. Soc. (April 27, 1977) (13) The gravitational perturbation of the
Kerr black hole. II. The perturbation in the
uantitie hich are nite in the t
ationary tate, Proc. Roy. Soc. (June 17, 1977) (14) The deformed gure of the De
dekind ellipoid in the pot Netonian approximation to general relativity; cor
rection and ampli cation (S. C. and Donna Elbert), Ap. J. (July 6, 1977) (15) An
incident in the life of S. Ramanujan, F.R.S.: Converation ith G. H.

uation
125
Hardy, F.R.S. and J. E. Littleood, F.R.S.; and their e
uel (Archive of the Ro
yal Society). (16) On the dicovery of the encloed photograph of S. Ramanujan,
F.R.S. (Archive of the Royal Society). (17) Edard Arthur Milne: Recollection
and re ection (Archive of the Royal Society). (18) Book revie: A Hitory of Anc
ient Mathematical Atronomy (3 volume) by O. Neugebauer, Bulletin of the Americ
an Mathematical Society. (The date in parenthee are the date hen the repec
tive paper ere ubmitted for publication.)
Thi page intentionally left blank
General Relativity; KerrNeman Perturbation (Augut 1977December 1978)

During the to month, folloing my urgery, I a, phyically, in a tate too p
ainful to do any eriou cienti c ork. By November, I had u ciently recovered to
plan a little for the book on the Scharzchild and the Kerr metric that a co
ntantly at the back of my mind. And ith the book in vie, I began tudying Lov
elock and Rund on Di erential Geometry a a preparation toard the rt chapter th
at ere to be devoted to the Cartan calculu. But my feeling of aurance at thi
time, that my major invetigation related to the olution of the NemanPenroe
e
uation had been completed, a oon to receive a eriou etback. Sometime in
November, John Friedman viited me during my convalecence; and among other thi
ng, he expreed the vie that my olution for , in terms of inde nite integrals o
ver the Teukolsky functions, left the suject in a state of incompleteness: he f
elt that it should e possile to express explicitly in terms of the Teukolsky f
unctions. This remark of Johns touched a sensitive spot: I had in fact een dissa
tis ed with the appearance of inde nite integrals in the solution for : it had left i
n total oscurity the meaning of the
127
128
two di erential equations for (II, Eqs. (103) and (104)).j I was very piqued with
myself when John left. Later that evening, I sat at my desk and turned over the
sheets of my detailed calculations pertaining to . And looking at the solution fo
r as I had left it (II, Eq. (96)), I realized that the niteness of for a 0 a requ
irement I had not considered ut should have chosen the positive sign for C1 so
that (C1 1 )/a as nite in the 2 limit a = 0. Writing the coe cient (C1 1 )/a as (C1
/a(C1 +1 ), 1 the separability of as a product of a function of r and a function
becme immeditely mnifest. This ws n unexected nd totl surrise. With e
xressed s constnt R(r)() the fct tht there re two e
uivlent forms for R n
d soon beame evident. The alternative expressions implied the existene o iden
tities among the Teukolsky untions, identities I ould not imagine how one ou
ld veriy ab initio. The meaning o the di erential equations or (II, Eqs. (103)
and (104)) as di erential equations for R and also beame lear. All o the orego
ing redutions were arried out during the last weeks o November and the early
part o Deember. But I elt uneasy about the identities: they were the results
o massive redutions. I elt that a diret numerial veri ation o the identitie
s will provide assurane that no errors had rept into the redutions. With this
eeling, I alled Detweiler and asked him i he ould provide tables o the Teu
kolsky untions in my normali ations: the radial untions X and Y as I had de ne
d them and the angular untions S+2 and S2 normali ed in the standard way. I als
o expressed the need to veriy my ormulae relating the derivatives o the Teuko
lsky untions to the untions themselves. Detweiler agreed to provide me with
the requisite integrations; but he thought that he may not be able to get round
to them beore another month or six weeks.
j
The reerene here (and in the sequel) is to my paper, Pro. Roy. So. 358 (1978
) 421.
General Relativity; KerrNewman Perturbations

129
In some ways, I welomed the period o waiting: I had promised Israel that I wou
ld send him my hapter on the Kerr metri or the Einstein Centennial Volume by
the end o November. I had requested and obtained the postponement o the deadli
ne to the end o January on aount o my illness. And the writing o the artil
e ould not be delayed any longer. By this time, I was getting bak to my normal
shedule; and the whole o January was spent in writing the artile. It was om
pleted and sent by the end o the rst week o February. In writing the artile, I
had to ollate muh new material: an aount o the tetrad ormalism, geometri
al onsiderations pertaining to the NewmanPenrose ormalism, and a uni ed treatment
o the potential barrier problem. In February, while still waiting or Detweile
rs integrations, I began to think one again about the problem o the KerrNewman p
erturbations: a problem I had attempted and let without suess a year earlier.
I tried various approahes; but in vain. It then ourred to me to look into wh
at had been done with respet to the Reissner Nordstrm blak hole. I was surprised
to nd that the Newman o Penrose equations appropriate or the ReissnerNordstrm pert
urbao tions had not even been deoupled; and urther that Monrie (who had obta
ined deoupled one dimensional wave equations or both parities) did not seem to
know that the solutions or the two parities should be related and that a separ
ate disussion o the stability or the two parities was unneessary. I gave a F
riday seminar on these matters; and when I expressed these views, Ashtekar and B
ob Wald (?) questioned me as to how I ould be ertain that what applied to Shw
ar shild applied also to ReissnerNordstrm. My reply was, o that i my demonstrati
on or the simple relation between the solutions or (+) and () in the ase o
the Shwar shild perturbations was obvious as several, inluding Hawking had lai
med then why should it not be equally obvious or the ReissnerNordstrm o perturbat
ions. But at this stage, I had not deoupled the appropriate NewmanPenrose equati
ons.
130
I annot quite reall how it happened. Trying idly a ertain ombination o the
Weyl salars and the spin oe ients, I was taken abak when I ound that the omb
inations I had hosen did in at deouple the NewmanPenrose equations. The impor
tant point here is that the gauge I had onsidered as god given (namely, one in wh
ih the Maxwell salars 0 and 2 are identially ero) is the one whih deouples t
he equations. The phantom gauge (as Roger Penrose had desribed it) had proved its
useulness. One the NewmanPenrose equations had been deoupled, the redution o
the deoupled equation to the orm o a one dimensional wave equation ould be
e eted by the transormations used in other ontexts. I soon veri ed that the tran
sormation to Monries odd parity equations ould be e eted with the assumptions
= constant and f = 1, assumptions which were valid in the Schwarzschild case. Bu
t I was locked for some time as to how to deduce the even parity equations: Mon
criefs solutions were far too complicated. It was only a few days later that I re
alized that the even parity equations will automatically follow from the dual tr
ansformation with having the negative of the value appropriate for the odd-parit
y transformation. Once this fact ecame clear the relation (+) () between zi and
zi could be deduced and Ashteka and Wald had to eat c ow. All of the fo egoing wa
s done du ing the ea ly weeks of Ma ch. One question emained uncla i ed: how is o
ne to elate the solutions (+) () zi and zi to the elect omagnetic and the g avit
ational ues of the incident and e ected adiations. (The question was cla i ed only
in June when I had the occasion to discuss the p oblem with Matzne in Austin,
Teas.) Meantime, Detweile had sent his integ ations fo X, Y, S+2 and S2 having
ve i ed my fo mulae fo the de ivatives. Donna ve i ed my identities (but discove e
d that the e was an e o of a sign in one of the equations fo R and in terms o
X, Y, S+2 and S2 ). A urther at o onsiderable importane whih emerged dur
ing this period was the disovery o an error o a ator 2 in a key equa

131
tion o mine whih had led me to the result that the perturbation, (1) 2 , in the
Weyl scalar, 2 , is zero. John Friedman was consideraly distured that one coul
d deduce this result. He argued, correctly, (1) that while 2 can e set equal to
zero (using two of the four coordinate degrees of freedom), one should not e a
le to deduce that it is zero in a gauge invariant theory such as the NewmanPenros
e formalism. He had accordingly asked his student, Eliane Lessner to check throu
gh my calculations. Mrs. Lessner found the error; ut its disclosure was due to
Friedmans insistence. At this stage I did not realize the full implications of th
is result: while I was naturally disappointed that I had made the error, the fac
t that it did not really (1) matter (2 can after all e set equal to zero) left m
e, up to a point, undistured. It was now getting towards the end of March and i
t was high time that I turned my thoughts towards the course on Cosmology that I
had originally scheduled for the winter quarter and which I had postponed to th
e spring quarter. (My intention in wanting to give a course on Cosmology was lar
gely to get acquainted with the suject with a remote idea that I might turn to
it once my interest in the lack hole solutions had tapered o and also ecause co
smology is the one area of astronomy in which I had taken no serious interest.)
I had decided that my course would e devoted to the Russian work on the Bianchi
models and the perturations of the Friedman models. The study of the Russian w
ork turned out to e far more time consuming than I had anticipated. During all
of April and May I could not nd time for anything else. By early June, my thought
s turned to writing up my two papers: on the separaility of and the resulting i
dentities and my decoupling of the NewmanPenrose equations descriing the Reissne
r Nordstrm perturations. But rst, I had to go to Austin, Texas to o give a Schild
Memorial Lecture. In many ways this visit to Texas was a fortunate one. I had th
e occasion to meet and discuss with Richard Matzner my results on the Reissner-N
ordstrm perturao tions. And I found that in one of his papers, Matzner had otai
ned
132
the relation that I was looking for: the relation of my functions zi to the uxes
in the incident electromagnetic and gravitational waves. It was clear to me at o
nce that with Matzners relation I could readily ascertain how an aritrary superp
osition of incident electromagnetic and gravitational waves will e re ected and t
ransmitted y the ReissnerNordstrm lack hole. I completed the solution on my o re
turn to Chicago. The completion of the theory of the perturations of the Reissn
erNordstrm lack hole via the NewmanPenrose formalism o suggested to me that I shou
ld work out the metric perturations along the lines of my earlier treatment of
the Schwarzschild perturations. Since I had een discussing my work with Xantho
poulos all along, I asked him whether he would consider staying in Chicago for s
ome 2 1 months after taking his degree and collaorate with me 2 on this aspect
of the prolem. He agreed; ut he asked me what the point was in doing the metri
c perturations in my alternative way when the prolem had een solved y Moncrief
y a di erent method. I said that I wanted the suject to have an architectural u
nity; and Moncriefs method was simply out of place in my structure. Xanthopoulos r
esponse was that I could a ord to take such a point of view, meaning, apparently,
that young men in the eginning of their careers could not a ord to take a similar
outlook. With the elief that the investigations appropriate to my two papers w
ere completed, I set aout writing my third paper on the Kerr perturations. But
douts, vaguely entertained, emerged with insistent force, I had een aware all
along that I had ten degrees of gauge freedom: six from the choice of the tetra
d frame and four from the general covariance of the theory. I had used up four o
f the six (1) tetrad freedoms to set 1 and 3 equal to zero. And setting 2 equal to
zero exhausted two of the four coordinate degree freedoms. And the fact that the
diagonal elements A1 , A2 , A3 and A4 of the 1 2 3 4 matrix A were left unspeci e
d, meant that there was no freedom left to let one of F + G and J H unspeci ed. I
discussed this matte , in these te ms, with John F iedman one mo ning (he was sp
ending
()
Gene al Relativity; Ke Newman Pe tu bations

133
the summe months at Chicago); and it became abundantly clea that a fu the el
ation between F + G and J H had to be found supplementing the info mation al ead
y obtained via the solution fo . And the question was how? Since I had satis ed al
l of the Bianchi identities and the commutation relations, I had to go to the Ri
cci identities, several of which had already een veri ed. A careful re-examinatio
n of the Ricci identities convinced me that I should consider the Newman Penrose
equations (4.2a), n, g, and p which involve the derivatives (
k, , D, ) combined, re
ectively, ith the derivative (D, ,
, ). And I recalled ha I had in fac linear
d hese equaions and indeed, for he same purpose! wo years earlier a Cambrid
ge. This was he rs of he lucky breaks. Bu here is no gainsaying ha I was ex
remely discouraged a his sage and during he subsequen weeks. The sysemaic
reducion of he chosen Ricci ideniies was a dishearening maer mos of he
way; bu i was puncuaed by furher lucky breaks which made he work possible.
In he reducions, i was necessary o keep he prime objecive always in focus.
The objecive was o obain an equaion for z1 z2 where z1 = K(J H) cos nd z2
= i Q(F + G) sin , since Z = z1 + z2 is lredy known to be constnt R. It was equ
ally important to have devised a braket notation whih enabled me to write the va
rious ompliated relations and identities in manageable orms. In reduing the
equations, several identities appeared along the way; and their veri ation gave i
nsight into the various quantities whih emerged rom the analysis. In some ways
the elementary identities among the oe ients A1 , A2 , B1 , B2 , and E whih ap
peared in the our equations or Z1 and Z2 were unexpeted. They emerged only sl
owly; but retrospetively they seem to be ontrived exatly or the equations to
be solvable. When nally an integrability ondition or the existene o a soluti
on or Z1 Z2 emerged, I had the vision o some 200 pages o alulations similar
to those required to onsider the orresponding integrability ondi
134
tion or . Some two months of work appeared in store and I was almost inclined to
leave the matter at this stage since the prolem had after all een solved in p
rinciple. But my unwillingness to accept defeat turned out to e fortunate. By a
n extraordinary piece of luck, the calculations turned out to e relatively easy
: my familiarity with the identities involving R and and the adaptability o my
braket notation were happily what were needed. And so the problem got solved: b
ut one launa still remains whih I must eventually ll. The emergene o so many
identities among the Teukolsky untions both radial and angular was a most unex
peted outome. As Friedman and Teukolsky later desribed (independently), the i
dentities are astonishing. By the third week o July, I was at last ready to start
writing my two papers ((1) and (2)). With great e ort, it was possible to write t
hem up and mail them to the Royal Soiety early during the seond week o August
(14th). Only a ew days remained to prepare the Oppenheimer Leture (3) that was
to be given in Los Alamos on 17th August. Returning rom Los Alamos, I had to pr
epare the address that I was to give in Rome at a symposium in honor o Amaldi.
I wrote out my leture; but my trip was aborted: I had not notied that my passp
ort had expired. But then I had a ew more days to write the rst part o my promi
sed artile on General Relativity and Cosmology or The Great Ideas Today. I had p
romised the artile a year earlier: but my illness and the unexpeted stumbling
bloks in ompleting my third paper on the Kerr perturbations prevented my writi
ng it in time. In at, September 20 was a postponed deadline or the delivery o
the rst part o the manusript on Relativity. The writing o the artile required
onsiderable onentration: I wanted to write one o whih I would not be asham
ed. With onsiderable e ort, I did manage to send the artile to The Great Ideas T
oday (4) just a day or two beore our departure to Santa Barbara on September 22
.

135
By this time Xanthopoulos had ompleted his redution o the metri perturbation
s o the ReissnerNordstrm blak hole, o and had derived ab initio both the odd and
the even parity onedimensional wave equations ollowing the methods o my treat
ment o Shwar shild perturbations. The rst week in Santa Barbara was a period o
adjustment. Among other things, I had to plan a ourse o letures on the Shwa
r shild and the Kerr Metris that I was sheduled to give. (Altogether I gave 20
letures devoted, almost entirely, to my own way o looking at the matter.) By
the end o the rst week, I deided that my rst task must be to write my joint pape
r with Xanthopoulos on the metri perturbations o the ReissnerNordstrm blak hole
. I ound that I had, o e etively, to work through the entire problem ab initio t
hough the () at that Xanthopoulos had identi ed the untions i with ertain om
binations o the metri perturbations made the work essentially routine. But I did
obtain the general orm o Maxwells equations in a non stationary axisymmetri s
pae time and ound that their lineari ation about the ReissnerNordstrm solution g
ave the requio site equations more diretly. Also, sine Xanthopoulos had given
so ew details in his notes, my redutions were independent and di erent rom his
in essential details. I am glad I did the entire redutions mysel sine I was e
nabled to write the paper in my own way. The redutions took me about two weeks;
and it took another week to write the paper. I sent the (n 1) drat to Xanthopo
ulos or approval; but I wrote the nth opy without waiting or his omments. He
did have some suggestions whih I inorporated in the nal opy. The paper was se
nt in to the Royal Soiety during the third week o Otober (5). Already during
the week when the paper or the Royal Soiety was being typed, I had started wor
king on the seond part, on Cosmology, o my artile or The Great Ideas Today.
This part was more di ult to write than the rst part on Relativity. I had to read
and digest a lot o new inormation and develop my own point o view. Disussion
s with J. Hartle and B. Hu were very helpul.
136
I was able to give the ompleted manusript or typing beore I let or Charlot
tesville on November 7 where I was sheduled to give the Karl Jansky Leture on
November 8. (The Leture was a disappointment or me, though the audiene, Rober
ts, and Hogg seemed satis ed.) On returning to Santa Barbara, I was able to read a
nd orret the typed manusript on Cosmology. I sent it to Van Doren on November
13 as I had promised (4). At long last, I was relieved o the onstant pressure
under whih I had been working sine Deember 1977. Ater a week o relaxation,
I began to think about the uture. And immediately the problem o the separatio
n o the variables and the deoupling o the NewmanPenrose equations governing th
e perturbations o the KerrNewman blak hole emerged one again rom the shadows
to whih I had onsigned it in Marh. It was rustrating to reali e that all my
experiene with the Kerr, the Shwar shild, and the ReissnerNordstrm blak holes
were o no avail in the Kerr o Newman ontext. Essentially some new ideas were ne
eded; and what I needed beore all else was the reedom to relax and ontemplate
with no pressure. I had hoped or these at Santa Barbara; but the pressure o u
nul lled tasks did not permit suh pleasures. Looking bak over the past three ye
ars (ater our return rom India in Deember 1975), I nd that I have been taxed a
nd ontinuously burdened. Indeed, I annot reall that I had been so subjeted a
t any earlier period in all my 50 years o sienti lie . . . Tomorrow we will r
eturn to Chiago; and my book loomed ahead. Deember 1, 1978 Santa Barbara

137
Reerenes
(1) The gravitational perturbations o the Kerr blak hole. III. Further ampli at
ions. (2) On the equations governing the perturbations o the ReissnerNordstrm o b
lak hole. (3) Einstein and general relativity historial perspetives. (4) Eins
teins general theory o relativity and osmology. (5) On the metri perturbations
o the ReissnerNordstrm blak hole. o
This page intentionally let blank
1979 A Year o Failures and o Obligations

It is now almost exatly a year sine we returned rom Santa Barbara. And I had
high hopes or 1979: hopes or separating and deoupling the NewmanPenrose equati
ons governing the perturbations o the KerrNewman blak hole and or making some
progress with my book. But not only were those hopes shattered, everything else
I attempted also turned to ailures. The past year has, in at, been the most u
nsuessul o all the ty years o my lie as a sientist. How did this ome to
pass? On returning rom Santa Barbara, my rst thoughts were naturally direted to
the problem o the perturbations o the Kerr Newman metri. As I said I had high
hopes. I reasoned as ollows: I the NewmanPenrose equations governing the pertu
rbations o the KerrNewman metri, in the orms and in the gauge I had written th
em down in my rst paper on the Kerr perturbations, should separate and deouple,
then, i in the analysis leading to this separation and deoupling, we set Q = 0,
it must redue to my analysis or the Kerr metri, while i we set a = 0, it mu
st redue to my analysis or the ReissnerNordstrm metri. I, thereore, tried to a
malgamate o the ideas and the proedures I had learnt in the two ases. I tried
all possible ombinations; but they all led to blind alleys.
139
140
I abandoned my e orts on this problem by mid January sine I ould no longer postp
one writing my promised ontribution to the ShildMemorial volume. However, I de
ided not to give a general aount o The Potential Barriers Around Blak Holes
(the title o the leture I had given, in 1978) but rather give an ab initio a
ount o the Shwar shild perturbations rom the vantage point I had gained over
the years, partiularly, ater my treatment o the ReissnerNordstrm perturbations
. Small as this e ort was, it took o up most o February. But it was a useul exer
ise to have undertaken: it rekindled my interest in the many unresolved questio
ns o the theory still waiting or lari ation. During the month o Marh, I retu
rned one more to the Kerr Newman perturbations with some urther ombinations o
the old ideas; but to no avail. And going to Prineton or the Einstein elebra
tions provided the oasion or a nal break with this problem. Returning rom Pri
neton, I had to think in earnest about the leture on Beauty and the Quest or B
eauty in Siene that I had agreed to give at the one day symposium in honor o R
obert Wilson that Jim Cronin was organi ing. The preparation or this leture re
quired muh onentrated thinking; and several aspets o beauty that I had barely
onsidered in my Ryerson Leture, had to be thought aresh. The leture was eve
ntually published in Physis Today; but I had to insist that it was published ex
atly as I had written and without any hanges. In May, I returned to the unreso
lved questions on the theory o the Shwar shild perturbations: questions that
had long pu led me and more insistently sine writing my review or the Shild M
emorial volume. The prinipal question onerned the symmetry o the equations r
elating the solutions or (+) and () , appropriate or the perturbations belong
ing to opposite parities, and the lak o any orresponding symmetry in the equa
tions governing (+) and () . A related question was: ould one have oretold th
at an expliit relation between (+) and () exists (apart rom its symmetry) ro
m an examination o the governing equations? A third question
1979 A Year o Failures and o Obligations

141
was the reason or the redution o the three rst order equations, governing the
three salars determining the metri perturbations, to a single seond order equ
ation (see Chandrasekhar, Pro. Roy. So. 343 (1975) 289, Eqs. (27)(29)). I began
serious onsultations with R. Narasimhan on these questions at this time. I had
in at, brie y talked to Narasimhan about them a year earlier. Ater our return
rom Santa Barbara, Norman Lebovit told me that Narasimhan had talked to him ab
out my questions and had indiated that they ould all be resolved very simply b
y onsidering the equations in the omplex plane and by investigating the behavi
or o the solutions at their singular points. With the disappointment over my la
k o suess with the KerrNewman perturbations, the possibility o a breakthrough
in these old unresolved questions was exiting and I turned to them with enthusi
asm. Narasimhans view was the ollowing: The equations or (+) , () and Y must h
ave the same monodromi group; and rom the at that they do, one an iner tha
t eah o them an be expressed in terms o one or the other o the remaining tw
o. He urther stated that one should be able to relate any one o them with the
solution o an equation whih had the same monodromi group but with all its sin
gular points regular. The last o these statements implied, in at, that (+) a
nd () an be expressed in terms o some hypergeometri untion. I this last o
uld be aomplished, it would indeed be a most exiting outome. And during the
next ew weeks, I learnt about the monodromi group rom the books o Ine and P
oole. There was no di ulty in showing that the equations or (+) and () do indee
d have the same monodromi group. The equation with the same monodromi group bu
t with regular singular points ould quite easily be onstruted. The solution o
this last equation was readily expressible in terms o the inomplete Beta un
tion. But I ould see no way in whih the solution o this last equation ould
be related to (+) and () . In at, together with R. Sorkin, I onluded that N
arasimhan must be under some total misapprehension o what it is I was seeking.
My e orts via the monodromi group thus ollapsed.
142
At about the time I was ollowing the monodromy trail, Xanthopoulos, during a vi
sit to Chiago, told me about his e orts to omplete the solution or the metri p
erturbations o the Reissner Nordstrm blak hole. It beame lear to me that in th
e ourse o o his work, Xanthopoulos had, in at, disovered a speial integral
o the basi radial equations. In partiular, the three equations or the radia
l untions, I had derived in the ontext o the Shwar shild blak hole, allow
a speial integral. This at made it immediately lear why the three equations
are reduible to a single seond order equation. The last o the three question
s I had pu led over had thus ound its answer. But the prinipal questions rema
ined unanswered. The answers to them ame very unexpetedly. I annot quite rea
ll how I ame to trying the partiular sequene o transormations whih resolve
d the basi questions. I seemed to have hit upon them by aident while turning
over in my mind the equations o the transormation theory as I had set it out i
n the appendix o my paper on the ReissnerNordstrm pero turbations. In any event,
by expliitly evaluating the expressions or V () given by the theory and making
use o the nonlinear di erential equation or F , I was able to show that the potent
ials, V () or both the Shwar shild and the ReissnerNordstrm blak holes, are o i
nluded in the general orms, d + 2 f + kf , V () = dx where and k are constants
and f is an aritrary continuous function which together with all its derivative
s have ounded integrals over the range (+, ). By showing that V () a e of the fo eg
oing fo m, I had quite inadve tently esolved the two questions which had puzzle
d me since 1974. And fu the , by making use of the gene al fo ms fo V (+) and V
() , I was able to establish the in nite hie a chy of the integ al equalities betw
een them. I had suspected the eistence of this hie a chy of integ als afte my
conve sations with Ken Case following one of my Weyl Lectu es in P inceton in 19
75. The nal esolution of these long standing questions is the one b ight spot in
an othe wise bleak canvas.
1979 A Yea of Failu es and of Obligations

143
By the thi d week of July, I was able to w ite my pape On One Dimensional Potent
ial Ba ie s having Equal Re eion and T ansmission Coe cients and send it to the Roy
al Society. Du ing August, Donna evaluated eplicitly the st ve integ als of the
hie a chy fo the Schwa zschild potentials. I was glad that the esults of he e
valuation could be included in the pape : it p ovided me the oppo tunity to make
one last acknowledgment to he assistance ove the yea s. With the end of July
app oaching, I had to tu n my thoughts, ea nestly and se iously, to the invited
discou se on The Role of Gene al Relativity in Ast onomy Ret ospect and P ospect I
was to give at the I.A.U. meeting in Mont eal in August. Since this was my st a
ttendance at a meeting of the I.A.U. afte the one in Pa is in 1934, I wanted th
e discou se to e ect my views and my attitudes to esea ch in theo etical ast ono
my. I wanted it, in fact, to be in some ways my ast onomical testament. As it tu
ned out, my lectu e had a ve y la ge audience with a la ge ove ow and with no o
om even fo standing. Fo my pa t, I do not have any feelings as to how e ective m
y lectu e was. But Ma tin thought it was most cou ageous. Retu ning f om Mont eal,
the e we e a numbe of things to attend p epa ato y to Donnas depa tu e to g eene
pastu es. And then we went on a sho t holiday to the Lake Supe io egion du in
g the second week of Septembe . Afte the holiday, I was not f ee to etu n eith
e to esea ch o to my book. Instead, I had to w ite my cont ibution to a Gene
al Histo y of Ast onomy which Owen Ginge ich was editing. My cont ibution was to
be on Gene al Relativity: The Fi st Thi ty Yea s. It was a weak moment in 1977 th
at I had given in to Ginge ichs epeated ent eaties. I now eg etted my weakness
even mo e. Fo , afte spending all of Octobe in w iting the essay, Ginge ich wa
nted me to condense the a ticle and ew ite pa ts of it at a less technical leve
l. I simply efused: I had al eady spent mo e time on it than I could a o d. And t
he matte stands the e now.k
k
The a ticle will now be published in Contempo a y Physics.
144
And still, I was not f ee. I had to p epa e the tet of the Milne Lectu e I am t
o give in Ofo d on Decembe 6. The Lectu e was to be on Edwa d A thu Milne: His
Pa t in the Development of Mode n Ast ophysics. I was not at all su e how my ass
essment of Milnes wo k would be taken by othe s, especially his family. I was con
vinced that the wo k of a scientist must stand on its own; and no assessment is
of value if it is not totally honest. And so the yea ended with f eedom at last
to sta t on my book. I hope that a yea f om now I shall have a gladde tale to
tell. Refe ences
(1) On the potential ba ie s su ounding the Schwa zschild black hole (The Alf
ed Schild Memo ial Lectu e Se ies). (2) Beauty and the quest fo beauty in scien
ce (Physics Today). (3) On one dimensional potential ba ie s having equal e eio
n and t ansmission coe cients (P oc. Roy. Soc.). (4) The ole of gene al elativit
y in ast onomy et ospect and p ospect (IAU Discou se). (5) The gene al theo y o
f elativity the st thi ty yea s (Contempo a y Physics). (6) Edwa d A thu Milne
: His pa t in the development of mode n ast ophysics (Qua te ly Jou nal of Roy.
Ast on. Soc.).
Novembe 26, 1979 Postsc ipt The week following Novembe 26 was the week of the
visito s Bondi and Pen ose and the week of the Ch istmas Lectu es. I was glad th
at I had int oduced Bondi both at the Physics Colloquium on Thu sday (Novembe 2
9) and at the Ch istmas Lectu e on F iday. I did not get to see Pen ose ve y muc
h du ing the week even though we did have him at home fo both a dinne and a b
eakfast. The week was a hectic one; and I was glad that I had al eady w itten th
e complete tet of my Milne Lectu e. Pen ose left on Sunday; and we left on Mond
ay (Decembe 3).
1979 A Yea of Failu es and of Obligations

145
We a ived in Ofo d late in the afte noon of Tuesday. We ested and then went t
o visit Pen ose at the Mathematical Institute. On Wednesday, I gave a talk at Pe
n oses Semina about some aspects of my wo k. It was a pleasu e to talk to an aud
ience familia with my wo k and app eciative of it. Roge was eceptionally deli
ghtful in what he said. It is only a ely that I have had such pleasu able occas
ions du ing these latte yea s. On Thu sday, I gave my Milne Lectu e. I did not
get any feeling at the time as to how e ective my Lectu e was. But Roge w ote han
dsomely afte wa ds. In London, we stayed in the ooms of the Royal Society; and
we had a ve y pleasant evening at the Seatons. Ou stay in Camb idge was memo ab
le only in ou visit to Kate and David Shoenbe g. We we e also ente tained by Ma
tin Rees, Lynden Bell, Nigel Weiss and Allan Hodgkin (at the Lodge). Retu ning
f om England, I tu ned my thoughts to the book. Instantly, I felt uneasy about t
he single lacuna in the info mation still left at the end of Pape III; and I wa
s not happy with what appea ed to me as a clumsy nale. The idea of ep oducing su
ch an inelegant solution in my book was distasteful. I began wonde ing whethe I
should not afte all educe the si Ricci identities involving the de ivatives
of , , and . And, I bean to be concerned equally with the form of the solutions,
particularly of R and , in the Schwar schild limit, a 0. While casually turnin o
ver the accumulated sheets of my notes, it suddenly occurred to me that I should
perhaps rst consider the pair of equations, derived from the same Ricci identiti
es, but complementary to the one that I had considered in Paper III. Once the th
ouht had occurred, I could not doubt the outcome. Indeed, the steps that I had
to follow to obtain the equations that will determine 1 and 2 explicitly, were
very clear. I made the principal reductions durin the Christmas recess (Decemb
er 26). A few days later, I had completed the necessary reductions and I had in
front of me explicit formulae for 1 and 2 . And the fact that 1 + 2 must equ
al required that an identity be
146
A Scienti c Autobioraphy: S. Chandrasekhar
satis ed. I naturally wanted to verify the identity numerically, but the numerical
test failed: there was clearly some error that had crept into the analysis. As
repeated checkins did not disclose any error, I bean even to doubt the entire
procedure. But a close discussion with John Friedman dispelled any such doubts.
It was, nevertheless, very unsatisfactory to have to leave for Paris on January
20 with the discrepancy still unresolved. And there was also the manuscript of m
y Unesco Lecture to et written up and typed before leavin. The week in Paris w
as uneventful except for a day I had with Carter at the Meudon Observatory and t
he chance encounter with the Spit ers, Doreen materiali in from nowhere a few m
inutes before my Lecture. Returnin from Paris, I continued to be concerned with
my failure with the identity. And aain, by reat ood fortune, while turnin o
ver once more the paes of my notes in an attempt to check my formulae for 1 an
d 2 in the limit a 0, I was startled to nd that one term was dimensionally wron
: by an error in transcription, I had omitted a factor 1/r in one of the terms.
This was on the afternoon of Sunday, February 3. I at once went to the Institute
; and within an hour the discrepancy that had worried me for a month was one! B
y February 6, I had tied the various loose ends includin the veri cation of the i
dentity involvin 1 and 2 for the Schwar schild limit. I was able to write the
last (and the fourth) paper of my series on the solution of the ravitational p
erturbations of the Kerr black hole durin the followin two weeks; and on Febru
ary 19, the paper was mailed to the Royal Society. And as I wrote on the y leaf o
f the preprint of the paper to John Friedman and Saul Teukolsky, At lon last! B
ut meantime, I seem to have let life pass me by! In any event, so far as I could
see, there was no further obstacle that would prevent me from startin on my bo
ok. And I shall return to these paes when and if I had written the book.
1979 A ear of Failures and of Obliations

147
References
(1) Black holes: the why and the wherefore (Unesco Lecture). (2) The ravitation
al perturbations of the Kerr black hole: IV. The completion of the solution (Pro
c. Roy. Soc.).
February 21, 1980
This pae intentionally left blank
This pae intentionally left blank
1980, 1981: The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes

One of the requirements, associated with the Hermann Weyl Lectures I was to ive
at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in October 1975, was that the
lectures should be published. It occurred to me then that I miht expand the lec
turesl into a full-scale book. And when writin to Denys Wilkinson on October 14
, recommendin Parkers Cosmical Manetic Fields for the International Monoraphs
in Physics, I inquired how he miht respond to a book of my own on the Schwar sc
hild and the Kerr metrics, Wilkinson responded enthusiastically; and I wrote a m
ore detailed letter with an outline of the proposed book (see p. 157) on October
21; and a formal contract with the Clarendon Press was sined on December 1, 19
75. At the time the contract was sined, only six of the sixteen papers (that we
re eventually to appear in the Proceedins of the Royal Society) had been publis
hed. The entire work on the ravitational perturbations of the Kerr black hole,
the separation of Diracs equation in Kerr eometry, as well as the theory of pert
urbations of the ReissnerNordstrm space-time, were all in the future. A comparison
o
l
The expansion of my Weyl lectures was actually published in Hawkin and Israels v
olume. General Relativity An Einstein Centenary Survey (Cambride, Enland, 1979
), Chapter 7, pp. 37191. 151
152
of the outline iven by Wilkinson in October 1975 with the nal contents as it emer
ed in January 1982 will show that almost 75% of the completed book was yet to be
investiated when the idea of the book occurred. As it turned out, the last of
my sixteen papers in the Proceedins of the Royal Society was communicated only
on February 21, 1980. I started on the book on March 1, 1980; and it was to full
y occupy me for almost two years. Let it su ce to say here that the manuscript for
the rst nine chapters (toether with accompanyin illustrations) were handed ove
r to Mr. Maner at the Kennedy Airport (New ork) on September 19, 1981 prior to
our departure to Poland. Chapter X was completed and sent on November 16. And a
ll of Chapter XI (exclusive of the last section 114), the Appendix, and the Epil
oue, were sent on January 7, 1982. Finally, on January 26, the last section 114
was sent. And on Friday, January 29, a call from Mr. Maner acknowledin the r
eceipt of the nal paes came just as we were leavin for the airport, enroute to
Athens and India. Thus the e ort which bean in March 1974 nally came to an end alm
ost eiht years later. Chapter I (Mathematical Preliminaries): It was clear to m
e from the outset that the book had to bein with a chapter includin an account
of di erential eometry adequate as an introduction for an ab initio treatment of
Cartans calculus and the tetrad and the NewmanPenrose formalisms. I was uneasy ab
out this prospect. However, already durin my convalescence from heart surery i
n the fall of 1977, I had been preparin myself; and had found the treatment in
Lovelock and Runds Tensors, Di erential Forms, and Variational Principles (John Wil
ey & Sons, New ork, 1975) just the riht level for my purposes. Nevertheless, I
thouht that my account should be read by one who had a reater feelin for mat
hematical rior than I had. For this reason, I had already arraned with Basilis
Xanthopolous that he should spend the three months (April, May and June) as my
research associate durin my tenure as

153
a Reents Fellow of the Smithsonian Institution at Harvard. (I later arraned th
at he should also spend the months of July and Auust in Chicao.) As it turned
out, Basilis was most helpful with Chapter I; he continued to be helpful in many
other ways all durin the followin two years I was writin the book. This will
become clear in due course. I started to make the notes for Chapter I durin Ma
rch and continued writin the chapter in April and May at Harvard. The earlier s
ections on di erential eometry and Cartans calculus were my rst attempt at writin
on these matters. Basilis criticism was very useful in eliminatin my lapses from
mathematical rior. The sections on the tetrad and the NewmanPenrose formalisms
were relatively straihtforward since I had already focused on them in my articl
e for the HawkinIsrael volume. But several new developments had to be incorporat
ed. These included the eneral expression of the Weyl tensor in terms of the Wey
l scalars; a complete discussion of the Bianchi identities (includin the Ricci
terms); and the sixteen eliminant relations (involvin only the spin coe cients) w
hich follow from the thirty-six Ricci identities. Also, in the section on Petrov
classi cation, the treatment of the type-D space-time had to be modi ed the version
in the HawkinIsrael volume is not entirely correct. Chapter I was completed in
May; but it was typed in nal form only in July. Chapter II (A Space-time of Su cien
t Generality): This chapter was to provide the components of the Riemann tensor
and Maxwells equations for the most eneral space-time that would be needed in th
e book. By providin these basic equations at the outset, one could write out th
e necessary eld equations for any problem, that one may wish to consider. The met
ric I had in mind was a enerali ation (allowin for a -dependence) of the metric
Friedman and I had considered in our joint work in 1971 for treatin non-statio
nary axisymmetric systems. But it was essential to prove the assumption made in
that work (on
154
the basis essentially of countin arument) that in any 3-space, an orthoonal sys
tem of coordinates can be set up in nite neihborhoods. It was astonishin that n
one of the experts (includin Saunders McLane) whom I consulted was even aware o
f the existence of such a theorem. But by constant persistence, I was able to el
icit from Trautman the reference to the paper by Cotton (referred to in an exerc
ise in Petrovs book). The CottonDarboux theorem was inserted only in October. The res
t of the chapter had been written durin the months of May and June. The formula
e iven in the paper by Friedman and myself were enerali ed in this chapter to
allow for a -dependence. The analysis was made tractable by the device of introdu
cin the colon derivative. The section on Maxwells equations similarly enerali e
s the treatment iven in the 1979 paper (on the ReissnerNordstrm pero turbations)
by Basilis and myself. Chapter III (The Schwar schild Space-time): In derivin t
he Schwar schild metric, I followed Syne in startin o directly in the Kruskal f
rame utili in a pair of null coordinates. (But some basic misunderstandins of
Syne had to be clari ed.) The standard derivation in the Schwar schild coordinate
s was iven as an alternative. However, for both derivations, the appropriate eld
equations could be written down directly by suitable speciali ations of the en
eral formulae iven in Chapter II. The main part of the chapter was devoted to t
he eodesies. I found the extant treatments, except Darwins, unsatisfactory. But
Darwin had treated only a part of the problem. The matter of treatin the entire
problem, de novo, and providin a complete classi cation of all the eodesies, to
ok a much loner time than I had anticipated. An essential novelty of the treatm
ent, which uni es the discussion, was the introduction of imainary eccentricity a
nd the distinction between orbits of the rst and the second kinds. While writin
this chapter, it occurred to me that it would be useful to provide illustrations
of the various classes of orbits. I was fortunate in ettin the assistance of
Garrett Toomey (a student of

155
Dave Arnetts). His illustrations add considerably to the treatment of the eodesi
cs in this chapter (and also in Chapters V and VII) in the context of the Reissn
erNordstrm and the Kerr space-times. o The chapter ends with a description of Schw
ar schild space-time in a NewmanPenrose formalism. The chapter was written durin
the months of June, July and Auust. Chapter IV (The Perturbations of the Schwa
r schild Space-time) : At lon last, so it seemed at the time! in October, I bean
to write on matters which had been my primary concern in my series of papers in
the Proceedins of the Royal Society. As I stated in the Biblioraphical Notes,
Chapter IV brouht toether the results and methods scattered throuh my variou
s papers to provide a coherent and uni ed treatment of the perturbations of the Sc
hwar schild black hole. Besides, the chapter included an account of the theory o
f Xanthopolous which led him to isolate the special interal which enabled the r
eduction of the three equations overnin the polar perturbations to a sinle se
cond-order wave equation. The chapter also included an introduction to the theor
y of inverse scatterin to the extent necessary to understand the equality of th
e transmission amplitudes for the axial and the polar perturbations. In writin
this account of the theory of inverse scatterin, I had the bene t of corresponden
ce with Professor Deift of New ork University. The section on the physical conte
nt of the theory (Sec. 32) is new. It deals with an aspect of the subject I had i
nored in my writins. And nally, the treatment of the stability of the Schwar sc
hild space-time was direct and simple: it di ered from the usual treatments which
inore the standard theorems of the quantum theory. Aain this chapter took lon
er than I had expected: it was only durin the rst week of January (1981) that th
e nal typed copy was ready. Chapter V (The ReissnerNordstrm Solution): While the th
eory of o the perturbations of the ReissnerNordstrm solution had been fully o work
ed out in the two papers published durin 1979, there were other
156
aspects that had to be considered afresh. (But even in the theory of perturbatio
ns, the derivation of Maxwells equations, already lineari ed had to be considered (
Sec. 44a) an aspect of the problem to which I had not paid any attention in my e
arlier writins.) First, there was the matter of the derivation of the Reissner N
ordstrm solution. It had, of course, to parallel the derivation of o the Schwar s
child solution in Chapter III; and this was not entirely straihtforward. Next,
there was the matter of the eodesies. Aain the extant treatments were inadequa
te and unsatisfactory. The treatment, parallelin the account in Chapter III, ha
d to be developed ab initio. I was aain fortunate in havin Toomey provide exam
ples of the various critical trajectories. Then there was the matter of relatin
the uxes of ravitational () () and electromanetic eneries with the functions 1
and 2 that I had oriinally taken over the required relation from Mat ner. The
derivation of the relation in Sec. 47 ave me some trouble. But the introductio
n of the scatterin matrix (at the suestion of R. Sorkin) brouht an element o
f eleance to the entire subject. And nally, there was the matter of the so-calle
d instability of the Cauchy hori on. The extant accounts were either in part wro
n, or orthoonal to the spirit of the book. The treatment in Sec. 49 was lon d
elayed. It was completed only in Auust, after several discussions with Hartle.
But the nth copy for this chapter, exclusive of the last section, was completed
in February (before oin to Salonika), thouh the nal typed copy was ready only
in March. Chapter VI (The Kerr Metric): I knew that when I came to writin the o
penin two chapters on the Kerr metric, I would need personal consultations with
Basilis; and I had tentatively arraned that I would visit him in Salonika in D
ecember 1980. But the delay in writin the earlier chapters required a postponem
ent of the visit. However, I did not want to postpone it too lon. There were tw
o principal matters which I wished to consult with Basilis. The rst was in connec
tion with the KerrSchild

157
coordinates; and the second was with respect to the complex interal of Penrose
and Walker overnin eodesic null motions in type-D space-times. But the earlie
r sections of Chapter V dealin with the derivation of the Kerr metric, the uniq
ueness theorems of Carter and Robinson, and the introduction of the KerrSchild co
ordinates, had to be written before oin to Salonika; and I bean workin on th
ese matters, in earnest, already in December while ettin the nal copy of Chapte
r V ready. There was no di culty in writin the sections dealin with the derivati
on of the Kerr metric: in the main I could follow my paper on the topic in the P
roceedins of the Royal Society. But the part relatin to the solution of (2 + 3 )
had to be corrected: in the published paper I had obtained only one of the two
equations overnin 2 + 3 so that a unique solution could not be obtained. The sec
ond equation followed from the eld equation, R23 = 0. The two equations (G22 G33
= 0 and R23 = 0) made the solution of 2 + 3 dete minate. (The two Equations (59) a
nd (60) became essential fo ce tain late developments: in the de ivation of th
e Ke Newman solution and in the discussion of the static disto ted black holes,
both in Chapte XI.) In addition, I had also to wo k out, eplicitly, the non v
anishing components of the Reimann tenso and show eplicitly that the Weyl scal
a s 0 , ,1 , ,3 and 4 vanish and evaluate 2 . The calculations were formidable and so
rely taxin. Fortunately, I had carefully prepared, some years earlier (1976?),
a complete set of notes with all the ory details in the proof of Robinsons theor
em. These notes made the writin of this section fairly easy. In the same way, a
set of notes Basilis had worked out for me in 1978 on his method of introducin
the KerrSchild coordinates, helped me reatly in writin these parts of the chap
ter. But the part dealin with the nature of the Kerr space-time, as exempli ed in
the Penrose diaram, was ivin me conceptual di culties. They were unraveled onl
y much later in May. But by February 20, I had the rest of Chapter VI in the (n1)
ve sion. And so we depa ted fo Salonika on Feb ua y 21.
158
Chapte VII (The Geodesies in the Ke Space time): My p incipal object in going
to Salonika at this junctu e was to obtain a di ect p oof of the comple integ
al of Walke and Pen ose (fo null geodesic motion in type D space times) which
will not equi e knowledge of the spino fo malism. And I was ce tain that, toge
the with Basilis, I could devise such a p oof. I had info med Basilis, befo eha
nd, of the p incipal object of my visit; and he was p epa ed by having ead pa t
icula ly the pape s by Sta k and Conno s. At st, we did not know how to p oceed;
but befo e the end of the week we had established Theo em 1 of Sec. 60. We did
not, howeve , have the time to think about Ca te s eal integ al fo gene al geod
esic motion in the Ke space time. But I felt that a st aightfo wa d etension
of the ideas of Theo em 1 would yield the equi ed esult. On etu ning f om Sal
onika, I was able to p ove Theo ems 2 and 3. I was pa ticula ly pleased with The
o em 3 (and so was Basilis) because it p ovided the necessa y and su cient conditi
ons fo the eistence of a Ca te type integ al fo gene al geodesic motion fo
type D space times in te ms of the spin coe cients. Chapte VII was, in the main,
devoted to the integ ation of the geodesic equations in the Ke space time. The
e was a massive lite atu e on the subject, but none of it was to my taste: the
t eatments we e haphaza d, incohe ent, and pa tial at best. On this account, I d
ecided to develop the necessa y fo mulae independently. But it meant spending an
additional month Chapte VII took nea ly th ee months. Again, Toomey p ovided t
he necessa y illust ations to supplement my analysis. Besides, his calculations
evealed ce tain e o s of inte p etation; and they we e co ected only in Augus
t. Since Pen oses discussion of the elementa y p ocess, in te ms of which he wish
ed to illust ate the way the otational ene gy of the Ke black hole could be e
t acted, was based on a nume ical eample, I had to conside this matte analyt
ically de novo. The t eatment of the Pen ose p ocess in Sec. 63 was mo e gene al
than those found in the lite atu e. But the Wald and the Ba deen inequalities w
e e de ived essentially in the manne of these autho s.
1980, 1981: The Mathematical Theo y of Black Holes

159
Chapte VIII (Elect omagnetic Waves in Ke Geomet y): By ea ly June, I was ead
y to sta t on Chapte VIII on the elect omagnetic pe tu bations of the Ke blac
k hole. By and la ge, this chapte p esents my published wo k in a self containe
d manne while p oviding additional details on such matte s as the Sta obinsky i
dentities. At the same time, I could p esent the basic p oblems associated with
my pa ticula t ansfo mation of the va iables which a e singula in the supe va
iant inte val. Also, the t ansfo mation theo y could be developed fo gene al s
pins once and fo all. Besides, I had to deal in depth with the va ious question
s elating to the physical content of the analytical esults de ived f om the on
e dimensional wave equations. The a guments had many pitfalls; and I felt su cient
ly insecu e to ask Steve Detweile to sc utinize this chapte with ca e. The mat
te s that conce ned me most in this chapte we e (1) the di ect evaluation of th
e ene gy ow ac oss the ho izon f om the known ep ession fo the ene gy momentum
tenso of the elect omagnetic eld; and (2) the justi cation of the bounda y conditi
ons used in the supe adiant inte val. These matte s we e conside ed in Sec. 76
. This chapte was completed du ing the thi d week of July. Only two months ema
ined befo e I was to meet Mange in New Yo k. Chapte IX (The g avitational pe t
u bations of the Ke black hole): The clima of the book was eached in this ch
apte devoted, almost enti ely, to my own wo k included in the se ies of fou pa
pe s published in the P oceedings of the Royal Society a wo k which took me th e
e and one half yea s (f om the summe of 1976 in Camb idge to Feb ua y 1980). Th
e o ganization of the mate ial, as such, was not a di cult p oblem. Fo , as I w ot
e at the conclusion of my fou th pape : while the manne of the nal outcome was un
known, even at the stage of Pape III, the e has been, th ough the cou se of the
se pape s, no ci cumlocution on the app oach towa ds the complete solution: the
analysis has been, almost, self p opelled. The account could, howeve , be made a
little mo e st aightfo wa d by making
160
the gauge assumptions, 1 = 33 = 2 = 0, riht from the outset. The real task was to
assemble all the formulae, some 7080 paes of them; and write them out suitably f
or the nal copy, makin sure that errors did not creep in durin the transcriptio
n. But even so, this lonest chapter of the book was written in the shortest tim
e some ve weeks. The only section which ave some di culty was Sec. 98 in which the
ravitational uxes at in nity and at the hori on were evaluated in terms of the li
neari ed theory (at in nity) and of the HartleHawkin formula (at the hori on). For
the lineari ed theory, I found the account in Robertsons book most suitable for
the purposes on hand; and for the HartleHawkin formula, I preferred Carters accou
nt (in the HawkinIsreal volume) to the oriinal treatment by Hartle and Hawkin.
Chapter IX was completed on 4th September; and that left only fteen days before
our scheduled departure to Poland. I therefore abandoned the idea of writin Cha
pter X on Diracs equation and concentrated on ettin all the illustrations colla
ted with leends; and also on revisin some paes in the di erent chapters. And th
ere was the matter of the Proloue. I ave up my initial idea of several paes a
nd decided instead on a short sinle pararaph. There was, naturally, the last m
inute strain; but the material was all compiled toether and on September 19, it
was handed over to Maner at the Kennedy Airport in New ork. And we left for o
ur fortnihts vacation with the Trautmans with some peace of mind.
1 Chapter X (Spin- 2 Particles in Kerr Geometry): Even thouh I had separated Di
racs equation in Kerr eometry in 1976, I was not at 1 ease with the prospect of
writin a chapter dealin with spin- 2 particles. The principal reason for the u
neasiness was that (as John Friedman had shown me at the time I separated Diracs
equation) the most direct way of writin Diracs equation in the Newman Penrose for
malism was via the spinor formalism. I had not included the spinor formalism in
Chapter I; indeed, I had not studied it in depth at any time. So, even prior to
our departure to Poland, I had
(1)

161
asked John Friedman to come to Chicao and explain to me how I could set out a s
imple derivation of Diracs equation without tears. I was convinced after the meetin
that I simply could not avoid an account of the spinor formalism adequate for
my purposes. I tried to read the accounts of spinor analysis in the various book
s; but they were unsuitable for my purposes. It then occurred to me to o back t
o my notes of Diracs lectures on spinor analysis which I had taken in 1932. It wa
s fortunate that I had written the notes with reat care, they provided the basi
s I needed. But they had to be incorporated in a dyad formalism suitable for wri
tin spinorial equations, in curved space-times in a NewmanPenrose formalism. Som
e notes of his which John Friedman had iven me enabled me to develop this part
of the theory ab initio. Indeed, I had found time to prepare a complete set of n
otes on the spinor formalism, adequate for my book, before we left for Poland. D
urin our stay in Poland, I was able to supplement my notes to include a derivat
ion of Diracs equation, its separation, and its transformation to the form of a o
ne-dimensional wave-equation. It seemed to me that Diracs equation in Kerr eomet
ry must manifest the phenomenon of the Klein paradox; and I discussed this matte
r at some lenth with Trautman. But on examinin the question in detail on retur
nin to Chicao, I was able to show that the phenomenon is not present in Schwar
schild eometry. Whether it is present in Kerr eometry is yet unresolved. The
diression into an investiation of the Klein paradox delayed Chapter X. But the
(n 1) d aft of the ea lie pa ts on spino analysis was eviewed and checked by
F iedman befo e we left fo the U.S.S.R. on Octobe 19. The chapte was complet
ed on ou etu n; and it was mailed to Mange on Novembe 16. And that left only
one mo e chapte to w ite. Chapte XI (Othe Black Hole Solutions): My o iginal
idea was to title this chapte P oblems solved and unsolved and include in it acc
ounts of the Ke Newman solution and its pe tu bations, the disto ted black hole
solutions of Ge och and Ha tle, and the
162
Ha tleHawking inte p etation of the many black hole solutions of Majumda Papapet o
u. But the chapte was to begin with accounts of Walds t eatment of the Ke pe t
u bations and the F iedman Schutz p oof of the stability of the Ke met ic fo a
isymmet ic pe tu bations. The st p oblem on my agenda afte w iting Chapte X w
as the de ivation of the Ke Newman solution. I thought that the e ought to be a
way of de iving the solution f om the Ke solution by some simple t ansfo matio
n. I w ote to Basilis (befo e going to the U.S.S.R.) asking him whethe the e wa
s such a method. His esponse, while seemingly positive, convinced me that the e
was no such t ansfo mation. The p oblem as it p esented itself had two pa ts. T
he st was to de ive the pai of E nsts equations patte ned afte my de ivation of
the Ke met ic in Chapte VI; and the second was to etend the ope ation of co
njugation to the EinsteinMawell equations. The st was a task that could, with pa
tience, be accomplished. The second seemed int actable. Indeed, the whole p ospe
ct was not encou aging; and besides, I was ti ed afte the Russian t ip (we etu
ned on Novembe 4). Obse ving my state of lassitude and f ust ation, Lalitha su
ggested that it might be helpful if I could discuss my p oblems with Basilis and
asked why dont you go to G eece?. The idea that I might go had not occu ed to me;
but now it seemed the only way. So to Basilis su p ise, I called and told him th
at I was coming to spend the following week (Decembe 19) with him. And it tu ned
out to be a most useful and necessa y t ip. But befo e I went to Salonika, I ma
naged (with the skin of my teeth) to de ive the pai of E nst equations by an e
tension of the methods used in Chapte VI. The agenda fo the week in Salonika w
as the following: to esolve the ope ation of conjugation fo the EinsteinMawell
equations gove ning stationa y aisymmet ic space times; to obtain a de ivation
of the disto ted black hole solutions consistent with my way of looking at thes
e p oblems, and, if possible, to etend the conside ations to include the eplic
it const uction of to oidal black hole solutions; and

163
nally, to get a clea unde standing of Walds p ocedu e. The esolution of the st p
oblems was mo e di cult than I had thought. It took us th ee days of ve y ha d wo
k. The p oblem of to oidal black holes appea ed t actable; and we spent conside
able e o t on it. By weeks end we thought that the p oblem had been solved in its
essentials. But we did not make any p og ess in getting to g ips with Walds metho
d. On etu ning to Chicago, I st concent ated on completing the de ivation of th
e Ke Newman solution. It was not as st aightfo wa d as I had supposed. The matte
of the disto ted black holes was mo e comple than we had thought. Even fo th
e disto ted black holes with sphe ical topology, I had ove looked the question o
f thei equilib ium, and the equi ement of local atness of the met ic on the ai
s. I was able to esolve these questions afte some discussions with Ha tle. Bec
ause of this and othe p oblems, I abandoned the idea of including a t eatment o
f to oidal black holes. (Subsequently Basilis esolved the va ious questions; an
d I ecommended that he publish the esults on his own.) The section on the Maju
mda Papapet ou solution had again two pa ts: its de ivation and its inte p etatio
n. The de ivation could be accomplished without di culty, thanks to the gene al fo
mulae of Chapte II (allowing fo the -dependence). And I was helped in the inte
rpretation by Hartle. What now remained was the last section, Sec. 114, on the F
riedmanSchut theorem on the stability of the Kerr solution for axisymmetric pert
urbations. By now it was January and only ten days were left before the ultimate
deadline of January 10 upon which Maner and I had areed. I had already discusse
d with Friedman about his theorem with Schut on two earlier occasions: once in
November (after our return from the U.S.S.R), when I went to visit him in Milwau
kee; and aain in December (after my return from Salonika) when John came to vis
it me. On the latter occasion, John spent some three hours settin out
164
in some detail the outlines of the proof of his theorem; and I thouht at the ti
me that I should be able to ive a reasonable account of the theorem in some six
or seven paes. But when at last I bean to think earnestly of the problem, I d
iscovered that the matter was not that simple. I had not fully reali ed that wha
t was really required was a enerali ation of the variational principle (that Jo
hn and I had established in our joint work of ten years ao) to allow for a nond
iaonal term (23 ) in the metric. I did not see that I had any choice but to de
rive the entire enerali ation ab initio which meant that I had to do, within th
ree weeks, what John and I had done toether in some ten months. I decided that
I would postpone Sec. 114 and concentrate on ettin the rest of the book, exclu
sive of this section, ready. Durin the next few days, I concentrated on ettin
Chapter XI, exclusive of the last section, in its nal form the remainin illustr
ations, the Appendix and the Epiloue. First some remarks about the Appendix. In
my papers on the ravitational perturbations, I had found the need to verify my
identities numerically to assure myself that no errors in the reductions had in
advertently crept in. I concluded then that the book must include a set of table
s of the various Teukolsky and other functions which play a central role in the
theory. Steve, who had carried out some interations earlier for my purposes, ha
d recomputed several of these and completed the interations to provide a repres
entative sample. These tables had been typed durin December; and now I wrote th
e necessary introductory material. The Epiloue, which had been one of my concer
ns from the outset, was a matter of constant debate within myself. I decided nall
y on a short pararaph. On January 7, I mailed all of the book except for the la
st Sec. 114. And I embarked on the lon calculations needed for a really satisfa
ctory base for the FriedmanSchut theorem. Rarely have I felt more despondent tha
n I was durin the three weeks that followed. The work needed absolute concentra
tion: the nal outcome

165
required that not a sinle error be made: it was altoether a most taxin three
weeks. But all is well that ends well; and it did end well: I was able to write
the last Sec. 114 (the lonest sinle section in the book!) durin the third wee
k of January; and the nal manuscript was sent to Maner on the mornin of Tuesday
, January 26. On Friday, January 29, we left for Athens and India; and just as w
e were departin for the airport, a call from Maner acknowleded the receipt of
the last section. Thus, the e ort of eiht years came to an end! March 23, 1982 P
ostscript: Basilis was our uest in Athens and we spent Sunday (January 31) at t
he Acropolis. Principal Dates First suestion of writin a book on black holes in
a letter to Denys Wilkinson on October 14, 1975. A detailed outline of the book
sent on October 21, 1975. Contract sined December 1, 1975. Inquiries concernin
proress of book: March 24, 1977 November 1, 1977 October 10, 1978 October 29, 1
979 The last of the Proceedins of the Royal Society papers communicated on Febr
uary 19, 1980. Bean writin book on March 1, 1980. Proress reports sent on: Ju
ly 14, 1980 October 27, 1980 March 23, 1981 May 1, 1981
166
Chapters IIX, inclusive of illustrations, handed to Mr. Maner on September 19, 1
981 (prior to our departure to Poland) at Kennedy Airport. Chapter X sent on Nov
ember 16, 1981, after returnin from the U.S.S.R. Chapter XI (exclusive of Sec.
114), the Appendix, and Epiloue sent on January 7, 1982. Chapter XI, Sec. 114,
sent on January 26, 1982. Call from Maner acknowledin receipt of Sec. 114 (ju
st as we were to leave for OHare enroute to Athens and India) January 29, 1982. B
ean work March 1974 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.
18. Schwar schild perturbations Quasi-normal modes Schwar schild Kerr perturbati
ons axisymmetric Transformations of Teukolsky equations; electromanetic perturb
ations Maxwells equations in Kerr eometry Kerr perturbations: eneral Diracs equa
tions in Kerr eometry Neutrino: re exion and transmission Kerr metric (derivation
) Gravitational perturbations I Gravitational perturbations II Gravitational per
turbations III ReissnerNordstrm I o ReissnerNordstrm II o One-dimensional potential
barriers Gravitational perturbations IV Mathematical theory of black holes On cr
ossin the Cauchy hori on 7th October 74 6th December 74 3rd February 75 11th Ju
ly 75 18th September 75 5th January 76 21st April 76 2nd June 76 18th April 77 2
nd May 77 20th June 77 22nd Auust 78 28th Auust 78 31st October 78 30th July 7
9 25th February 80 26th January 82 18th June 82

167
Mathematical Theory of Black Holes
23
168
Chapter II, nth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13-80 Chapter IV, notes . . . .
. . . . . . . . 10-27-80 Chapter IV, nth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-07-80 C
hapter IV, nth, 3035 . . . . . 12-01-80 Chapter V, notes . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12-15-80 Notes, ReissnerNordstrm o solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . 12-19-80 Notes, ReissnerNordstrm o solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 12-22-80 Chapter IV, n 1 d aft . . . . . . 01 05 81 Chapte s II
, IV, e o . . . . . . . 01 16 81 Chapte VI, notes . . . . . . . . . . . . 02
02 81 Chapte VI, notes . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 04 81 Chapte V, nth . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 02 09 81 Chapte V, e o . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03 09
81 Chapte VI, nth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03 13 81
Chapte VIII, nth, 3766 . . . . 06 22 81 Chapte VIII, nth, 186 . . . . . 06 30 81
Chapte VIII, e o 129 . . . . 07 06 81 Chapte VIII, nth, 7580, 19a, 170 . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapte VIII, changes, 48, 50, 60
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapte IX, nal d aft 1156
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapte X, nth, 142 . . . . . .
. . 07 23 81 08 07 81 09 04 81 11 02 81
Chapte X, nal copy, 14 . . . 11 16 81 Chapte X, nal pages . . . . . . . 11 18 81
Acknowledgments, P ologue etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 10 81 Chapte
XI, notes, 2566 . . . . 12 14 81 Chapte XI, notes (to C ete) . 12 16 81 Chapte
XI, 112 notes, 126 fo mulae (ep es) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 21 81 Chapte
XI, nth, 150 (p es) and epeated mailing of Dec. 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 12 28 81 Chapte XI, nth, 113, 5166 + nal copy, 142 . . . . . .
. . . . . . 01 04 82 Chapte XI, nth, 113, 5166, + nal copy, 142 . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 01 04 82 Chapte XI, nal, 4254 . . . . . 01 06 82 Chapte XI, 146 and R1R6 plu
s Final gu es f om R1R6 . . . . 01 18 82 ( eld equations and thei linea ization)
Chapte VII, notes . . . . . . . . . . . 03 23 81 Co ected pp. 64, 65, 66 . . .
. . 04 03 81 Chapte VI, 162 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 13 81 Chapte VII, nth
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 17 81 Chapte VII, nth, 150 . . . . . . 04 29 81 Ch
apte VII, nth, 51102 . . . . 05 01 81 Chapte VII, 105117 . . . . . . . . 05 06 8
1 Chapte VI, 6271 . . . . . . . . . . . 05 13 81 Chapte VII, pp. 199 . . . . . .
. 06 05 81 Lemmas, pp. 1007 of VI . . . . 06 12 81 Chapte VIII, 148 nth . . . .
. . 06 18 81

169
Outline as O iginally submitted on Octobe 21, 1975 The Schwa zschild and the Ke
Black Holes
Chapte 1. Mathematical Int oduction Pa t I. The Schwa zschild Black Hole 2. The
met ic and its etensions 3. The geodesies in the met ic 4. The theo y of linea
pe tu bations Pa t II. The Ke Black Hole 5. The met ic and its etensions 6.
The HamiltonJacobi equation: its sepa ability and its solution 7. The uniqueness
of the Ke met ic: the Ca te Robinson theo em 8. The theo y of linea pe tu bat
ions: the Teukolsky equations 9. The elect omagnetic and the g avitational pe tu
bations Pa t III. Miscellaneous P oblems 10. The Reissne No dst m, the Ke Newman,
and T.S. o solutions 11. Ast ophysical matte s
Estimated pages 35
30 20 30
20 20 20 35 35
30 50 325
170
Outline as Revised on Octobe 16, 1979 The Relativistic Theo y of Black Holes
I. II.
INTRODUCTION MATHEMATICAL PRELIMINARIES 1. Ete io Calculus 2. The Ca tan Calcu
lus 3. The Tet ad Fo malism 4. The NewmanPen ose Fo malism
III.
THE FIELD EQUATIONS FOR A NON STATIONARY AXISYMMETRIC SPACE TIME 1. Einsteins Equ
ations 2. Mawells Equations 3. EinsteinMawell Equations 4. Gene alization to All
ow Fi st O de Non Aisymmet ic Pe tu bations
IV.
THE SCHWARZSCHILD METRIC 1. De ivation by Ca tans Calculus 2. Synges De ivation 3.
The K uskal F ame 4. The Geodesies in the Schwa zschild Met ic i. Null Geodesie
s ii. Time Like Geodesies
V.
THE PERTURBATIONS OF THE SCHWARZSCHILD METRIC 1. The Met ic Pe tu bations 2. The
Equations De ived f om the NewmanPen ose Fo malism 3. The Relationship Between z
(+) , z () and y 4. The Dual T ansfo mations 5. The Re eion and the T ansmission
Coe cients i. Thei Equality ii. The In nite Hie a chy of Integ al Equalities 6. Qua
si No mal Modes 7. Concluding Rema ks

171
VI.
THE REISSNERNORDSTROM METRIC 1. The Met ic 2. The NewmanPen ose Equations 3. The D
ecoupling of the NewmanPen ose Equations and Equations Gove ning the Pe tu bation
s of Opposite Pa ity 4. The Dual T ansfo mation 5. The Re eion and the T ansmissi
on Coe cients 6. The Met ic Pe tu bations 7. The Instability of the Inne Ho izon
VII. THE KERR METRIC 1. The Field Equations 2. Gene al Aisymmet ic Solutions 3.
The Ke Met ic 4. The uniqueness of the Ke Met ic 5. Its Type D Cha acte VI
II. GEODESICS IN THE KERR METRIC 1. The HamiltonJacobi Equation and its Sepa abil
ity 2. Geodesies in the Equato ial Plane 3. A Gene al Desc iption of the Geodesi
es 4. The Pen ose P ocess and the Wald Inequality 5. Naked Singula ities IX. THE
PERTURBATIONS OF THE KERR METRIC I: ELECTROMAGNETIC PERTURBATIONS 1. The Reduct
ion of Mawells Equations 2. The Solution of Mawells Equation; the Phantom Gauge
3. The TeukoslkySta obinsky Identities 4. The Potential Ba ie s A ound the Black
Hole; the Supe Radiance Phenomenon X. THE PERTURBATIONS OF THE KERR METRIC II: G
RAVITATIONAL PERTURBATIONS 1. The Reduction of the Equations 2. The Teukoslky Eq
uation 3. The Angula Functions 4. The TeukolskySta obinsky Identities
172
5. The Met ic Pe tu bations by a Di ect Solution of the NewmanPen ose Equations 6
. Summa y of the Solution 7. Walds Method of Solution 8. Potential Ba ie s A oun
d the Black Hole 9. Resonant Oscillations and Quasi No mal Modes XI. THE PERTURB
ATIONS OF THE KERR METRIC III:
1 INCIDENCE OF SPIN 2 PARTICLES
1. The Sepa ation of Di acs Equation 2. The Neut ino Equations and thei Reductio
n to One Dimensional Wave Equations 3. Giuvens Reductions 4. The Absence of Supe
Radiance XII. THE PERTURBATIONS OF THE KERR METRIC IV: MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS 1
. Tidal Pe tu bations 2. To que Ee ted by Ete nal Magnetic Fields XIII. THE PE
RTURBATIONS OF THE SCHWARZSCHILD METRIC AS A LIMITING CASE OF THE KERR METRIC XI
V. THE KERRNEWMAN METRIC 1. The Met ic 2. The Pe tu bation Equations XV. EPILOGUE

173
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
I. MATHEMATICAL PRELIMINARIES 1. Int oduction 2. The elements of di e ential geome
t y (a) Tangent vecto s (b) One fo ms (o , cotangent o cova iant vecto s) (c) T
enso s and tenso p oducts 3. The calculus of fo ms (a) Ete io di e entiation (b
) Lie b acket and Lie di e entiation 4. Cova iant di e entiation (a) Pa allel displa
cements and geodesies 5. Cu vatu e fo ms and Ca tans equations of st uctu e (a) T
he cyclic and the Bianchi identities in case the to sion is ze o 6. The met ic a
nd the connection de ived f om it. Riemannian geomet y and the Einstein eld equat
ion (a) The connection de ived f om a met ic (b) Some consequences of the Ch ist
o el connection fo the Riemann and the Ricci tenso s (c) The Einstein tenso (d)
The Weyl tenso (e) Space time as a fou dimensional manifold; matte s of notati
on and Einsteins eld equation 7. The tet ad fo malism (a) The tet ad ep esentatio
n (b) Di ectional de ivatives and the Ricci otation coe cients (c) The commutatio
n elations and the st uctu e constants (d) The Ricci and the Bianchi identities
(e) A gene alized ve sion of the tet ad fo malism 8. The NewmanPen ose fo malism
(a) The null basis and the spin coe cients
174
(b) The ep esentation of the Weyl, the Ricci, and the Riemann tenso s (c) The com
mutation elations and the st uctu e constants (d) The Ricci identities and the
eliminant elations (e) The Bianchi identities (f) Mawells equations (g) Tet ad
t ansfo mations 9. The optical scala s, the Pet ov classi cation, and the Goldbe gS
achs theo em (a) The optical scala s (b) The Pet ov classi cation (c) The Goldbe g
Sachs theo em
Bibliog aphical Notes
II. A SPACE TIME OF SUFFICIENT GENERALITY 10. Int oduction 11. Stationa y aisym
met ic space times and the d agging of ine tial f ames (a) The d agging of the i
ne tial f ame 12. A space time of equisite gene ality 13. Equations of st uctu
e and the components of the Riemann tenso 14. The tet ad f ame and the otation
coe cients 15. Mawells equations
Bibliog aphical Notes
III. THE SCHWARZSCHILD SPACE TIME 16. Int oduction 17. The Schwa zschild met ic
(a) The solution of the equations (b) The K uskal f ame (c) The t ansition to th
e Schwa zschild coo dinates 18. An alte native de ivation of the Schwa zschild m
et ic 19. The geodesies in the Schwa zschild space time: the time like geodesies
(a) The adial geodesies (b) The bound o bits (E 2 < 1) (i) O bits of the st ki
nd

175
() The cse = 0 () Th cas 2(3 + ) = 0 () Th post-Nwtonian approximation (ii) Ori
ts of th scond kind () The cse = 0 () Th cas 2(3 + ) = 0 (iii) Th orits with
imainary ccntricitis (c) Th unound orits (E 2 > 1) (i) Orits of th rst a
nd th scond kind (ii) Th orits with imainary ccntricitis 20. Th odsi
s in th Schwarzschild spac-tim: th null odsis (a) Th radial odsis
() Th critical orits (i) Th con of avoidanc (c) Th odsis of th rst ki
nd (d) Th odsis of th scond kind (i) Th asymptotic havior of for P/3M 1
and P 3M
(e) The orbits with imainary eccentricities and impact parameters less than (3
3)M 21. The description of the Schwar schild space-time in a NewmanPenrose formal
ism
Biblioraphical Notes
IV. THE PERTURBATIONS OF THE SCHWARZSCHILD BLACK HOLE 22. Introduction 23. The R
icci and the Einstein tensors for non-stationary axisymmetric spacetimes 24. The
metric perturbations (a) Axial perturbations (b) The polar perturbations (i) Th
e reduction of the equations to a one-dimensional wave equation (ii) The complet
ion of the solution 25. A theorem relatin to the particular interals associate
d with the reducibility of a system of linear di erential equations (a) The partic
ular solution of the system of Equations (52)(54)
176
26. The relations between V (+) and V () and Z (+) and Z () 27. The p oblem of e e
ion and t ansmission (a) The equality of the e eion and the t ansmission coe cient
s fo the aial and the pola pe tu bations 28. The elements of the theo y of on
e dimensional potential scatte ing and a necessa y condition that two potentials
yield the same t ansmission amplitude (a) The Jost functions and the integ al e
quations they satisfy
1 (b) An epansion of gT () a a poer erie in 1 and a condition for di erent poten
tial to yield the ame tranmiion amplitude (c) A direct veri cation of the hie
rarchy of integral e
ualitie for the potential V () = f + 2 f 2 + f 29. Perturbati
os treated via the NewmaPerose formalism
(a) The equatios that are already liearized ad their reductio (b) The comple
tio of the solutio of Equatios (237)(242) ad the phatom gauge 30. The trasf
ormatio theory (a) The coditios for the existece of trasformatios with f =
1 ad = constant; dual transformations () Th vri cation of th quation ovrn
in F and th valus of ad 2 31. A dirct valuation of 0 in trms of th mtric
prturations (a) Th axial part of 0 () Th polar part of 0 32. Th physical con
tnt of th thory (a) Th implications of th unitarity of th scattrin matri
x 33. Som osrvations on th prturation thory 34. Th staility of th Schw
arzschild lack hol 35. Th quasi-normal mods of th Schwarzschild lack hol
Bilioraphical Nots
V. THE REISSNERNORDSTROM SOLUTION 36. Introduction 37. Th RissnrNordstrm solutio
n o (a) Th solution of Maxwlls quations () Th solution of Einstins quations
1980, 1981: Th Mathmatical Thory of Black Hols

177
38. Th natur of th spac-tim 39. An altrnativ drivation of th RissnrNor
dstrm mtric o 40. Th odsis in th RissnrNordstrm spac-tim o (a) Th null
odsics () Tim-lik odsics (c) Th motion of chard particls 41. Th d
scription of th RissnrNordstrm spac-tim in a Nwman o Pnros formalism 42. Th
mtric prturations of th RissnrNordstrm solution o (a) Th linarizd Maxw
ll quations () Th prturations in th Ricci tnsor (c) Axial prturations (
d) Polar prturations (i) Th compltion of th solution 43. Th rlations tw
n vi
(+)
and vi
()
and zi
(+)
and zi
()
44. Pe tu bations t eated via the NewmanPen ose fo malism (a) Mawells equations w
hich a e al eady linea ized (b) The phantom gauge (c) The basic equations (d) Th
e sepa ation of the va iables and the decoupling and eduction of the equations
45. The t ansfo mation theo y (a) The admissibility of dual t ansfo mations (b)
The asymptotic behavio s of Yi and Xi 46. A di ect evaluation of the Weyl and the
Mawell scala s in te ms of the met ic pe tu bations (a) The Mawell scala s 0 an
d 2 47. The problem o re exion and transmission; the sattering matrix (a) The ene
rgy momentum tensor o the Maxwell eld and the ux o eletromagneti energy (b) Th
e sattering matrix 48. The quasi normal modes o the ReissnerNordstrm blak hole
o 49. Considerations relative to the stability o the ReissnerNordstrm spaeo time
178
50. Some general observations on the stati blak hole solutions
Bibliographial Notes
VI. THE KERR METRIC 51. Introdution 52. Equations governing vauum spae times
whih are stationary and axisymmetri (a) Conjugate metris (b) The Papapetrou t
ransormation 53. The hoie o gauge and the redution o the equations to stan
dard orms (a) Some properties o the equations governing X and Y (b) Alternativ
e orms o the equations () The Ernst equation 54. The derivation o the Kerr m
etri (a) The tetrad omponents o the Riemann tensor 55. The uniqueness o the
Kerr metri; the theorems o Robinson and Carter 56. The desription o the Kerr
spae time in a NewmanPenrose ormalism 57. The KerrShild orm o the metri (a)
Casting the Kerr metri in the KerrShild orm 58. The nature o the Kerr spae
time (a) The ergosphere
Bibliographial Notes
VII. THE GEODESICS IN THE KERR SPACE TIME 59. Introdution 60. Theorems on the i
ntegrals o geodesi motion in type D spae times 61. The geodesies in the equat
orial plane (a) The null geodesies (b) The time like geodesies (i) The speial
ase, L = aE (ii) The irular and assoiated orbits 62. The general equations o
geodesi motion and the separability o the Hamilton Jaobi equation
1980, 1981: The Mathematial Theory o Blak Holes

179
(a) The separability o the Hamilton Jaobi equation and an alternative derivati
on o the basi equations 63. The null geodesis (a) The -motion (i) > 0 (ii) = 0
(iii) < 0 (b) Te principal null congruences (c) Te r motion (d) Te case a =
M (e) Te propagation of te direction of polarization along a null geodesic 64.
Te time like geodesies (a) Te -motion (b) The r-motion 65. The Penrose rocess
() The originl Penrose rocess (b) The Wld ine
ulity (c) The BrdeenPressTeuk
olsky ine
ulity (d) The reversible extrction of energy 66. Geodesies for 2 >
M 2 () The null geodesies (b) The time-like geodesies (c) Violtion of cuslit
y
Bibliogrhicl Notes
VIII. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN KERR GEOMETR 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. Introduction De n
itions nd lemms Mxwells e
utions: their reduction nd their serbility ()
The reduction nd the serbility of the e
utions 0 and 2 The TeuolsyStarobins
y identities The completion of the solution (a) The solution for 1 (b) The veri at
ion o the identity (80)
180
() The solution or the vetor potential 72. 73. 74. The transormation o Teuk
olskys equations to a standard orm (a) The rx ( ) relaion A general ransformai
on heory and he reducion o a one dimensional wave equaion Poenial barrier
s for inciden elecromagneic waves (a) The disincion beween Z (+ 75.
+
)
and Z (
+
)
(b) The aymptotic behavior of the olution The problem of re exion and tranmi
ion
+ (a) The cae + > c ( + (b) The cae < + < c + (c) The cae < + <
a/m) and 1 > 0
76.
Further mli ctions nd hysicl interrettion () Imlictions of unitrity (b
) A direct evlution of the ux of rdition t in nity nd t the event horizon (c
) Further mli ctions
77.
Some generl observtions on the theory
Bibliogrhicl Notes
IX. THE GRAVITATIONAL PERTURBATIONS OF THE KERR BLACK HOLE 78. Introduction 79.
The reduction nd the decouling of the e
utions governing the Weyl sclrs 0 , 1
, 3 nd 4 80. The choice of guge nd the solution for the sin coe cients , , and 8
. Th TukolskyStaroinsky idntitis (a) A collction of usful formula () Th
rackt notation 82. Mtric prturations; a statmnt of th prolm (a) A mat
rix rprsntation of th prturations in th asis vctors () Th prturatio
n in th mtric co cints (c) Th numration of th quantitis that hav to d
trmind, th quations that ar availal, and th au frdom that w hav
83. Th linarization of th rmainin Bianchi idntitis
1980, 1981: Th Mathmatical Thory of Black Hols

181
84. Th linarization of th commutation rlations. Th thr systms of quatio
ns 85. Th rduction of Systm I 86. Th rduction of Systm II: an intrailit
y condition 87. Th solution of th intraility condition 88. Th sparaility
of and th functions R and (a) The expression of R and in terms of the Teukolsk
y functions
89. The completion of the reduction of System II and the di erential equations sat
is ed by R and 90. Four lineari ed Ricci-identities 91. The solution of Equations
(209) and (210) 92. Explicit solutions for Z1 and Z2 (a) The reduction of the so
lutions for Z1 and Z2 (b) Further implications of Equations (211) and (212) 93.
The completion of the solution 94. Interal identities (a) Further identities de
rived from the interability condition (263) 95. A retrospect 97. The transforma
tion theory and potential barriers for incident ravitational waves (a) An expli
cit solution (b) The distinction between Z (+ (c) The nature of the potential (d
) The relation beteen the olution belonging to the di erent potential (e) The
aymptotic behavior of the olution 98. The problem of re exion and tranmiion
(a) The expreion of R and in terms of solutions of Teukolskys e
utions with
rorite boundry conditions (b) A direct evlution of the ux of rdition t
in nity (c) The ow of energy cross the event horizon (d) The HwkingHrtle formul
99. The
usi-norml modes of the Kerr blck hole 100. A lst observtion
+
96. The form of the solution in the Schwrzschild limit, 0
)
nd Z (
+
)
182
X.
SPIN 1 PARTICLES IN KERR GEOMETRY 2
101. Introduction 102. Spinor analyi and the pinorial bai of the NevmanPenro
e formalim (a) The repreentation of vector and tenor in term of pinor (
b) Penroe pictorial repreentation of a pinor R as a ag (c) The dyad fo malism (d
) Cova iant di e entiation of spino elds and spin coe cients 103. Di acs equation in
the NevmanPen ose fo malism 104. Di acs equations in Ke geomet y and thei sepa
ation 105. Neut ino waves in Ke geomet y (a) The p oblem of e eion and t ansmi
ssion fo > ( (b) The abence of uper radiance (0 < < ) am/2M r+ )
106. The conerved current and the reduction of Dirac e
uation to the form of o
ne dimenional ave e
uation (a) The reduction of Dirac e
uation to the form o
f one dimenional avee
uation (b) The eparated form of Dirac e
uation in ob
late pheroidal coordinate in at pace 107. The problem of re exion and tranmii
on
() The constncy of the Wronskin, [Z , Z ], over the rnge of r, r+ < r < (b) Th
e ositivity of the energy ow cross the event horizon
(c) The
untl origin of the lck of suer-rdince XI. OTHER BLACK HOLE SOLUTI
ONS 108. Introduction 109. The EinsteinMxwell e
utions governing sttionry xi
symmetric scetimes () The choice of guge nd the reduction of the e
utions
to stndrd forms (b) Further trnsformtions of the e
utions (c) The Ernst e
u
tions (d) The trnsformtion roerties of the Ernst e
utions (e) The oertio
n of conjugtion 110. The KerrNewmn solution: its derivtion nd its descrition
in Newmn Penrose formlism
1980, 1981: The Mthemticl Theory of Blck Holes

183
() The descrition of the KerrNewmn sce-time in NewmnPenrose formlism 111.
The e
utions governing the couled electromgneticgrvittionl erturbtions o
f the KerrNewmn sce-time 112. Solutions reresenting sttic blck holes () Th
e condition for the e
uilibrium of the blck hole 113. A solution of the Einstei
nMxwell e
utions reresenting n ssemblge of blck holes () The reduction of
the eld e
utions (b) The MjumdrPetrou solution (c) The solution reresenti
ng n ssemblge of blck holes 114. The vritionl method nd the stbility of
the blck hole solutions () The lineriztion of the eld e
utions bout stt
ionry solution; the initil-vlue e
utions (b) The Binchi identities (c) The
linerized versions of the remining eld e
utions (d) E
utions governing
usisttionry deformtions; Crters theorem (e) A vritionl formultion of the er
turbtion roblem (i) A vritionl rincile (ii) The stbility of the Kerr sol
ution to xisymmetric erturbtions
EPILOGUE APPENDIX. TABLES OF TEUKOLSK AND ASSOCIATED FUNCTIONS INDEXES Jnury
26, 1982
This ge intentionlly left blnk
POSTSCRIPT: 1982, er tht Pssed

In week it will be fully yer since I nished my book. A yer hs ssed. How?
First, the month of Februry ws sent in Indi. A week in Bomby with dys tr
i to Ajnt nd Elor (including lecture t Aurngbd) nd visit to the T
t Institute; four dys in Ahmedbd nd three lectures; three dys in Delhi inc
luding meeting with Indir Gndhi nd lecture t Delhi University; two dys
in Drjeeling, view of the Himlyn rnge, nd lecture t Bgdogr; three d
ys in Mdrs (including lecture); nd ten dys in Bnglore (two lectures t
the Rmn Institute nd one t the Indin Institute of Science). I should hve e
njoyed my sty in Indi, if I did not hve to give so mny lectures nd sent th
e time, insted,
uietly t Svithris nd Blkrishnns. I wish tht we hd gone t
o Indi on our own without the sonsorshi of the C.S.I.R. I ws lredy very ti
red; nd ll the ublic functions did me no good. We returned to Chicgo on Mrc
h 4. The rst job I hd to ttend ws to revise my Vikrm Srbhi lectures which Bi
ml hd trnscribed on tes. Soon fter, the glleys of my book begn to rrive
; the lst of them were returned on June 23. Mentime, I wrote the er with H
rtle on The crossing of the Cuchy horizon of
185
186
ReissnerNordstrm blck hole; it ws sent to the Royl Society o on June 14. Most of
July nd August were devoted to ssembling the mteril for my Eddington Centen
ry lectures nd rering the nth coy. During the rst three weeks of Setember
we hd holidy in Turkey: Istnbul, Ederni, Antoli nd the bttle eld t Glli
oli. Returning from Turkey, I hd to get the mnuscrit of my Eddington lecture
s in its nl form. In Cmbridge for the lectures during October 1825. (The lecture
s were ublished s smll book by the Cmbridge University Press.) The ge r
oofs were witing on our return; nd they nd long with the Index took u ll o
f November. Then I hd to write u my er for the 1981 Byurkn Symosium on P
rinciles of Invrince. In some wys, I ws gld for this oortunity to write
the evolution of my work on rditive trnsfer during 194348. When tht ws writt
en nd sent, the roofs of the Index cme: nd tht ws sent o on December 30. On
returning the roofs of the Index, the lst of my duties towrds the book cme
to n end. And we decided to kee long ostoned romise to Cesco tht we woul
d visit him in Sn Jun. It lso gve us the occsion to send ten restful dys
in Briloche. And tht ws how the yer ssed. Jnury 22, 1983
The Beginning of the End (19831985)

In The er tht Pssed written in Jnury 1983, I sid tht tht ws robbly the
lst of these instllments. In so writing, it ws my execttion (nd, rtill
y, my intention) tht I would give u serious rcticing of science. Tht intent
ion ws not dhered to, s the list of my ublictions since Jnury 1983 will s
how. While four of them re the rinted versions of lectures, the remining seve
n reresent s serious scienti c e ort s ny tht I hve undertken. Besides, the
two nd hlf yers tht hve elsed hve been full of distrctions s is evide
nt from the brief chronology. I shll begin from where I left o . On returning fro
m our vction in Argentin, for some reson I cnnot
uite recll I begn to wo
nder if the one-dimensionl Schrdinger e
ution, for the rticulr form of the
otentils tht o occur for the Schwrzschild nd the ReissnerNordstrm erturbo ti
ons, will llow some exlicit solutions. It ws immeditely cler tht such solu
tions exist for fre
uencies which mke the Strobinsky constnt vnish. I rst tho
ught mistkenly tht these secil solutions belonged to urely dmed
usi-nor
ml modes. But Wld ointed out my error nd further tht the condition the vni
shing of the
187
188
Strobinsky constnt led to lgebriclly secil erturbtions belonging to ur
ely ingoing or urely outgoing monochromtic wves. Once hving relized this, I
formulted the roblem recisely nd ws ble to obtin the exlicit form for t
he wve functions belonging to these secil erturbtions. The formultion of the
roblem mde it cler tht these lgebriclly secil erturbtions hd ber
ing on the lterntive fctoriztion of the Strobinsky constnt rovided by the
trnsformtion theory. The consistency of the two lterntive wys of secifyin
g these secil erturbtions re
uired the identity of two olynomils of degree
nine. I derived the identity before we left for Jn, relizing tht its veri c
tion would be long nd rduous. I comleted the veri ctions, ower t time, d
uring the odd sre times I hd during our sty in Jn: in the mornings or in
between lectures. I comleted the er soon fter our return from Jn. One in
teresting fct which emerged not known or exected before ws tht there exist s
ecil erturbtions of the ReissnerNordstrm blck-hole which re chrcterized by
urely o ingoing nd urely outgoing determinte mixtures of grvittionl nd
electromgnetic wves. In Jn, I gve mny lectures oulr nd otherwise. I d
id not lern nything myself nd I doubt if my lectures bene ted nyone either. Bu
t the drive over the mountins to Tokyo from Ngoy with the Hykws nd lter
the visit to Hiroshim nd the Pece Museum were memorble. During sring, foll
owing our return from Jn, I gve course on cosmology reetition of one I
hd given two yers erlier. But the ttendnce ws so oor tht I discontinued
hlf-wy during the course. Also, I ws occuied with the oening ddress I ws
to give t GR-10 in Pdu in erly July. Returning from Pdu nd Rome, I sent
some time on the Bethe lectures I ws to give in October. The summer ws unevent
ful nd I ws not sure wht I wnted to do. But the clm ws to be shttered soo
n fter our return from Cornell with the nnouncement from Stockholm. Art from
the disrution cused by innumerble

189
telegrms nd letters (nd by the necessity of rewriting the rticles tht were
being written for Physics Tody nd elsewhere), I hd to concentrte on the lect
ure I ws to give in Stockholm. In rering the lecture, I relized tht the cr
iterion for the onset of reltivistic instbility hd to be investigted fresh
for strs with high degrees of centrl condenstion. The roblem ws to nd how th
e constnt K K in the ine
ulity, R 2GM 1 4/3 , behaved as the polyt opic inC2 de
tended to 5. Since I was p essed fo time, I consulted No man Lebovitz and we s
oon found that it could be obtained f om Emdens fo mula fo the potential ene gy
for a polytrope. Eventually, we wrote a sort paper for te Montly Notices. Te
visit to Stockolm was not te only interruption. In January, we ad to go to Z
ric for te Pauli Lectures. By mid January, u I was able to return to te probl
em of colliding waves in general relativity. But I must go back to te meeting i
n Padua and earlier. Wen te Letter by Kan and Penrose on te problem of colli
ding waves appeared in Nature in 1971, I was instantly intrigued. I remember ask
ing Andrzej Trautman (wo was ten spending six monts in Cicago) to explain to
me te contents of tis Letter. But I dont tink tat I understood te full mean
ing, toug Penroses statement tat one may ave ere anoter example of a generi
c singularity in general relativity remained as a matter for furter study. Ote
r tings intervened and my curiosity was pused aside. My curiosity was roused o
nce again in 1978 wen Nutku pointed out to me in a letter tat is generalizati
on of te KanPenrose solution to allow for non parallel polarizations of te col
liding waves involved a complexi ed version of my simplest solution of te X and Y e
quations included in my paper on te derivation of te Kerr metric. I decided t
at I must explore tis matter on ab initio. But I ad to postpone looking into t
e matter since at tat time I was too deeply involved wit black oles. Finally
, during te summer of 1983 (after I ad completed my paper on algebraically spe
cial perturbations), I recalled Nutkus observation of 1978 and wondered in a vagu
e sort of way. An accidental circumstance canged my interest from a casual one
to a more active one. It appened tis way.
190
In July, I ad given te opening address at GR 10 on Te matematical teory of b
lack oles. After te lecture, Valeria Ferrari (wose tesis Ru ni ad sent me at a
n earlier time) came and talked to me; and se seemed quite knowledgeable about
my work. Later, wen we were in Rome for a worksop arranged by Ru ni, and I ad ask
ed to be excused from giving any lecture, Ferrari suggested tat instead of my g
iving a formal lecture, tere could be an informal meeting at wic various inte
rested persons could ask me questions; and I agreed. Se conducted te meeting,
magisterially directing te discussion along various lines: se seemed quite awa
re of my work in detail. It is possible tat at te end of te meeting, I sugges
ted to er tat peraps se migt consider spending some time wit me at Cicago
. Returning to Cicago, I forgot all about it altoug Ru ni called me once or twi
ce about te possibility of Ferraris visiting me at Cicago. In any event, a week
after te Stockolm announcement, Ferrari appeared at my o ce. And since se ad
come, principally on er own to work wit me, I felt obliged to suggest a proble
m to er. I asked er to go troug my analysis of stationary axisymmetric syste
ms in my book and transcribe te work appropriately for a space time wit two sp
ace like Killing vectors. Se did tis quite well. And se sowed tat an Ernst
equation emerged in place of te X and Y equations; and tat te simplest soluti
on of tis Ernst equation directly yielded te Nutku Halil solution. After some
four weeks of ard work se returned to Rome. I left te matter aside since te
visits to Stockolm and Z ric were pending. u In spite of all te distractions d
uring te fall, I did tink at odd times ow one sould approac te problem of
colliding waves in te EinsteinMaxwell framework. I took te occasion of Penroses
visit during te rst week of December to spend a few ours wit im on Sunday, 4t
December, discussing tis problem. Penrose tougt te problem would be a di cul
t one, reiterating is concern over te impossibility of impulsive waves in elec
tromagnetic teory and ow one would avoid te occurrence of a square root of a function.
The Beginning of the En (19831985)

191
Soon after my return from Z rich, I ent over the entire analysis u that Ferrari
ha left ith me; an I ent further in evaluating the spin-coe cients an the Wey
l an the Ricci scalars. But I still i not unerstan too ell the nature of t
he singularities at the null bounaries. (All of these became clear much later
hen orking ith Xanthopoulos on the same problem in the context of the Einstein
Maxell theory.) But to complete the paper ith Ferrari, I ent to Rome in March
. The joint paper as complete uring the eek I as in Rome. It as sent for p
ublication soon after my return. (The formulae specifying the character of singu
larities on null bounaries ere correcte in proofs.) Alreay before I ent to
Rome I ha transcribe the basic equations for the EinsteinMaxell case. But no c
ouple Ernst equations emerge at the stage of and ; they emerge only at the sta
ge of the potentials, and . It became clear that what one required was a solution
of this latter equation which in the limit Q = 0 will reduce to the solution Z =
+ iq2 appropriate to the vauum. I had reali ed this at soon ater my return
rom Rome. But I let the matter aside sine my time was taken up with my ourse
on the Theory o Solitons that I was then giving. Also, sine Xanthopoulos was
to ome in June, I deided that we would work on the problem together during the
summer and all. Soon ater Xanthopoulos arrived in early June, he proved the b
asi Lemma that enabled one to write the solution or the Ernst equation appropr
iate to the EinsteinMaxwell equations whih, or Q = 0, will redue to the NutkuHal
il solution. The algorithm or obtaining the omplete solution was lear. Basili
s did most o the work at this stage, sine I had to work on my revision o the
last setion o my Ellipsoidal Figures o Equilibrium or the Dover edition. The
basi solutions or e and q2e were obtained by early August, I provided the simp
ler and the more diret manner o derivation. The solution or +3 was essetially
guessed by Xathopoulos; but it was ot di cult to derive it systematically from t
he goverig equatios oce oe ew what to loo for.
192
A Scieti c Autobiography: S. Chadrasehar
The problems relatig to the veri catio of the jump coditios ad the ature of
the sigularities alog the ull boudaries gave rise to coceptual di culties; bu
t they were evetually solved. The al paper was writte durig the latter part o
f September; ad we maaged to sed the paper to the Royal Society by the last w
ee of September at which time Xathopoulos had to retur to Greece ad I had to
go to Syracuse. But already durig September I bega to thi about the problem
of collidig impulsive waves coupled with uid motios. I very soo realized that
the case, = p, could be solved by essetially the same methods as i the papers
with Ferrari ad Xathopoulos. I showed my prelimiary calculatios to Xathopo
ulos ad ased him to chec the hydrodyamic equatios. He wet further ad show
ed that the basic hyperbolic equatio for the stream fuctio too its simplest
form in null coordinates. At this stage neither of us new how to solve this hyp
erbolic equation. It also became clear that the matter of extending the solution
beyond the null boundaries was not going to be straightforward. The problem had
to be laid aside because of our impending visit to India. Besides woring on th
e joint paper I spent a considerable fraction of the summer preparing and thini
ng about The pursuit of science and its motivations. During a weeend in August, w
hich we spent with the Cronins at their summer cottage, we discussed at great le
ngth many aspects of the motivations for pursuing science.m Since my intention w
as to read a carefully prepared text, it was important that the manuscript was c
ompleted before we left for India on October 20. The main purpose for going to I
ndia in October was to attend the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Indian Acad
emy of Science and also for the formal presentation of Ramanujans bust. But all t
he arrangements had to be cancelled because of Indira Gandhis
m
I should remar that in this discussion as in the earlier discussions over the y
ears, between ourselves and with others. Lalitha was always an active and a stim
ulating participant.

193
assassination. We nevertheless stayed on in India, since we had a commitment to
be in London on November 30. Penrose visited us in London. We taled about vario
us problems over tea. And in the evening we went to a performance of The Marriag
e of igaro at Covent Garden. On returning from India in early December, I thoug
ht a good deal about methods of solving the hyperbolic equation for . In the rst i
nstance, I naturally wanted to determine whether one could nd an explicit formula
for the Riemann function. I had written to rit John at the Courant Institute
already before leaving for India, inquiring about the catalogue of hyperbolic eq
uations for which the Riemann function was nown a catalogue to whose existence
he refers in one of his boos. In December, I received a letter from John saying
that he could not trace any such catalogue but referred me to Cathleen Morawet
. I had some interesting correspondence with her; but it turned out not to be re
levant for the problem on hand. Also, to my surprise I found that the equation f
or was one of the standard equations in Copsons boo on partial di erential equatio
ns (which I had borrowed from Narasimhan). The discovery of the Riemann function
s in Copsons boo, however, led to a wrong trail: the ind of solution which I ha
d thought was relevant, namely, that = constant on the null boundaries, led to a
triviality; and the trail had to be abandoned. I next concentrated on nding whet
her the required solution for can be found by a separation of the variables. I w
as able to nd the exact separable solution which guarantees the positive de nitenes
s of in Region I. The matter of extending the solution beyond the null boundarie
s now became the principal problem. I discussed the problems of the extension wi
th Bob Geroch. He suggested that Regions II and III could be made at by fait acco
mpli and that such a solution would be acceptable if one was led to singularitie
s no worse than -functions. I coul soon sho that this as the case. An again t
he matter ha to be put asie because of our return visit to Inia in February.
194
On returning from Inia I foun that Curt Cutler, one of erochs stuents, ha sh
on that the iscontinuity along the null bounaries coul be eliminate by a co
orinate transformation. Everything no seeme to have fallen in place. Inee,
I rote an (n1) d aft of the pape along these lines. But at this stage a discuss
ion with Lee Lindblom and Cutle showed that the solution violated causality and
the efo e had to be abandoned. Left in this p edicament, it occu ed to me that
pe haps the solution could be etended into Regions II, III and IV by nding solu
tions in othe gauges and coo dinates which did not equi e one to be est icted
to Region I. The e we e indeed two othe gauges to eplo e. Because a lot of de
tailed calculations we e involved, I decided to go to C ete so that Xanthopoulos
and I could get the enti e wo k completed in a week of e o t. We we e able to acc
omplish this task (du ing the week Ma ch 817). While we found two et emely inte
esting classes of solutions, we did not esolve the basic p oblem. (The new solu
tions we e late the subject of a second pape we w ote in June.) And it occu e
d to me quite suddenly that pe haps it may be useful fo me to go to Houston to
discuss the p oblem di ectly with Roge Pen ose. The decision had to be made ins
tantly because that was his last week in the United States; and so I called Pen
ose and decided to go as soon as it was convenient fo him. The meeting in Houst
on p oved to be decisive. Afte I had eplained the p oblem and the natu e of th
e impasse which we thought we had eached, Roge made the astonishing suggestion
that pe haps Regions II and III we e lled with null dust. I could not ve ify his
suggestion st aightaway, since I did not have all the necessa y notes and calcu
lations with me. The following day, on etu ning f om Houston, I was able to ve
ify all the necessa y equi ements fo null dust p evailing in Regions II and II
I. Pen oses suggestion was vindicated. I called to tell him of the successful com
pletion of the p oject. It should be eco ded, howeve , that al eady in Septembe
, Basilis had fo mally noticed the possibility of null dust in Regions

195
II and III; but we igno ed it as manifestly untenable and we did not check any o
f the necessa y equi ements. It was iot di cult now to complete the pape . But t
he su p ising denouement gave ise to much discussion among Ge och, Lindblom and
the students. I was not involved in these discussions. But pe iodically Cutle
gave me some w itten summa ies; and I also talked to Lindblom. And while talking
about these matte s with Lindblom, he suggested that I might eamine the p oble
m with the assumption that null dust p evailed in Region I. I am af aid that in
de iving the basic hyd odynamic equations, by an ove sight I was led to the w on
g equations. Basilis pointed out the e o . When the co ection was made, the so
lution was ve y simple and st aightfo wa d. The analysis could be completed in a
day; but the esult that one can have two enti ely di e ent solutions in Region I
with the same solutions in the est of the space time gave ise to conside able
discussion. I had di culty in pe suading even Xanthopoulos to my point of view. E
ven though the pape was w itten and sent to the Royal Society in August, I had
a continuing feeling of uneasiness. The months of August and Septembe we e devo
ted to eading th ough the enti e Mathematical Theo y of Black Holes, checking f
o misp ints that could be co ected in its thi d p inting scheduled fo late t
his yea . And now I could be content in the knowledge that I had done my utmost
with espect to the book. Septembe 25, 1985
196
S. Chand asekha
Acceptance PAPERS: On algeb aically special pe tu bations of black holes, P oc.
R. Soc. Lond. A 392 (1984) 113. On the onset of elativistic instability in highl
y cent ally condensed sta s (with N. R. Lebovitz), Mon. Not. R. Ast . Soc. 207 (
1984) 1316. On the NutkuHalil solution fo colliding impulsive g avitational waves
(with V. Fe a i), P oc. R. Soc. Lond. A 396 (1984) 5574. On colliding waves in
the Einstein Mawell theo y (with B. Xanthopoulos), P oc. R. Soc. Lond. A 398 (1
985) 223259. On the collision of impulsive g avitational waves when coupled with u
id motions (with B. Xanthopoulos), P oc. R. Soc. Lond. A Some eact solutions of
g avitational waves coupled with uid motions (with B. Xanthopoulos), P oc. R. So
c. Lond. A On the collision of impulsive g avitational waves when coupled with n
ull dust (with B. Xanthopoulos), P oc. R. Soc. Lond. A date 23 May 1983 12 Jan.
1984 Communication date 16 May 1983 30 Dec. 1983
27 Ma . 1984
22 Ma . 1984
2 Oct. 1984
26 Sept. 1984
15 May 1985
9 May 1985
10 June 1985
4 June 1985
12 Aug. 1985
6 Aug. 1985
LECTURES
1. Ma ian Smoluchowski as the founde of the physics of stochastic phenomena, Po
stepy Fizyki 35 (1984) 585595. 2. On sta s, thei evolution and thei stability,
in Les P i Nobel en 1983 (The Nobel Foundation, 1984), pp. 5580. 3. The mathemat
ical theo y of black holes, in Gene al Relativity and G avitation, eds. B. Be to
tti et al. (D. Reidel Publishing Company, Do d echt, Holland, 1984), pp. 526. 4.
The gene al theo y of elativity: Why it is p obably the most beautiful of all e
isting theo ies, J. Ast ophys. Ast on. 5 (1984) 311. 5. The pu suit of science: it
s motivations, Cu ent Science 54 (1985) 161169.

197
TRIPS 1983: 14 Ma ch17 Ap il, Japan (Kyoto, Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka, Hi oshima; etu
n to Tokyo) 22 Ap il, Case Weste n Rese ve Unive sity, Cleveland, Michelson Mo
ley Awa d 319 July, GR 10, Padua, Rome. Opening Add ess 214 Octobe , Co nell Unive
sity, Ithaca, New Yo k. Bethe Lectu e (two public lectu es, th ee colloquia) 19
Octobe , Nobel Lau eate announcement 515 Decembe , Stockholm, Sweden: Royal Swed
ish Academy, Nobel Awa d Lectu e 1984: 815 Janua y, Z ich, Switze land: Pauli Lec
tu es (Jan. 9, 10, 12); D . Tomalla u P ize 512 Ma ch, Rome, discussions with Val
e ia Fe a i 3031 May, D. Sc., Queens College of the City Unive sity of New Yo k,
Flushing, N.Y. 46 Octobe , Sy acuse Unive sity, Sy acuse, New Yo k, lectu e 20 O
ctobe 27 Novembe , India. Oct. 26, Bi la Awa d Nov. 22, Bose Lectu e 28 Novembe 1
Decembe , London, Royal Society, Copley Medal 1985: 219 Feb ua y, India. 6 Feb ua
y, Golden Jubilee Lectu e 817 Ma ch, C ete, discussions with Basilis Xanthopoulo
s 17 Ap il, Houston, Teas, discussions with Roge Pen ose 30 Ap il, P inceton U
nive sity, Physics Depa tment, P inceton, New Je sey. Hamilton Lectu e 26 June6 J
uly, Cana y Islands (Tene ife) and Mad id, Spain, Inaugu ation of the Institute
de Ast o sica de Cana ias, Tene ife 1214 June, Washington, D. C., Dinne at White H
ouse du ing State Visit of Rajiv Gandhi
198
26 June6 July, Cana y Islands (Tene ife) and Mad id, Spain, Inaugu ation of the I
nstituto de Ast o sica de Cana ias, Tene ife 1526 August, Sp ing G een, Wisconsin,
vacation 27 Octobe 9 Novembe , I aklion, C ete, info mal discussions with Basilis
Xanthopoulos 1920 Novembe , Unive sity of Flo ida, Gainesville, Flo ida, info ma
l discussions with elativists including Steven Detweile
Continued Effo ts I (Septembe 1985May 1987)

Du ing my visit to C ete in Ma ch (1985), I was p incipally occupied with the ne
w solutions in the othe two gauges and coo dinates (besides the ones app op iat
e fo Region I fo colliding plane f onted waves). While I was so occupied, Basi
lis occupied himself with wo king out the solution (on a compute ) that follows
f om the simplest solution p + iq of te Ernst equation for derived E for + i. I wa
s not then very much interested in following this trail: my interest was diminis
hed by Basiliss having to use a computer even to obtain the solution for + 3 . But
Basilis was quite isistet that the paper should be a joit oe: ad i July o
r August, I received from him his calculatios as well as a prelimiary draft of
the paper. I put these aside sice I was too ivolved, rst with the paper o the
ull-dust ad the i my scrutiy of my Mathematical Theory of Blac Holes for
misprits for correctio i its third pritig. I was able to examie what Basil
is had doe oly by mid-September. Sice the paper was to be a joit oe, I atu
rally wated to scrutiize Basiliss maer of derivatio. I soo foud that the s
olutio for + 3 , far from requirig a computer, could i fact be obtaied very s
imply from the ow solutio for the NutuHalil metric.
199
200
Ad I was also puzzled by the criterio for the choice of the costat of itegr
atio i the solutio for q2 . But I did ot do aythig about the log ad comp
licated formulae that Basilis had obtaied for the Weyl scalars sice, at this s
tage, they were all believed to diverge (as expected!) o the arc u2 + v 2 = 1.
By early October, I had a (1) d aft of the pape . Since I was et emely ti ed a
t this time, Lalitha and I decided that we would go to C ete fo two weeks (Oct.
26Nov. 10) pa tly as a vacation and pa tly to wind up the loose ends of my collabo
ation with Basilis. We we e fo tunate in the weathe we had: we spent a la ge p
a t of ou time sitting by the seaside and eading. Basilis took us out fo day
long d ives in the beautiful mountainous count yside; and he checked the (n 1) d
aft of the pape . On etu ning f om C ete, I w ote the n ve sion of the pape .
While the pape was being typed, Basilis called to say that he had found some e
o s in his evaluation of the Weyl scala s; that when they we e co ected, none
of them dive ged on u2 + v 2 = 1; and that in pa ticula , 2 had th xtrmly sim
pl form: 1 2 = (1 p cos iq cos )3 . 2 The typing of the pape had to be abandoned:
the e was something quite unepected to eplo e. My st eaction was: if the ep
ession fo 2 is that simpl, why nd a computr to valuat it? Thr must a
simpl way of drivin it a initio. Clarly what was ndd was to rwrit th
xprssions for th Wyl scalars, ivn in trms of th Ernst function = (+iq2 +
1)/(+iq2 1), in terms o E = (+i+1)/(+i1) . When this was done, I found that the simpl
expression for 2 followed at once. It a ected the corresponding reductions for 0 an
d 4 . Since I wanted the expressions to be checed, I put them aside for Basilis
to do the checing after his arrival in January. And I turned my thoughts to how
the space time was to be viewed when no curvature singularity developed in u2 +
v 2 = 1. I discussed the matter with Wald and Geroch; but to no avail. Again, I
put these
Continued E orts I (September 1985May 1987)

201
thoughts aside and returned to a problem I had thought of while we were in Crete
in November: The problem of cylindrical waves and space times with two space li
e Killing vectors, the orbits of one of which are closed. It was straightforwar
d enough to wor out the formal theory and derive the appropriate cylindrical Er
nst equation. The possibility of separable solutions describing monochromatic wa
ves almost stared at my face. It was possible to complete the solution and deter
mine its salient properties. The radial function satis ed a nonlinear Bessel equat
ion. It occurred to me that this equation might have occurred in the theory of s
olitons. So I wrote to Ablowit inquiring whether he was familiar with the equat
ion. He con rmed that the equation was indeed familiar to him as a special case of
Painleve transcendent III. I had Chris Habisohn (a student of Geroch) integrate
the equation (on a computer) and obtain some sample solutions. Also, I could ea
sily generali e the theory to include coupling with electromagnetic elds and an (
= p)-prfct third. Two prolms howvr rmaind: to undrstand th manin of
th C-nry and to otain th asymptotic havior of th radial functions. Th co
rrct asymptotic havior was drivd y Prsids aftr I had sustd its form
asd on som commnts of Alowitz. But th ral manin of th Cnry scapd
m at this tim; and nithr roch nor Wald could nlihtn m to my satisfact
ion. Excpt for ths two itms, I had workd out th full thory whn Basilis a
rrivd in mid-January. And I put th cylindrical wavs asid and turnd my thou
hts onc aain to th nw solution. I showd him what I had don: and in particula
r, my rduction of th formula for th Wyl scalars. It soon cam vidnt tha
t th xtnsion of th spac-tim yond u2 + v 2 = 1 was th primary prolm. I
had no ida as to how on miht accomplish it: and nithr did Basilis or roc
h. It occurrd to m (as it had in April of 1985) that I should o to Oxford and
discuss th mattr with Ror Pnros. So I calld him and askd him if I could
com to Oxford to talk to him aout th prolm. H was surprisd at my wantin
to undrtak th trip to Enland just to s him!
202
A Scinti c Autoioraphy: S. Chandraskhar
I lft for Oxford on Sunday, January 26. I had som two or thr hours of discus
sion on Monday vnin (allowin tim for dinnr at Wadham). And I had an hour o
n Tusday mornin. By this tim Pnros had clarly undrstood th natur of my
prolm. Latr that vnin, aftr dinnr, w aain talkd aout th mattr of t
h xtnsion quit spci cally. And whn w partd at aout 11 p.m., Pnros had m
ad a vry spci c sustion as to th kind of transformation that miht provid
th rquird xtnsion. Early nxt mornin, I lft y us for Hathrow. And on t
h plan rturnin to Chicao, I was al to carry throuh succssfully Pnross
sustion. On rachin hom latr that vnin, I calld Ror to tll him that
his ida had workd and told him also that I was in total amazmnt of his asto
nishin insiht. Whil on th plan, I had carrid out th xtnsion only for th
asymptotic form of th mtric nar u2 + v 2 = 1. Th xtnsion of th xact m
tric av no di culty; and this phas of th prolm was compltd within a day or
two aftr my rturn from Oxford. Durin our discussion in Oxford, Pnros wond
rd whthr th solution w had was of typ-D. I was not sur at that tim. But
Basilis was al to show that it was typ-D in Rion I. Th spactim was ind
d isomtric to th Krr spac-tim. But th prcis natur of th omtry was n
ot clar immdiatly. It was soon rsolvd. But it took anothr wk or two to c
larify th ntir prolm and raliz that th xtndd spac-tim had tim-lik
hyprolic arc sinularitis. At this sta two prolms still rmaind: th s
paration of th HamiltonJacoi quation and th maximal analytic xtnsion of th
spac-tim. Th formr was straihtforward; ut th lattr took considral di
scussion. A numr of rlatd mattrs had to undrstood: th disposition of t
h null cons alon th null oundaris of th xtndd spac-tim; and th st
mannr of xhiitin th natur of th spac-tim. Howvr, all ths mattrs w
r mostly clari d whn I lft for nva (for a colloquium at Crn) and M nich (f
or an invitd papr at an ESO confrnc arrand y u
Continud E orts I (Sptmr 1985May 1987)

203
Lo Woltjr) on March 12. Th constancy of surfac ravity on th null horizon wa
s provd much latr in th proof sta. Both at Crn and at M nich, I spok princ
ipally aout collidin u wavs, concntratin principally on th transformation
of null dust into an ( = p)-prfct uid. Also at M nich, I had a numr of disu cus
sions with Oscar Rula (a formr studnt of roch) concrnin th C-nry. H
pointd out that th Ernst quation followd from a Laranian dnsity; and that
th associatd Hamiltonian dnsity ld dirctly to th C-nry. At last, I und
rstood what th C-nry rally sini d. On rturnin from M nich, I wrot th (n
1)th and then the u nth ve sion of the pape with Basilis. The completed pape
was sent in to the Royal Society on Ap il 7. Net, I sta ted on the pape on cyl
ind ical waves: and this too was completed befo e I went to Boston on May 1 fo
my lectu e at No theaste n Unive sity. In many ways Ap il was a c uel month: Lal
ithas su ge y fo cata act on Ap il 1, t ips to Det oit (on Ap il 21) and Boston
(on May 1), and the completion of the two pape s. And afte all that, I still ha
d to w ite my fo ewo d fo Eddingtons Inte nal Constitution of the Sta s. With th
e completion of the two pape s on cylind ical waves and on the new type of singu
la ity I felt that I had come to the end of my e o ts on the theo y of colliding w
aves and elated p oblems; and that I should begin to think se iously about the
Ka l Schwa zschild lectu e that I was to give in Septembe . The lectu e was to b
e a majo e o t on my pa t but mo e of this late . But a chance discove y du ing the
Memo ial Day weekend esulted in fu the e o ts and the hectic pace of the p eced
ing months was to continue fo seve al mo e months. It came about this way. Du i
ng Nutkus visit in Feb ua y I had a anged fo his visit he had efe ed a good m
any times to the impo tance of nding a two pa amete gene alization of the BellSze
ke es solution, and in pa ticula , of nding a solution with two o mo e pa amete
s of an E nst equation in to oidal coo dinates that he had de ived. At
204
that time, I did not know anything about the BellSzeke es solution indeed, I was
inclined to be contemptuous of it but I was int igued to nd out mo e about the E
nst equation in to oidal coo dinates. Actually, Nutku was neve eplicit about t
he natu e of his p oblem: he tended to be sec etive about it at least, so I though
t. I the efo e w ote to Nutku asking him fo some speci c info mation about his E
nst equation. Meantime, I t ied to nd out mo e about the BellSzeke es solution and
how it was a solution of the EinsteinMawell equations as Xanthopoulos and I had
w itten them out in ou joint pape . I asked Basilis to eplain it to me since
he seemed knowledgeable about the matte . It t anspi ed that the BellSzeke es sol
ution followed f om the special solution, Z = 1 and H = of te coupled equations
governing Z and H. It was straigtforward to nd te complete generalization of t
is solution in te yper surface ortogonal case: but Basilis did not tink ta
t tere was anyting new to be learned from my general solution (toug e cang
ed is mind later). I continued to tink about te problem; and te cance discov
ery to wic I referred earlier was te simple realization tat for Z = 1, H sati
s ed te Ernst equation for a vacuum wit all te consequences tat it implied. Re
alizing tis, I concluded (too astily as it turned out) tat E = p + iq must prov
ide te two parameter generalization tat Nutku was seeking. During te same Mem
orial Day weekend, I completed te solution for tis case and con rmed tat te sp
ace time in wic te electromagnetic wave was propagated was conformally at wit
te gravitational eld con ned exclusively to te impulsive waves. I sowed te sol
ution to Xantopoulos te following day. He seemed skeptical tat te solution c
ould really be di erent from te BellSzekeres solution; and later in te day e pro
ved conclusively tat te solution I ad derived wit te two parameters p and q
could be reduced to te BellSzekeres solution by replacing x1 and x2 by a suitab
le linear combination of tem wit constant coe cients. In spite of my initial fai
lure in going beyond te BellSzekeres solution, I was convinced tat te reductio
n of te EinsteinMaxwell
Continued E orts I (September 1985May 1987)

205
equations to te vacuum Ernst equation (albeit, in te special case Z = 1) ad t
e potential to lead to furter solutions of interest. I ad, for example, alrea
dy obtained (during te same weekend) te stationary, monocromatic wave solutio
n in cylindrical geometry; and ad decided to add a new Appendix to my paper on
cylindrical waves ten in press. A specially interesting feature of tis last so
lution is tat a time independent space time supports monocromatic electromagne
tic waves. Since te solution E = p + iq led only to a non degenerate form of te
BellSzekeres solution, it was clear tat one way to go beyond it was to consider
its Elers transform, E, and obtain a new one parametric family of solutions. T
e consideration of te Elers transform, E, required a fair amount of e ort: te r
elation between te solutions for + 3 belogig to a solutio E ad its Ehlers tr
asform E had to be established: the equatios goverig q2 had to be itegrated
(which required some igeuity); ad the expressios for the Weyl ad the Maxwe
ll scalars had to be expressed i terms of the solutio of the Erst equatio fo
r H. The last reductio was essetial sice it tured out that the solutio obta
ied by applyig the Ehlers trasformatio to E = p + iq was of type D a fact wic
could easily ave escaped notice. Te solutions tat were obtained from E were
similar to te one obtained in te paper on te New Type of Singularity in tat a
n event orizon was formed wit a subsequent development of a time like singular
ity along yperbolic arcs. After completing te discussion of te Elers transfo
rmed solution, we returned to te general solution for te yper surface ortogo
nal case (i.e. wen q2 = 0). Te solution obtained in tis case provided a gener
alization of te BellSzekeres solution in te same way tat te solution for stat
ic distorted black oles provides a generalization of te Scwarzscild solution
. Te space time develops a orizon and subsequently a tree dimensional time li
ke singularity. In te course of tis work, Basilis and I developed some di erence
of opinion wit regard to te usefulness of obtaining te explicit
206
solution for + 3 . The matter was put aside eve though I had, i priciple, succ
eeded i solvig the problem. The details still require to be wored out. There
was a mior digressio that we udertoo: to d the EisteiMaxwell aalogue (for
the case Z = 1) of the NutuHalil solutio for the vacuum. All of these were comp
leted by the ed of Jue; ad the paper was writte ad set to the Royal Societ
y o July 17 prior to my visit to the Bell Laboratories o July 18. At log last
, I could retur to thiig about my Schwarzschild lecture. As I have said, I h
ad decided to mae a special e ort for this lecture. The subject that seemed most
appropriate was the aesthetic base of geeral relativity a topic that I had wished
to explore for a year ad more. There was ot much time left to thi sice we
had to prepare for the Bayreuth Festival readig the librettos of the seve oper
as (the four operas of the Rig, The Meistersiger, Tahauser, ad Trista ad
Isolde) ad hearig them o records (which we had acquired for the purpose). Sti
ll I got myself ito the proper frame of mid by writig a critical essay o the
views that Dirac had expressed i his UNESCO lecture o the Excellece of Geera
l Relativity, ad compilig some accout of Schwarzschilds three papers o star st
reamig, o the radius of curvature of the three-dimesioal space of astroomy,
ad o his solutio of Eisteis vacuum equatios. Oly after returig from Bay
reuth, could I tur my full attetio to the preparatio of the Schwarzschild le
cture. I had barely three wees; ad I had to allow for Lalithas secod eye-surge
ry durig the same three wees. The writig out of the Schwarzschild lecture was
a major e ort: I had to explore i depth the aesthetic base of the geeral theory o
f relativity which I had ever doe before. (I this coectio, my earlier disc
ussios with Wald ad Basilis o my essay o Diracs views were helpful). But the
most di cult part was to explai how sesitiveess to the aesthetic qualities of a
theory ca eable oe
Cotiued E orts I (September 1985May 1987)

207
to formulate ad solve cocrete problems that lead to a deeper uderstadig of
the physical cotet of the theory. The oly example that I could describe i de
tail i this coectio was the costructio of the theory of collidig waves by
patterig it after the theory of blac holes. A chart illustratig the similar
ity i the two patters was i may ways the heart of the lecture, though I am a
fraid that oe of my listeers at the lecture (or the readers of the prited v
ersio) will follow these parts of the lecture. The uexpected discovery of Eis
teis Gedllchtisrede for Schwarzschild at the Berli Academy i Jue 1916, requi
red a last miute e ort to traslate it for iclusio as a Appedix to the Lecture.
(I had the traslatio checed by D. M lller.) The result was u that the complet
e text of the lecture could be ready oly by oo just about ve hours before the
scheduled departure of my plae to Hamburg o September 17. October 9, 1986 At H
amburg, I had the log awaited opportuity to see ad to tal to Lo Woltjer at l
eisure i a relaxed atmosphere. We had dier together that eveig; ad o the
followig morig, before my lecture, we wet for a log wal i the garde arou
d the Uiversity talig about may thigs: his admiistrative experiece ad h
ow we looed at our futures very di eret but with uderstadig. As for the lectu
re itself, I am afraid the audiece typically astroomical was ueducated i rel
ativity. Eve Weigert (who played as my host) said he should have to read my lec
ture i prit before he could express a opiio. I had expected that the respo
se would be slight: but I did ot wat to dilute the lecture ad was steadfast i
my determiatio to do justice to Karl Schwarzschilds legacy. Next morig I ew to
Leide, havig accepted a ivitatio from va der Laa. It gave me the opportu
ity to meet Ja Oort ad He va de Hulst. The di erece i outloos egedered
over the years had wideed too greatly for a geuie meetig of the mids.
208
Ad my tal o collidig waves simply passed them by (how di eret was the recepti
o to essetially the same tal at the Rama Istitute i Bagalore two moths l
ater!). Returig to Chicago o September 20, I faced a extremely heavy schedul
e before leavig for Idia o December 9. Valeria arrived o September 22 to com
plete the wor o the dispersio of cylidrical impulsive waves that we had star
ted durig her earlier visit (May 531). I was doubtful of the outcome ad was afr
aid that the ivestigatio may be protracted ad icoclusive. Besides, there we
re lectures to give: at Bard College (October 24), Notre Dame (October 31), ad
T. D. Lees Symposium i Columbia (November 22). Soo after Valeria came, I realiz
ed (ad discussios with Narasimha co rmed) that the discotiuous itegral we h
ad chose was diverget ad had to be abadoed. The coverget itegral that we
ext cosidered did represet a impulsive wave but impulsive i the maer of
soud waves emitted by a struc strig, the time-derivative havig a -function be
havior. Valeria shoe that equations governing the C-energy coul be integrate
. She preferre to ork ith the solution expresse in terms of the hypergeometr
ic function. I preferre the solution expresse in terms of the elliptic integra
ls: it ha the avantage that explicit expressions for the relevant quantities i
ncluing the Weyl scalars coul be foun. The etermination of the behaviors of
the various quantities at the iscontinuities as a elicate matter. But Valerias
experience ith computing enable the checking of the various formulae against
numerical evaluations. Valeria left on October 17; but it took all of November t
o resolve the remaining iscrepancies. With persistence the paper as ritten, a
ll the illustrations ere one, an the paper sent to the Royal Society on Decem
ber 4. With the paper sent, I still ha to rite the foreor to my collecte es
says; an the tribute to Ambarzumian on his 80th birthay, leaving only the pape
r that I as to rite ith Basilis untouche.
Continue E orts I (September 1985May 1987)

209
We left for Inia on December 9, arriving in Ne Delhi very early on the morning
(1 a.m.) of December 11. The Vainu Bappu Lecture at INSA as to be given on the
folloing ay. On the morning of December 12, e visite the University of Delh
i; an on the ay stoppe at Kotharis house. We ha an exceptionally corial meet
ing. iving the lecture at INSA as not a satisfying experience: ith the large
auience assemble, I ha to be so popular that nothing signi cant coul be sai. Ev
en so, Kothari as su ciently intereste to ask me to sen him my reprints on coll
iing aves. On the next ay e visite the U.S. Embassy for a luncheon meeting
ith Ambassaor Dean an some Inian scientists (incluing . K. Menon, C. N. R.
Rao, D. S. Kothari an A. P. Mitra). After Delhi e ha a brief vacation at Jai
pur an Uaipur the visit to the Jain temple ith 400 marble pillars as a memor
able one. Then Bombay, lecture at the Tata Institute, meeting ith the Relativit
y group an the mathematicians. Then a eek in Maras an ten ays in Bangalore.
The stay in Bangalore as a most rearing one: the relaxe atmosphere at Balak
rishnans home, the attentiveness an hospitality of Shyamala, an the visits of S
avitri an Viya before e left. The only regret as that the visit as short; a
n the ays ent by leaving a gap at the en. At Bangalore, I gave a seminar-lec
ture at the Raman institute to a small group surveying the ork on colliing av
es. So back to Chicago an to ork. The rst an overriing task as to n out hat
Basilis ha one ith respect to the Einstein Maxell analogue of the solution o
btaine in our paper A ne type of singularity create by colliing gravitational
aves. The expectation as a solution belonging to type-D an an extension leai
ng to a time-like singularity along a hyperbolic arc. Basilis ha left one quest
ion unresolve: the proper choice of a constant of integration for q2 . The choi
ce epens on the context: its vanishing for = 1 for a convenient continuation b
eyond s = 0 and its continuity wen q2 = 0 for local isometry wit te KerrNewman
solution. Basilis
210
also ad investigated (as per our earlier agreement) te beaviour for s = 0 of
te solution we ad obtained in our earlier paper on te EinsteinMaxwell analogue
s of te NutkuHalil solution. I did not like te indirect metod followed by Basi
lis. I investigated te matter ab initio by a direct metod wic is te one des
cribed in te publised paper. And nally, I found tat te yper surface ortogon
al case ad to be investigated separately; in contrast to te solution for te v
acuum, te solution develops a orizon reminiscent of te ReissnerNordstrm space t
ime. o By te time I ad completed my analysis of te Einstein Maxwell case, Basi
lis ad arrived. He ad expected to complete te entire paper in tree weeks. Bu
t tat was impossible because of te additional material to be cecked and veri ed
already in te EinsteinMaxwell case. Taking up te ( = p)- uid with th typD vacuu
m solution, I found many aps to ll. Th rquird spinco cints for th vacuum had
to valuatd; and all th asymptotic haviors stalishd. Whn Basilis lf
t on Fruary 18, th rst two parts of th papr had n writtn in nal form. Aft
r Basilis lft I took up th third part that was to dal with th null dust. Ap
art from compltin th sklton that Basilis had lft, I dcidd to o in dpth i
n th comparison of th solutions for th ( = p)- uid and th null dust with th co
rrspondin solutions in spcial rlativity. This provd not to as straihtfo
rward as I had thouht (thr is in fact an rror in Pnross analysis not disclos
d in th pulishd papr). And I also had to rsolv som of Basiliss douts and
misundrstandins. With all ths additional complications, th papr was nally c
ompltd only on March 11 and snt in to th Royal Socity. (But som chans w
r mad a wk latr.) With th compltion of th papr, I could nally turn to th
Principia. I rst rfrshd my mmory of th circumstancs that ld to th writi
n of th Principia. I found Rous Balls Essay most usful. I did not nd that Wst
fall srvd my purposs. Aftr som carful thouht, I dcidd to slct som t
n propositions out of
Continud E orts I (Sptmr 1985May 1987)

211
th Principia, writ out my own proofs, and compar thm with Nwtons. Th task w
as mor tim consumin than I had thouht. All of March and April wr takn wit
h my prparation for th lcturs I av on th campus and in Washinton. I hav
a fairly complt manuscript. But this will hav to rwrittn in th summr
for pulication. May 3, 1987 S. Chandraskhar
PAPERS: 1. A nw typ of sinularity cratd y collidin ravitational wavs (w
ith B. Xanthopoulos), Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A 408 (1986) 175208. 2. Cylindrical w
avs in nral rlativity, Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A 408 (1986) 209232. 3. On coll
idin wavs that dvlop timlik sinularitis: a nw class of solutions of th
EinstinMaxwll quations (with B. Xanthopoulos), Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A 4. On
th disprsion of cylindrical impulsiv ravitational wavs (with V. Frrari), P
roc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A 5. Th ct of sourcs on horizons that may dvlop whn p
lan ravitational wavs collid (with B. Xanthopoulos), Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A
Communication dat 7 April 1986 Accptanc dat 14 April 1986
24 April 1986 17 July 1986
1 May 1986 21 July 1986
4 Dcmr 1986
9 Dcmr 1986
11 March 1987
17 March 1987
LECTURES 1. Th asthtic as of th nral thory of rlativity (Karl Schwarz
schild Lctur), Mittilunn dr Astronomischn sllschaft Nr. 67 (1986). TRI
PS 1986: 27 January, Oxford, Enland, discussions with Ror Pnros
212
1314 March, Munich, rmany; March 15-22, ESO/CERN, nva: Colloquia 21 April, W
ayn Stat Univrsity, Dtroit, Michian. Vadn Mils Mmorial Lctur 1 May, No
rthastrn Univrsity, Boston, Massachustts. Eihth Distinuishd Scintist Lc
tur 3031 May, Princton Univrsity, Princton, Nw Jrsy. Martin Schwarzschild
Birthday Clration 18 July, AT&T Bll Laoratoris, Murray Hill, Nw Jrsy. C
olloquium 1830 Auust, Bayruth, rmany, Wanrian Fstival 1720 Sptmr, Astro
nomisch sllschaft dr Virsitznd, Tuinn, rmany. Karl Schwarzschild Lc
tur. Visit to Lidn Osrvatory, Lidn, Holland. Colloquium. 25 Octor, Bard
Coll, Annandal-on-Hudson, Nw ork. Distinuishd Scintist Lcturr 31 Oct
or, Notr Dam Univrsity, South Bnd, Indiana. Distinuishd Physicist Lctur
r 2122 Novmr, Columia Univrsity, Nw ork, Nw ork. Symposium in clrati
on of th 60th irthday of T. D. L 12 Dcmr9 January (1987), Indian National
Scinc Acadmy, Nw Dlhi, India. Vainu Bappu Award 1987: 2122 April, Washinto
n, D.C. Symposium on th History of Astrophysics, Amrican Physical Socity 2225
April, Univrsity of Maryland, Coll Park, Maryland, Clration of th Trcn
tnary of th Pulication of Nwtons Principia 1986: 1 January31 Auust, Xanthopou
los coms to Chicao as Visitin Scintist 531 May, Valria Frrari 22 Sptmr17
Octor, Valria Frrari 1987: 218 Fruary, Xanthopoulos 228 Fruary, Frrari
Continud Efforts II (May 1987Sptmr 1989)

To tak up my Continud E orts whr I lft o in May 1987, I am afraid that it will
di cult for m to conform to th styl of my arlir installmnts. As will v
idnt from th appndd rif chronoloy, my tim had n intrruptd y so man
y con ictin commitmnts that it was impossil to follow my normal procdur of c
oncntratin on a particular pic of invstiation till its compltion for t
akin up anothr, I shall thrfor iv an account of th mannr in which th d
i rnt paprs pulishd durin this priod cam to , 1. To start with th papr
On Wyls solution for spac-tims with two commutin Killin- lds (Proc. Roy. Soc.
Lond. A 415 (1988) 329), th initial ida for it cam durin th arly sprin of
1986 whil I was workin, tothr with Xanthopoulos, on our papr On collidin
wavs that dvlop tim-lik sinularitis: a nw class of solutions of th Eins
tinMaxwll quations (Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A 419 (1987) 311). In that invstiat
ion, I confrontd for th rst tim th prolm of solvin Equations 133 and 134,
which ar at th as of compltin Wyls solution for hyprsurfac orthoonal so
lutions for spac-tims with two Killin- lds. Alrady at that tim I
213
214
had found th xplicit solution of Equation (40) for th linar part of th quati
ons. I also ralizd that, to solv Equation (41) for th quadratic parts, on m
ust mak us of th functions introducd y Franz Numann in 1878. Basilis was n
ot intrstd in compltin th solution. H flt (as h said) dmoralizd y hav
in to dirct his nris in a futil dirction. I thrfor put th prolm asi
d in ordr to complt th invstiation on hand. And whil I continud to thin
k aout th prolm at odd tims, thr wr othr mattrs prssin on m: th p
rparation for th Schwarzschild Lctur in th fall of 1986. And whn that was
ovr, I had th task of compltin a protractd invstiation on th disprsion
of cylindrical wavs, tothr with Valria Frrari. (On th disprsion of cylind
rical impulsiv ravitational wavs, Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A 413 (1987) 75). And
y th tim that was compltd, w had to lav for India. On our rturn from In
dia, my principal prolm was to complt th papr Th ct of sourcs that may d
vlop whn plan ravitational wavs collid (with Xanthopoulos, Proc. Roy. Soc.
Lond. A 414 (1987) 1). I hav writtn aout this alrady in my prvious install
mnt. And whn that was out of th way, I had to work on Nwtons Principia for my
lcturs in Washinton, D.C. and in Chicao. And so it was only in May of 1987
that I could rturn to th prolm which I had aandond for aout a yar. My in
itial raction was that th solution to th prolm could compltd in a rla
tivly straihtforward way (in th mannr of th solution of th linar part) y
otainin simpl rcurrnc rlations y makin us of Numanns functions nm an
d Znm . Whil I could t, without too much di culty, on st of rcurrnc rlati
ons, I was misld for a tim into livin that that would complt th solutio
n to my prolm. I soon ralizd that it did not; and that anothr st of rcurr
nc rlations was ndd. I discussd th prolm with Lovitz and Narasimhan
ut to no avail. I had to lav for th confrnc in Camrid with th prolm
unsolvd.
Continud E orts II (May 1987Sptmr 1989)

215
Rturnin from Camrid, I could at last spnd a fw wks with undistractd at
tntion to th prolm. And that was all that th prolm ndd! I soon found a
way of stalishin th scond st of rcurrnc rlations and, with som disci
plin; I was al to driv all th rlations listd in pas 345347 in th puli
shd vrsion of th papr. At lon last, mor than a yar aftr I had startd th
inkin of this prolm, th papr was compltd. Th rfr of th papr thouh
t that th most intrstin part of th papr was th concludin sntnc, Franz
Numann may hav n plasd y th rsurrction of his functions, nm and Znm
in th contxt of Wyls solution! 2. I shall tak nxt th scond papr on th lis
t rlatin to th prturations of th BllSzkrs spac-tim. Durin Basilis vi
sit in Fruary 1987, w had vauly thouht aout analyzin th prturations o
f th BllSzkrs spac-tim. Som days latr Basilis rouht his rduction of t
h Ricci idntitis. By xaminin thm (Equation (21) of PRS A 420 (1988) 93), I
was al to dcoupl thm y introducin potntials in th mannr dscrid; an
d ths rductions ld to Equations (30) and (31). But I did not think furthr a
out th sparation of ths quations at that tim; and whn Basilis lft (Fr
uary 19) th quations had not n sparatd. Aftr compltin my papr on th
Wyl solution in Auust, I turnd to th sparation of Equations (31) and (32).
And it was not lon for I was al to accomplish th sparation and rduc th
quations to spin-on wihtd sphrical-harmonics (Sc. 4a). But on of th s
paratd quations (that for ) involvd spin-wihtd harmonics for a complx m.
I was fairly convincd that this fact would not lad to any ral sinularitis.
It smd inconcival that th solutions would hav a havior di rnt from wha
t Hoson had stalishd for th Lndr functions. I thouht that this mattr
could sttld asily and th papr compltd without too much additional ort.
With this in mind, w wnt to Crt for a wk in lat Sptmrarly Octor. T
houh this wk was ostnsily for a vacation, w did work hard, sinc Basilis f
lt that th prturation
216
analysis for Rion II should also carrid out. W wrot down th asic quat
ions and y th nd of th wk w knw prtty wll how ths quations could
solvd. But I was not al to convinc Basilis that th spin-wihtd harmonics
for th complx arumnt did not lad to any ssntial sinularity. With th in
vstiation in this unsatisfactory stat w rturnd to Chicao. But soon aftr
our rturn, a lon tlphon convrsation with Saul Tukolsky mad it clar that
th spin-wihtd harmonics could rducd to th Jacoi polynomials and sta
lish th havior of ths harmonics; and th rduction showd that th havio
r was th sam as for th Lndr functions. I had lft th rduction of th p
rturation quations to Basilis. From what I was al to athr on th tlphon
, his rsults wr not conclusiv; and I sustd that h visit Chicao for at
last som six wks durin th wintr of 1988. A wk aftr Basilis arrivd on
March 1, it cam clar to m that th spac-tim in Rion II did not allow an
y non-trivial u-indpndnt prturations to which w had rstrictd ourslvs.
It took aout thr wks for it could stalishd yond all dout that R
ion II did not in fact allow any non-trivial uindpndnt prturations. Sinc
nithr of us could com to a rasonal undrstandin of this rsult, I dcid
d to o to Oxford to consult Ror Pnros. This I did durin March 2427, 1988. R
or smd to think that it was impropr of us not to hav includd u-dpndnt
prturations. Arrivin at Hathrow nxt mornin, I found that th plan had
n dlayd y som six hours. I usd this tim to dvlop th quations ovrnin
u-dpndnt prturations. Th asic quations wr solvd on th iht to Chica
o. In th followin days th solution was compltd; and w found that th u-d
pndnt prturations divrd in Rion II and did not provid th asis for a
satisfactory xtnsion. Th mattr had to nd thr. With ort th papr was writ
tn and compltd y th tim Basilis lft on April 13. Now I turnd to th twocntr prolm.
Continud E orts II (May 1987Sptmr 1989)

217
3. In spit of th many distractions durin th past two yars, th prolm whic
h was constantly on my mind was th two-cntr prolm in nral rlativity. Wh
il I had n intrstd in th MajumdarPapaptrou solution of th static arran
mnt of an aritrary numr of xtrm RissnrNordstrm lack hols, vr sinc o
I simpli d th xtant analysis in writin th last chaptr of my Mathmatical Th
ory of Black Hols, my activ intrst was stimulatd y a convrsation with a
ry ions whn I happnd to sit nxt to him at th anqut durin th Camrid
Confrnc in July 1987. ions askd m if I had n intrstd in th Maju
mdar Papaptrou solution. Whn I said I had not, h statd that th solution rpr
sntin th assmla of xtrm RissnrNordstrm o lack hols had similaritis
with solutions rprsntin assmlas of mantic monopols. This convrsatio
n, tothr with th somwhat oliqu rfrnc to th two-cntr prolm in th
Principia, stirrd my intrst su cintly that I wantd to o dpr into th pro
lm of two xtrm RissnrNordstrm lack hols placd on o an axis of symmtry.
But for I startd a mor dtaild proin of this prolm, I trid niv approa
chs to th staility of th na ral MajumdarPapaptrou solution alon th lin
s I had oriinally followd whil writin my account in Th Mathmatical Thory
of Black Hols, i.. considrin + to be small istead of zero. I pursued variou
s trails alog these lies durig the summer ad fall of 1987 but without succes
s. I pro ted by may coversatios with Curt Cutler, who, with admirable idepede
ce, disagreed, with reaso, with may of my approaches. As a result, I decided
o a frotal attac o the problem of the axial axisymmetric perturbatios of tw
o extreme ReisserNordstrm blac holes o o the axis. Durig the fall ad i the m
oths before Christmas, I developed the perturbatio aalysis i spite of the co
stat distractios with the ogoig ivestigatios of the BellSzeeres space-tim
e. Of course I could ot cotiue very log because of the iterruptio of the v
isit to Crete, ad the preparatios for the tal I had to give at the Ramauja
Ceteial Symposium i Madras, ad of the sub-
218
sequet visit to Paris. I ay evet, by the time Basilis ad Valeria arrived i
Chicago i March, I had progressed su cietly far to have established the coserv
atio theorem. I betwee all the other distractios, I cotiued to thi about
the asymptotic behaviors of the solutios at i ity ad at the two sigularities
. The problem with respect to the behavior at i ity was resolved without too muc
h di culty, eve though the matter was ot clari ed completely util much later i t
he summer. The behavior ear the sigularities gave very much more di culty. I did
succeed i decouplig the equatios at the sigularities. But the complete reso
lutio of the problem had to wait. Besides, sice the etire objective of the i
vestigatio was to describe the scatterig process via a scatterig matrix, I re
alized that I must lear more about multi-chael scatterig. By some good fortu
e, I dropped i to Rolad Wistos o ce to d out if he could elighte me o these
issues. I was delighted ot oly to lear that he was i some ways a expert o
these matters, but that ulie most experts, he was willig to tae the time to
educate me! There were may pitfalls that had to be overcome. The major obstacl
e was to realize that the gravitatioal ad the electromagetic waves were coupl
ed i such a way that, ear the horizos, oe had to thi of the radiatio eld a
s photo-gravito waves a surprisig coclusio. Wisto ad I were so itrigued
with this associatio that I explaied ad discussed this matter with Croi a
d Roser. But substative remars relative to this associatio were made oly by
Nambu (who cotiued to be a cosultat o these questios). However, may stra
ds of the problem remaied uresolved eve by the time we wet to Lidau. A wro
g sig i writig the divergece relatio was a irsome error. Bob Wald locate
d it to my cosiderable chagri! After a cocetrated e ort of some two wees upo
our retur from Lidau, I was satis ed with the outcome of the ivestigatios ad
the paper was writte ad set to the Royal Society i July. Already durig the
sprig I had suggested to Valeria to loo ito the polar perturbatios of the t
wo-cetre problem. The
Cotiued E orts II (May 1987September 1989)

219
problem was ot as straightforward as I had thought; ad the subject was left u
atteded sice the simpler problem of axial perturbatios remaied uresolved. A
d whe that was completed I became iterested i aother aspect of the two-cet
re problem. 4. A problem that had itrigued me durig the moths I was worig o
the two-cetre problem was the followig: With two extreme ReisserNordstrm blac
holes o the axis, we have o a axisymmetric solutio of the EisteiMaxwell eq
uatios; ad uderlyig the solutio was a three-dimesioal Laplaces equatio. T
he questio that itrigued me was, where does this Laplaces equatio come from; a
d what is its relatio to the two other Laplaces equatios ad the other equatio
s (e.g. the Erst ad the X- ad Y -equatios) which characterize static ad st
atioary spacetimes? Besides, I thought that oe could obtai the solutio for t
wo collidig ReisserNordstrm blac holes by some simple geeralizao tio (by lett
ig, for example, f = 0 ad f f (t)). I tried several generalizations and at one
point I indeed thought that I had found such a generalization. But they all col
lapsed: they were found to be inconsistent with one or another of the eld e
uatio
ns. The moral once again was, one cannot make discoveries by hoping that random
thoughts will succeed. I returned once again to the basic
uestion in a systemat
ic way. Writing the metric in prolate spheroidal coordinates, I tried to nd other
solutions via the conventional methods based on reducing the e
uations to the E
rnst e
uations. But all these e orts led me away from the understanding that I was
seeking. Gradually it became clear that I ought to reduce the e
uations to a fo
rm in which the solutions for the electrostatic potential and for f became manif
estly trivial solutions of the underlying e
uations. Trying to nd out how this ca
n be achieved, I came to the rather surprising conclusion that the underlying La
places e
uation was none other than what the X and Y e
uations become when one or
the other is 0! Since I knew that the X and Y e
uations are basic to the soluti
on of stationary axisymmetric vacuum space times, the one to one correspondence
between stationary vacuum solutions
220
and static EinsteinMaxwell solutions became clear. When I talked to Basilis over
the telephone about this correspondence, his initial reaction was that I was dis
covering what he chose to call Bonnors transformation. It took some e ort for him to
realize that the oneto one correspondence is much deeper than anything that had
been thought of before in this connection. Once the correspondence had been esta
blished, the
uestion that immediately sprang to my mind was the following: What
is the solution of the EinsteinMaxwell e
uations that follows from the simplest
solution of the X and Y e
uations that I had derived some ten years earlier? As
soon as the metric was written down, it became clear that it represented two cha
rged black holes. I rst thought that the entire space time was smooth. When I tol
d this to Bob Wald, he directed my attention to a paper by Peter Ruback, who had
shown that such multi black hole solutions were impossible. It was clear that t
he space time that I had found must violate the smoothness re
uirement in some w
ay; but the
uestion was, in what way? I had sent my metric describing two black
holes to Basilis; and he thought that the solution was characterized by curvatu
re singularities. On that account I lost interest in the solution; and when Basi
lis came to Chicago in November, he told me that he had found a mistake in his c
alculations and that what remained was only a conical singularity; and so with r
enewed interest we examined all the properties of the solution and found, to our
surprise, that the upper limit M for the charge |Q| was also violated. It was c
lear that we had a solution of some physical interest. Discussions with Nambu fu
lly con rmed this impression: charged black holes have properties in the classical
domain very similar to properties of magnetic mono poles in the
uantal domain.
Since we felt that the solution was of more than normal interest, we worked har
d to complete the papers before the Christmas holidays. And we did: the complete
d papers were in fact sent to the Royal Society the week before Christmas. Janua
ry 17, 1989
Continued E orts II (May 1987September 1989)

221
5. During Valerias visit during March and April of 1988, I had asked her to start
work on the polar perturbations of the two centre problem while I was still unr
aveling the conceptual issues in the context of the simpler axial perturbations.
I had thought that the part up to and including the conservation theorem would
be straightforward. It turned out to be otherwise. Soon enough she derived the r
e
uired perturbation e
uations. But all e orts to obtain the ux integral failed: th
e e
uations presented no clear symmetry. Also, I was not able to spend much time
with her: I was too occupied with the BellSzekeres perturbations; and new concep
tual issues continued to arise in the context of the axial perturbations which w
ere eventually resolved only in June and July. But it did occur to me that one s
hould be able to obtain the ux integral for the polar perturbations by a general
algorism. It seemed to me that the LandauLifshitz pseudo tensor might provide a m
eans. So when Valeria left, I suggested that she obtain the components of the ps
eudo tensor for the fully time dependent static axisymmetric space time. She did
send me her results gtok (k = 0, 2, 3); and since I was unable to suggest what s
he should do beyond that, I asked her to visit Chicago for some ve to six weeks w
hen that was possible. And it was decided that she would come early in the new y
ear. I felt that her visit in JanuaryFebruary should be more successful than her
earlier visit. So when the two papers had been sent to the Royal Society the wee
k before Christmas, I began to think seriously about the problem of how one is t
o obtain the ux integral from a consideration by the LandauLifshitz pseudo tensor.
I began by reducing the expressions of gtij all of them. This I did before Valer
ia came in January. At that time I had no clear idea as to how one should procee
d. Meantime, I asked her to verify the linearized version of the divergence rela
tions in the context of the Schwarzschild and the ReissnerNordstrm perturbations.
The o veri cation with respect to the Schwarzschild background was accomplished wi
th some di culty. But the veri cation with respect to the ReissnerNordstrm perturbatio
ns led to serious discordances: o
222
the terms derived from gT ij were coming out all wrong. First, by using the expre
ssion for (gT ok ),k as a linear combination of T ij s we showed that there had be
en some errors in the evaluation of these terms and, more importantly, that the
transformation to the tetrad components should not be made after the di erentiatio
ns. Eventuok ally the linearized version of the e
uation ,k = 0 was checked. The
uestion of how the ux integral was to be obtained remained. First, it was not cl
ear to me how Habisohn had derived the correct conserved energy momentum theorem
for perturbed spacetimes. Wald explained the procedure to me. The procedure was
to substitute formally for the metric coe cients , , tc., . . . + , +, tc. whr
wr tim indpndnt and xpand ok to the second order in X nd e
ute the term
s of O(2 ). But I was bocked as to what to do afterwards. I knew that , , tc. shoul
d rplacd y th linar prturations with th tim dpndnc it ; but hat
then? Rafael Sorkin a fortunately viiting Chicago at that time. He called on
u one evening and I talked to him about the impae that I had reached. After
he left, I realized that hi remark (deep a alay!) amounted to the uggetio
n that I e
uate the time independent term in the bilinear expreion that one
obtain for the term of O(1 ). This suggestion was the essentia key to the prob
em. The veri cation with respect to the Schwarzschid perturbations was easy enou
gh. But the matter was not so easy with the ReissnerNordstrm perturbations. After
severa misunderstando ings and detours, the veri cation was accompished argey
due to Vaerias persistence. So after six weeks of strenuous e orts on both our par
ts, we nay succeeded in obtaining the ux-integra for poar perturbations. Vaer
ia eft before the (n 1) ve sion of the pape was w itten. But it was all comple
ted a fo tnight afte she left. The pape was w itten and sent in to the Royal S
ociety on Ma ch 3, 1989. Ma ch 22, 1989
Continued E o ts II (May 1987Septembe 1989)

223
The eupho ia in having completed the pape was not to last long: an inc edible o
ve sight vitiated the enti e analysis. But the ove sight was noted only a month
late ; and the pape was eventually withd awn. I should st eplain why. I was du
e to give the st Sefe is Lectu e in Athens on Ma ch 29. The lectu e had to be p
epa ed ca efully: the occasion was an impo tant one, and the e was ha dly enough t
ime. They wanted a lectu e on a gene al topic elated to my Rye son and othe le
ctu es. Instead of epeating one of the ea lie lectu es, I decided to change th
e emphasis slightly to The pe ception of beauty in the pu suit of science. And thi
s same topic was to su ce fo my lectu e to the Ame ican Academy of A ts and Scien
ces to be given late in May. We left fo Athens on Ma ch 27. A late a angement
was that afte the lectu e in Athens, we would spend two weeks as a semivacatio
n in C ete and then a b ief visit to Spain to Ba celona and G anada the latte t
o be p esent at the symposium in hono of Guido M nch. u We we e shown eceptiona
l hospitality in G eece and in Spain. We enjoyed ou vacation in C ete and ou v
isit pa ticula ly to G anada. We etu ned to Chicago on Ap il 22. Soon afte ou
etu n f om Spain, I ealized that in ve ifying the u integ al fo the Reissne N
o dst m space time, we had ove o looked that the nal esult was w ong by a facto /
r 4 our calculation had hon that:
+1 1
Er d r 2 [Z, Z
]r . [Z, Z
]r . 2 r
herea it hould have been

+1 1
Er d [Z, Z
]r
I had ecome suspicious since Wald had pointed out earlier the possiility of su
ch a factor having een overlooked. My rst reaction was that we had made a simple
oversight. But that was not the case. Then my feeling was that there must e a
simple explanation for the
224
additional factor. Could the factor arise, for example, y using the Einstein-co
mplex instead of the LandauLifshitz? But that was not the case either. Discussion
s with Sorkin, Wald and Geroch proved to no avail. Meantime, it had appeared tha
t the ux-integral for the EinsteinMaxwell space-time might e in error more seriou
sly than y a simple factor. Faced with this predicament, I asserted to Wald, wi
th some ravado, that I could after all derive what I wanted a initio directly
from the linearized equations. Under the circumstances, there was indeed no othe
r choice! The prospect was appalling; and I had to race myself to emark on wha
t appeared to e a long and thorny trail a supreme last e ort as I told myself. But
some encouragement came my way, when I realized (to the surprise of oth Wald an
d Burnett) that the initial-value equations simpli ed the ux-integral for the vacuu
m consideraly. That turned out to e a key factor. Again I had to postpone gett
ing into grips with the prolem since I had to think aout the lectures I was to
give at the American Academy and at the Gis Symposium. I started to grapple w
ith the linearized eld-equations in earnest only towards the end of May. First, t
here was the prolem of writing the linearized equations in a form that will man
ifest their internal relationships. The choice of the equations for 2 an 3 as the
key to the entire analysis. The transformations use in passing from Equations (
19) iii + iv to (28) an (29) (in the publishe paper) ere essential steps that
ere arrive at only sloly. An equally important ientity that prove crucial
is that given in Equations (40) an (41). In this manner the essential ingreien
ts for the erivation of the ux-integral for the vacuum ere isolate. The analys
is for the EinsteinMaxell spacetime reaily folloe. I complete all this analy
sis by the time Valeria came on July 8 after the eneral Relativity conference a
t Bouler. While Valeria as checking the analysis, I starte on the analogous r
euctions appropriate for the non-raial oscillations of a
Continue E orts II (May 1987September 1989)

225
spherical star. Again a simple oversight the same one I ha mae some years ago
in connection ith the paper on null ust elaye the completion. But all the lo
ose ens ere tie an the nal paper as ritten an sent on August 17. Meantime,
e ha starte on a reformulation of the problem of the non-raial oscillations
of a spherical star. But of these, at a later time. September 5, 1989
TRIPS 1987: 2022 April: Washington, D.C.: Symposium on the History of Astrophysic
s, The American Physical Society, Crystal City 2225 April: University of Marylan
Center for Renaissance an Baroque Stuies, Symposium on Netons Principia. Scien
ti c Creativity 10 May: Syracuse, N.Y.: Aar of honorary D.Sc., Syracuse Universit
y 15 May: Milaukee, Wisc.: Discussions ith John Frieman 15 June: Urbana, 111:
University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Ramanujan Centennial Symposium 29 Ju
ne9 July: Cambrige, Englan: Tricentennial celebration of the publication of Ne
tons Principia, Cambrige (Trinity College). The aesthetic base of general relativ
ity 1718 September: Socorro, N.M.: Visit to the Very Large Array (VLA) at the Nati
onal Raio Astronomy Observatory 27 September3 October: Iraklion, Crete: Discussi
ons ith B. C. Xanthopoulos 2122 October: Emonton, Alberta: Theoretical Physics
Institute, University of Alberta. Distinguishe guest speaker at Symposium on Te
rcentenary of Netons Principia, On the collision of gravitational aves in genera
l relativity 45 December: Ne York, N.Y.: Columbia University: Boar of Trustees o
f the Taraknath Das Founation presents the Taraknath Das Founation Aar 22 De
cember3 January: 2326 December: Maras, Inia: Ramanujan Centennial Celebrations;
26 December3 January: Visit to Bangalore
226
Papers submitte to Proc. Roy. Soc. Lon.: 11 March: The e ect of sources on horiz
ons that may evelop hen plane gravitational aves collie (ith B. C. Xanthopo
ulos) 3 August: On Weyls solution for space-times ith to commuting Killing els
Papers publishe: On colliing aves that evelop time-like singularities: a ne
class of solutions of the EinsteinMaxell equations (ith B. C. Xanthopoulos), P
roc. Roy. Soc. 410, 311336 On the ispersion of cylinrical impulsive gravitation
al aves (ith V. Ferrari), Proc. Roy. Soc. 412, 7591 The e ect of sources on horiz
ons that may evelop hen plane gravitational aves collie (ith B. C. Xanthopo
ulos), Proc. Roy. Soc. 414, 130 Book publishe: Truth an beauty: aesthetics an
motivations in science (University of Chicago Press) Visiting Scholars: 228 Febru
ary: Valeria Ferrari 219 February: Basilis Xanthopoulos Aars: 10 May: D.Sc, hon
oris causa, Syracuse University 4 December: Taraknath Das Aar, Columbia Univer
sity University of Chicago Lectures: 14 April: University of Chicago Neton Tric
enteiinial Committee (J.W. Stigler, Chairman) invite lecturer 6 May: Lecture on
Neton for the University of Chicago Library Society TRIPS 1988: 1822 January: M
euon (Paris), France: Meeting of Nobel Laureates, sponsore by Prime Minister M
itteran & Elie Wiesel
Continue E orts II (May 1987September 1989)

227
24 February: Maison, Wise: Discussions ith Richar Askey 2427 March: Oxfor, En
glan: Discussions ith Roger Penrose 1314 May: Washington, D.C.: Eitorial Boar
Meeting of the American Scholar 22 May3 June: 2227 May, Kazimerz, Polan: Univers
ity of Warsa, Ne Theories in Physics 29 May3 June, Zielonovo: Visit ith Anrzej
an Roza Trautman 14 June: Montreal, Quebec: Aar of honorary LL.D., Concoria
University 27 June1 July: Linau, ermany: Thirty-eighth meeting of Nobel Laureat
es. Lecture on The founing of general relativity an its excellence 21 August4 Sep
tember: Northern Italy an Salzburg, Austria: Vacation in the Dolomites (Italy)
an Mozart Festival (Salzburg) 21 October6 November: Princeton, N.J.: Institute f
or Avance Stuy. The Oppenheimer Lecture: Neton an Einstein: a stuy in contr
asts 25 December: Oerri, Nigeria: Aar of honorary D. Litt. by the Feeral Unive
rsity of Technology at Oerri Papers submitte to Proc. Roy. Soc. Lon.: 12 Apri
l: A perturbation analysis of the Bell-Szekeres space-time (ith B. C. Xanthopou
los) 12 July: The to-centre problem in general relativity: the scattering of ra
iation by to extreme ReissnerNorstrm black holes. o 20 December: A one-to-one c
orresponence beteen the static Einstein-Maxell an stationary Einstein-vacuum
spacetimes an to black holes attache to strings (ith B. C. Xanthopoulos) Pa
pers publishe: On Weyls solution for space-times ith to commuting Killing els,
Proc. Roy. Soc. 415, 329345. A perturbation analysis of the Bell-Szekeres spacetime (ith B. C. Xanthopoulos), Proc. Roy. Soc. 420, 93123. Massless particles fr
om a perfect ui, Nature, 333, 596 A commentary on Diracs vies on the excellence o
f general relativity, in Festi-Val: Festschrift for Val Telegi, K. Winter, e. (
Elsevier Science Publishers, North Hollan), pp. 4956.
228
Visiting Scholars: 1 February15 May: Valeria Ferrari 1 March13 April: Basilis Xant
hopoulos 1 November1 December: Basilis Xanthopoulos Aars: Honorary Member, Amer
ican Meteorological Society 14 June: LL.D., honoris causa, Concoria University,
Montreal, Quebec 3 December: D. Litt., honoris causa, Feeral University of Tec
hnology, Oerri, Nigeria 1989: 9 January18 February: Valeria Ferrari visiting sch
olar in Chicago
3 March: LanauLifshitz pseuo-tensor (ith Ferrari) (later ithran)
27 March13 April: Athens: First Seferis Lecture (as Fulbright Lecturer), March 29
. Crete: Visit ith Xanthopoulos, 20 March12 April 1316 April: Barcelona, Spain: Ho
one may explore the physical content of general relativity 1620 April: ranaa,
Spain: The intellectual achievement that the Principia is (uio M nch Lecture) u 2
0 April: Iberia Airlines on strike. Drove to Mari 2122 April: Mari: Lecture, O
n black holes 1011 May: Cambrige, Mass: Aress to the American Acaemy of Arts a
n Sciences: The perception of beauty an the pursuit of science 12 May: Washingto
n, D.C.: Meeting of the Eitorial Boar of The American Scholar 1417 May: Ne Hav
en, Conn.: Josiah Willar ibbs Lecture, Yale University: Ho one may explore the
physical content of general relativity 8 July17 August: Basilis Xanthopoulos (vis
iting scholar) in Chicago 8 July30 August: Valeria Ferrari (visiting scholar) in
Chicago
17 August: The
ux integral for axisymmetric perturbations
17 August: Withre Lanau-Lifshitz pseuo-tensor
Valeria Ferrari orking ith Chanrasekhar
Continue Efforts III (September 1989October 1991)

1. The non-raial oscillations of stars: My ork ith Valeria uring the past t
o years has been a chain of trials, euphoria, frustrations, euphoria again, to b
e folloe by humiliation an a nal successful enouement hich at an earlier tim
e oul have provie as much satisfaction as any ork that I have one. No onl
y the humiliation remains. As I have ritten in the earlier installment on Contin
ue E orts II (May 1987September 1989) the completion of our ork on the ux integral
in August 1989, as precee by an earlier paper (communicate in March) hich h
a to be ithran on account of an obvious oversight hich mae the entire proc
eure suspect; an I have escribe ho, on that occasion, prior to Valerias arri
val in Chicago (on July 8, 1989) I ha obtaine the correct results by an entire
ly i erent but irect route. In July hile Valeria as checking my calculations,
I turne my attention to exploring hether a similar ux integral coul be obtaine
for the non-raial oscillations ith attenant emission of gravitational raia
tion in e ect to an earlier love of mine to hich I ha pai attention some 18 yea
rs earlier hen John Frieman an I, in the spring of 1972 hile in
231
232
Oxfor, ha stuie the equilibrium an the stability of axisymmetric systems to
axisymmetric perturbations. Valeria an I i obtain a ux integral, that coul i
n principle be use to etermine the variation of the ux of gravitational raiati
on through a star. At that time e ha no iea ho the ux integral coul be appli
e: e ha not even begun our re-examination of the problem of the non-raial os
cillations of stars from the point of vie of scattering theory. The erivation
of the ux integral appropriate for the polar oscillations of a static star as fa
irly straightforar. An error in eriving the equation governing the conservati
on of baryon number (Eq. (108)) as annoying at the time. During the time I as
riting the paper on the ux integral (August 120) Valeria continue ith riting o
ut the perturbation equations folloing the treatment of the Scharzschil black
hole. Toars the later part of August, hile examining the equations Valeria h
a erive, e foun to our surprise that the equations alloe the integral N =
pL. I was suspicious of it from th vry innin; and I wishd indd implord
John Fridman to chck our calculations. H nvr did. Tn months wr to laps
for w discovrd that th intral simply did not xist. Th rror aros f
rom an unfortunat confusion in th convntions that wr adoptd in writin th
quilirium and th prturation quations: a = +2Ta in th quilirium qua
tions and a = 2Tab in the pe tu bation equations. Fo tunately, this confusion i
n the conventions did not a ect the u integ al that we had de ived: it was consist
ent with the pe tu bation equations as we had w itten them. The integ al p oduce
d a state of eupho ia which was to be dashed at a late time. But the equations
as de ived, though e oneous, did p esent a p oblem that had to be esolved. The
same p oblem is p esented by the co ect equations. Ove coming it at this time
did facilitate the solution of the co ect equations at a late time. Fo this
eason, I shall go into the natu e of this p oblem. What we found with ou pe tu
bation equations was that when we attempted to nd the behavio of the solutions a
t the o igin ( ) via an indicial equation fo the eponent , we obtained the
pa ado
Continued E o ts III (Septembe 1989Octobe 1991)

233
ical esult that was undete mined: eve y value of was pe missible. This was an
impasse that we did not know how to ove come. We had seve al discussions with N
o man Lebovitz and Pe sides; but to no avail. Howeve , afte Vale ia left, I was
able to esolve the p oblem, with espect to ou pa ticula system of equations
, in Septembe . The c ucial obse vation was that the system of equations is line
a ly dependent at the o igin. By a ca eful eamination of how this linea depend
ence came about, I was able to nd a linea combination of the equations (allowing
di e entiation) which was linea ly independent at the o igin. I could then de ive
a well de ned indicial equation with the necessa y numbe of distinct oots. (The
manne in which a system of linea equations, linea ly dependent at the o igin,
could be manipulated to yield a system which was linea ly independent was to p
ovide the key to obtaining the co ect set of equations at a late time.) I did
not p oceed beyond de iving the indicial equation since the p oblem that emaine
d was la gely nume ical. Besides, du ing Septembe and Octobe , I had a numbe o
f othe commitments lectu es at Houston, Yo ktown and Ottawa and p epa ing fo o
u t ip to India and the lectu es on Newton and the Convocation Add ess at Roo k
ee. We etu ned to Chicago in mid Decembe (1989), somewhat ea lie than we shou
ld have liked, since Vale ia was to come to Chicago in Janua y and I wanted to p
epa e fo the net phase of ou wo k elating to the solution of the vacuum. Ho
weve , because of the ill health of he mothe and he eventual death, Vale ia a
ived in Chicago only ea ly in Feb ua y. Meantime I amused myself by de iving e
plicit ep essions fo the TeukolskySta obinsky constant fo a bit a y spin. (I
late communicated the esults in the fo m of a sho t pape to the Royal Society
which was eventually published.) Afte Vale ia a ived in Feb ua y, we we e p i
ncipally occupied with obtaining solutions that would desc ibe the inte io co
ectly. And that was not easy since the indicial equation allowed only one
234
singula ity f ee solution. We we e fo ced to accept a solution with a pole at
= 0 satisfying ou selves with the fact that the pe tu bations fo the physical v
a iables we e non singula at the o igin st ictly an invalid a gument! (I must m
ention pa enthetically, that I was continually distu bed by the fact that the be
havio at the o igin was not the epected .) The integ ation of the equations
was beset with instabilities; and we sought advice in vain f om epe ts. But in
spite of the instability of the integ ation p ocedu e we thought that we had sol
ved the inte io p oblem adequately. The net p oblem was to join the inte io s
olutions to the solution fo the vacuum and a numbe of technical p oblems had t
o be esolved but none insu mountable. Of cou se, all the time I was constantly
wo ied about the integ al on which the wo k was based. We we e totally misled w
hen the nume ical integ ations p ovided fo the eal and the imagina y pa ts of
the f equency of the quad upole quasi no mal mode values in elatively good ag e
ement with those Lindblom had computed fo us by his method. And I am af aid tha
t this success esulted in my b ushing aside the misgivings that I had felt all al
ong. In any event, in a state of eupho ia the pape was w itten (and I must conf
ess with a tone of a ogance in some pa ts). The completed pape was sent to the
Royal Society a week befo e Vale ia left on Ma ch 29. I had al eady a anged wi
th Roland Winston du ing the winte that I would give a se ies of ten lectu es o
n the P incipia du ing the sp ing qua te . My st lectu e was to be on Ap il 11.
I had just about two weeks to sta t p epa ing fo the lectu es. In addition to t
hese lectu es on the P incipia, I gave the substance of the wo k on the non adi
al oscillations at the Pittsbu gh Symposium in hono of Ted Newman. In the subse
quent discussion, Kip Tho ne aised some questions which we e to p ove c ucial.
The c ash came in mid May when I discove ed that the integ al on which ou wo k
was based simply did not eist: and Be na d Whiting discove ed the same thing in
dependently and simultaneously. Howeve , I immediately ecognized that the decou
Continued E o ts III (Septembe 1989Octobe 1991)

235
pling of the met ic pe tu bations f om the hyd odynamic pe tu bations could stil
l be ca ied out and that fo the ba ot opic case the esulting equations would
be ve y simple. I info med Vale ia of this catast ophe and withd ew the pape I
had communicated. Even though the e o that we had made was a humiliating one,
I could not spend any time thinking about the esolution of the p oblem: I was t
oo p eoccupied with my lectu es on the P incipia. But I did tell Vale ia how we
could esu ect the pape by sta ting ab initio with the ba ot opic case. Also I
should add that I neve lost faith in the basic validity of the point of view t
hat we had ep essed in the pape . By the time I had nished my lectu es on the P
incipia, Vale ia had t ied to obtain the indicial equation fo the evised set o
f equations, and she sent me he eductions. I was not satis ed with the manne of
he eductions, but she did nd that the indicial equation allowed a double oot
with the behaviou at the o igin. And that was most eassu ing. I was able to
take up the p oblem myself only on June 8, the day afte my last P incipia lectu
e. By June 12 I had evised the enti e theo y and on June 20 I was able to send
Vale ia the complete basic theo y togethe with the equations necessa y fo the
nume ical solution of the p oblem. Since many of the technical details had been
esolved at an ea lie time, it was possible to wo k out the enti e theo y in e
ssentially a weeks time. Vale ia at that time was in Spain. She was to etu n to
Rome by the end of June, and was to leave again fo he vacation on July 12. I s
uggested that I go to Rome du ing July 210 and complete the wo k if possible. By
the time I a ived in Rome on July 2, Vale ia had ve i ed my analytical de ivation
s and had sta ted on the nume ical integ ations. The integ ations fo the quad u
pole mode we e completed on Thu sday, but on echecking he calculations, Vale i
a decided that the integ ations should be done di e ently to achieve the equi ed
accu acy and was con dent that she could do it all du ing the week of July 11 afte
my depa tu e (postponing he planned vacation).
236
Then on F iday, we took up the dipole oscillations. When we sta ted the calculat
ions, I did not know what the co ect bounda y conditions we e. I thought that w
e could discove it empi ically, since we had the co ect cha acte istic f equen
cy f om Lindblom. Fi st I thought that the elation between L and N (that follow
ed f om the vacuum equations) will p ovide the equisite bounda y conditions. Bu
t Vale ia found by nume ical integ ations that the elation was identically sati
s ed a fact that could be analytically established (by hind sight!). And only on S
unday evening, afte a numbe of detou s following false t ails, did Vale ia dis
cove the ight manne of solving the p oblem. She wo ked all of Sunday night, a
nd when she came to pick me up at the hotel on Monday mo ning, she had the compl
ete nume ical solution to the p oblem, the nal esult ag eeing astonishingly well
with Lindbloms. We felt su ciently elated at this success to spend the afte noon a
t the Sistine Chapel. And so when I left Rome on Tuesday mo ning, all the p oble
ms had been esolved: it had taken us only one month. It took two mo e weeks to
w ite up the enti e pape and send it to the Royal Society on July 20. 2. Non a
dial oscillations of slowly otating sta s (LenseThi ing E ect) Al eady when I was
in Rome completing the wo k on the non adial oscillations, I had mentioned to
Vale ia that the p oblem we should net concent ate on was that of a slowly ota
ting sta in which the disto tion of the gu e 0(2 ) can be neglected. After te pa
per ad been sent to te Royal Society on July 20, I started tinking about tis
problem and came rater astily to te conclusion tat te relevant wave equati
on could be written down almost at once. But tat was muddled tinking, witout
careful attention to te relative orders of te polar and te axial perturbation
s. My discussions wit Wald and Friedman only tended to confuse te issues furt
er. In any event, I adamantly kept to te belief tat te equation I ad derived
(by illegal elimination from Equations (24), (25) and (28) of te printed paper
),
Continued E orts III (September 1989October 1991)

237
(e3+2 +3 X,2 ),2 + (e3++2 3 X,3 ),3 + 2 e3+2 +3 X = [e+2 3 X = 4[

,3 ],3
+ [e+3 2 X
,2 ],2
,
(1)
was co ect. I fu the thought that the nume ical integ ation of this equation c
ould not take ve y much time. Having sent the elevant fo mulae to Vale ia by th
e end of August, I suggested that I come to Rome du ing Septembe 412 to complete
the wo k. Howeve , some of the doubts which Vale ia had aised about the validi
ty of Equation (1), combined with my own uneasiness, convinced me a day o two b
efo e my depa tu e to Rome that the equation was indeed w ong. So when I a ived
in Rome on the mo ning of 5th Septembe I had to tell Vale ia on the d ive f om
the ai po t to the hotel that the development that I had sent he was invalid;
and I had to confess that I did not know eally how one should p oceed. Vale ia
was, of cou se, ve y disappointed. I ested fo an hou o two and I decided tha
t I would not (as I no mally do on such occasions) have a showe and go out fo
dinne ; instead, I decided to stay in the oom and think about the p oblem. I th
ought almost continuously all that night ecept fo b ief snatches of est in be
tween. By b eakfast time net mo ning, I knew p ecisely how one should p oceed.
When Vale ia came to pick me up at the hotel at 9 a.m., I could tell he that ov
e the night I had a evolutiona y idea and that I was ce tain that it would wo k.
The evolutiona y idea was that in the Equation (153) in S. Chand asekha and Joh
n F iedman; Selected Pape s, p. 351, we may substitute fo , , 2, 3 , 2 and 3 (be
0(1)) the ep essions app op iate fo the pola pe tu bations. Then inclusive of
te ms 0() we ave te equation: (e3+2 +3 X,2 ),2 + (e3++2 3 X,3 ),3 + 2 e3
,2 (3 ,3 (3
4[( + p)+2 2 ],3 + 4[( + p)+2 3 ],2
+ 2 3 )],2
2 + 3 )],3 (2)
238
This equation couples the axial an the polar perturbations ith the coupling pr
ovie by , i.e. by the ragging of the inertial frame. Valeria an I iscusse
the problem together all morning an before e ent to lunch, e ere pretty ce
rtain that the basic iea as soun; an the preliminary steps that e shoul ta
ke ere clear. During the folloing ays e orke in parallel, an each of us c
ommitte our share of mistakes in our calculations. The principal obstacle in ma
king progress toars the reuction of the equation as the nee to n an explici
t relation beteen the egenbauer 3/2 polynomials, C +2 and the Legend e polynomi
als P . The equi ed elation is in fact given in M.T. (page 144, Equation (21))
. I had fo gotten how I had de ived it; and I spent one evening ede iving it ab
initio. Once the eact fo m of this elation was known, the est of the analysi
s was fai ly st aightfo wa d. And by the end of the week, we had wo ked out the
theo y completely and only the nume ical wo k emained. Vale ia thought that the
nume ical wo k would not take mo e than a week. On etu ning to Chicago, I sta
ted to w ite the pape and found some additional e o s in ou calculations: but
befo e the end of the week of Septembe 13, the enti e theo y had been i oned o
ut and we con dently epected that the calculations would be eady by Septembe 20
. I should add that du ing the p ocess of w iting, I was able to establish the s
election ule = 1 and alo the validity of the propenity rule (about hich I lea
rned accidentally from Ugo Fano). My intention a of coure that the paper hou
ld be ent to pre before Lalitha and I ere to depart for our vacation in Vien
na. But a ill luck ould have it, the elling on my leg, hich a increaing
(I a, in fact, alarmed by it already in Rome), had become eriou enough for m
e to expre my concern to Dr. Sorenen. On eeing him in hi o ce on Tueday, he
hared my concern and uggeted my having a complete tet for poible clot of
blood the folloing day. There a indeed a preading of blood clot in many
Continued E ort III (September 1989October 1991)

239
of the vein. But fortunately the preading had not extended to the main arterie
. It a clear that I had to be hopitalized immediately for heparin treatment.
At thi point it looked a though both our trip to Vienna and the completion of
the paper before that, ere in jeopardy. The doctor told me that I ould be in
the hopital for about a eek; but I inited that I mut be dicharged on Monda
y and that I ould alk out of the hopital ithout their o cial dicharge if that
a neceary! They took me eriouly enough to accelerate the treatment; and I
a dicharged on Monday evening. But during the preceding to day, they had p
rovided me ith a dek o that I could draft the paper. It a thu poible to
tick to my original plan. The paper a ent in on October 12 and e left for
Europe on October 13. The trip to Vienna and London for the period October 1428 h
ad been planned, long before, for to reaon: to relax in a di erent atmophere a
fter to year of continuou e ort and frutration; but motly to ecape the hypo
criy that ill attend my 80th birthday on October 19. And our departure to Vien
na on October 13 a none too oon. We pent ten day in Vienna. We ere fortuna
te ith the eather: e could it out in the un in promenade and garden (e.g.
the Belvedire). We attended to opera Simon Boccanegro and Otello and to conc
ert by the Vienna Philharmonic (one of them, played in memory of Leonard Bernt
ein, included the adagio from Beethoven 7th Symphony, the Linz Symphony of Mozar
t, and the Great Symphony of Schubert altogether a mot atifying program). And
in beteen I reread The Brother Karamazov. Our four day in England to in Lon
don and to in Oxford ere in the nature of a reunion. On the rt evening (Wedne
day, October 24) e had dinner ith Meggie Weton Smith in her home. She a rit
ing her father biography; and e had much information to exchange. On Thurday,
beide the Editorial Committee Meeting of the Philoophical Tranaction during
the morning, David Shoenberg came from Cambridge. We had
240
dinner together and ent to ee the production of Moco Gold a contemporary pol
itical piece ith Gorbachev, Yeltin and other. The to day ith Roger and Van
ea Penroe in Oxford ere very pecial. Beide being entertained at to dinne
r ith hi (Roger) aociate in a retaurant and in their ne home on the Oxfo
rd Canal, I had a long to hour dicuion ith Roger in hi o ce on Saturday morn
ing. The topic of our dicuion a motivation in the puruit of cience and t
he aethetic component. Could one cultivate aethetic enibility? Roger decrib
ed ho hi motivation operate at to level: a global and a particular. For exa
mple, hi interet in developing the theory of titor originated in hi belief
that the theory ill provide the baic language for all of phyic; and that i
at global level. But it i the development of the theory in concrete context e.g
. the development due to Woodhoue, Ward and Atiyah that provide ubtance to
hi e ort. To a
uetion that Roger aked me concerning my on aethetic motivati
on, the comparion ith Monet erial painting occurred for the rt time. Having
een only recently an exhibition devoted to Monet erial painting, I could ee
the relevance of the comparion. The underlying mathematical tructure of the
theory of black hole, of colliding ave, and of the non radial ocillation of
the tar are all eentially the ame; but the phyical content are a diver
e a one could ih: like the erial painting of the grain tack. The grain t
ack are the ame; and the eld on hich they are erected and the background (inc
luding Monet on houe) are alo the ame. But the aethetic content of the di ere
nt painting i a divere a one could ih. The recollection of our dicuion
that morning ill long remain the ource for further thought. We returned to Ch
icago on October 28: jut a eek before Valeria a to arrive and bring to an en
d our ork on non radial ocillation of the tar. The problem that a uppermo
t in my mind a the application of the ux integral that e had derived a year e
arlier. It a in fact the exitence of a ux integral that uggeted, in the rt i
ntance, our reformulation of the problem

241
of the non radial ocillation of tar. It oon became clear that to apply the u
x integral e needed the general complex olution for the
uai normal mode belo
nging to the complex characteritic fre
uency 0 + i1 . And that re
uired a deeper
undertanding of the BreitWigner formula. Dicuion ith Nambu and Winton ere
of no avail at thi tage. If it i not the BreitWigner formula, hat ele can it
be? A break through appeared imminent. But an interruption delayed immediate progr
e. I had recommended to John Friedman that he invite Valeria for a Collo
uium
in order that he may have a chance to talk to him about our ork and alo obtai
n ome concrete information on neutron tar that may be relevant to our ork. S
he ent to Milaukee on November 16 and gave a collo
uium on our latet ork on
the non radial ocillation of loly rotating tar induced by the Lene Thirrin
g e ect. She returned ith ome diturbing
uetion that John had aked. Why are th
e
uai normal mode dependent on the amplitude of the polar perturbation? Shou
ldnt they be independent? Beide, ould not the polar mode be imilarly a ected b
y the axial mode? And ould that modify our analyi in any ay? The
uetion
ere diturbing enough. But a careful dicuion convinced u that hile our mat
hematical analyi a ale, e had greatly obcured the precie problem to hich
e had addreed ourelve. A reviion a clearly called for. So I called Wain
right at the Royal Society to hold our paper in abeyance a e ihed to revie
ome ection of it; and that he hould receive the reviion ithin ten day.
Wainright told me that the referee of our paper, Bernard Schutz, had volunteere
d to rite to u directly and that e hould ait for hi letter. Schutz letter
(ritten on November 19) arrived a fe day later. The reviion that a re
uire
d a to formulate ithout ambiguity the mathematical problem to hich e had ad
dreed ourelve in the context of E
uation (2). It then became clear that the
parameter in the olution for the
uai normal mode a none other than c (i.e
. ). Also, te polar modes are indeed a ected: te resonant
242
modes already present are a ected to 0(). We also revised te two last sections on a
n illustrative example and concluding remarks. Valeria recon rmed er numerical resul
ts by using some additional test tat we ad derived (see below): and we also in
cluded some remarks on te range of wc tat are relevant. And in te concluding
remarks we were more expansive. Te nal revised version was sent to Scutz on Decem
ber 3 (Monday); and I called (by prior arrangement) on Friday, December 7, to nd
out if e ad furter questions. Wile e agreed tat our analytical treatment w
as indeed awless, e objected to te use of quasi normal modes to describe our resu
lts. We do not subscribe to is objections: but we added a pro forma note about
is objection. And te revised version was sent on December 7. During te revisi
on of te paper on te LenseTirring e ect, I ad found tat te imaginary part of t
e complex solution, Zc = Z + iZi , was given by Zi = i Z, hile the real part Z i
the ame olution that e had found for real . The reult i more than formal. W
ith a careful de nition of Z, , e ere able to ho that the minimum of the ux of r
adiation at in nity, a meaured by (2 + 2 ) dos indd locat th ral part 0 of c
. Beide, e obtained an explicit formula for the imaginary part that a ne.
Valeria veri ed that i given by the ne relation agreed ith the value determined
by the curvature of the parabola (2 + 2 , ) at 0 . A related expreion for the Wro
nkian a alo veri ed. But the numerical calculation had to be carried out ith
extreme preciion hich Valeria accomplihed. The relation of thi demontratio
n ith the conventional formulation of the BreitWigner formula a not clear. Win
ton clari ed the matter and he agreed to rite an Appendix to the paper. Once the
complex olution belonging to the complex fre
uency, 0 + ii , a explicitly kno
n, the application of the ux integral

243
to determine the variation in the ux of the gravitational radiation through the
tar a fairly traightforard. During Valeria abence in Pittburgh during the
eek of December 4, beide preparing the revied verion of the paper on the Le
neThirring e ect for re ubmiion, I drafted the (n 1) verion of the ne paper o
n Further Ampli cation e ere preparing. Valeria returned on December 10: and e h
ad exactly one eek to complete the numerical ork re
uired to illutrate the va
riation of the ux of radiation through the tar. A fact that emerged very clearly
from the calculation i that the emiion of gravitational radiation by the co
nventional olution, re
uire a an initial condition that a -function source be
provie at r = 0. What remaine as to rite the nal version of the paper, prepa
re an illustration for the graphic arts, an type the manuscript. All of this,
ith the exception of the illustration for the printers an Winstons Appenix ere
complete uring that eek; an I as able to han Valeria the nal copy just as
she as leaving for the Airport (on December 17). I ha arrange to have a bursi
tis on my foot remove by surgery on Tuesay (December 18). With the cooperation
of Winston an of the raphic Arts Department, the paper as reay to be sent to
the Royal Society on Thursay, December 20. By a fortunate coincience the proof
s of the paper on The non-raial oscillations ha arrive the previous ay. By or
king all evening of the 19th an the morning of the 20th, I as able to rea an
check the proofs; an that as also reay to be returne to the Royal Society o
n December 20. Also, hen I calle Wainright to say that I as sening him the
correcte proofs, he informe me that the paper on The non-raial oscillations of
a sloly rotating star ha been passe for publication an that he ill try to h
ave the paper inclue in the March 1991 issue of the Proceeings (i.e. in the i
ssue folloing the one in hich our rst paper on the non-raial oscillations ill
appear).
244
The fact that on the same ay, I oul be sening back the proofs of one paper,
learn of the acceptance of another, an submit a thir, remine me of my aitin
g anxiously for the acceptance of my rst paper to the Royal Society 62 years earl
ier. January 8, 1991
Postscript The story i not en as happily as I rote on January 8: a fresh cal
culation ha to be mae to the paper on the LenseThirring effect; an some sectio
ns from Paper II on further ampli cations ha to be elete because of a basic mis
unerstaning of the premises unerlying the paper on the ux integral. But Paper
III, ritten subsequently, ha a happier ening. Let me take these in orer. 1.
As alreay explaine on pages 1416, some questions by John Frieman an relate m
isunerstanings by Bernar Schutz ha to be clari e not altogether to their or m
y on satisfaction. Hoever, it soon became clear hat the source of my on iss
atisfaction as: it as simply that I ha not aresse myself to the question a
s to the manner of excitation by a slo rotation of the axial oscillations hen
the star is alreay oscillating in its quasi-normal polar moe. Once the problem
as formulate ith this clarity, the solution as not far to seek. I rote to
Valeria on January 16 formulating clearly the further calculations that ha to b
e one; an she as able to fax me the solution on January 19. It as fortunate
that a further note ae to this paper on January 21 coul be inclue in the p
aper, avoiing the riting of a separate paper. What as surprising to me as th
at it took consierable e ort to convince both Frieman an Schutz that their on
earlier uneasiness ith regar to the paper as inee clari e by this last ait
ion.n
n
Eventually, Schultz must have been satis e since he rote a nice account of the p
aper in Physics Worl (issue of August 1991).
Continue E orts III (September 1989October 1991)

245
2. I ha recommene to the Royal Society that Paper II on Further Ampli cations be
sent to Bernar Schutz as a referee. He took interminably long over his reviein
g; an hen I calle him on the telephone concerning the elay, he explaine ha
t the source of his misgiving as. I i not follo his arguments ell enough; b
ut on further thought, I realize that our application of the ux integral to esc
ribe the o of gravitational raiation through the star as invali: it coul not
be applie as it as erive for quasi-normal moes hen i complex. I decided
to delete the relevant ection to avoid further dicuion. After thi deletio
n, the paper had mooth ailing. 3. Dicuion ith Bob Wald during the early
ummer of 1990 convinced me that one hould examine the axial mode of ocillatio
n for compact tar ith radii le than three time the Scharzchild radiu. A
nd during my September 411 viit to Rome, I had uggeted to Valeria that he exa
mine thi problem. On 5th March Valeria ent ome preliminary calculation on th
e
uai normal mode of tar ith radii beteen 1.2 and 1.3 Scharzchild radii
. Her comparion ith the
uai normal mode of a black hole a clearly invalid
. A I rote in a long letter on March 5 (and again on March 6), the correct int
erpretation of her reult a di erent; and I explained in detail my on interpre
tation (a given in the publihed paper) ith additional uggetion a to hat
he hould do next. She a not u ciently clear about all the rami cation of the r
eult, and he volunteered to come to Chicago during the fortnight March 25April
7 o that the paper could be completed and ritten. I a not certain to hat e
xtent I needed to go along ith thi ne project. But hen he arrived it became
clear that additional calculation ere needed, ne diagram had to be made, an
d that the paper could not be ritten by her alone he a
uite clear about the
lat. During the to eek of her tay, it a indeed poible to have a fully
revied n 1 draft of the paper to or three day before her departure. We had to
ait for the Graphic Art Department to make the illutration and the
246
manucript to be retyped. But omeho it a in fact poible for me to give the
nal typecript of the paper to her before he et out to the airport. The paper
a communicated to the Royal Society on April 8. The paper did have a happy end
ing in that Bernard Schutz (ith hi uual delay) did rite on May 28, I have rea
d your later paper (Proc. Roy. Soc. did not end it to me to referee) and like i
t very much. You are right that it i traightforard, but neverthele very int
ereting. (!) And the Royal Society a prompt enough to have thi Paper III publ
ihed ahead of Paper II. During the to eek Valeria a here, e had dicuio
n ith Rafael Sorkin, ho a a convinced a he a a year earlier, that ith
the Eintein peudo tenor e ought to get the correct ux integral (hich e had
failed to obtain ith the LandauLifhitz peudo tenor). And Sorkin did notice th
at, in our earlier calculation ith the Eintein peudo tenor, e had made an
error of ign in it de nition. Thi error in ign invalidated our earlier reult
ince the Eintein peudo tenor i not ymmetric. I a till not convinced. H
oever, in a dicuion beteen Sorkin, Wald and Valeria, I et out my on vie
on the matter and alo my migiving. Eventually Sorkin and Wald retated their
vie in conformity ith my on ith u cient clarity that I could pinpoint my o
n miundertanding. What a left to do a to go back to rt principle and ho
that the ue of the Eintein peudo tenor did give the correct nal reult! But
the matter a left in abeyance hen Valeria left. Hoever, a eek after he lef
t, it a poible to demontrate that Sorkin a indeed right ith repect to t
he Eintein peudotenor for the vacuum. At the ame time, the uual procedure o
f i replacing in the peudo tenor, Gj , by the energy momentum tenor, Tji , i
mply did not ork for the EinteinMaxell pacetime. The matter had to be left at
thi point, ince e had to leave for Oxford for my ve eek of lecturing on the
Principia. (About thee lecture at a later time!)

247
On my return from Oxford, Sorkin a able to tell me hat the term i that mut
be added to the vacuum Eintein peudo tenor hen there a a prevalent electro
magnetic eld. It a not di cult to ho that ith Sorkin additional term, one doe
indeed obtain the correct ux integral, though I a tymied for a hile by ignor
ing the need to be careful ith the ue of the initial value e
uation. Our pree
nt intention a that Sorkin ould rite a paper explaining hi approach to the
entire problem of the peudo tenor and the conervation of energy on a lineariz
ed theory; that e ould rite a paper detailing our application of the Eintein
peudo tenor to follo Sorkin; and that both paper could be communicated to t
he Royal Society during Valeria viit in JulyAugut. Before leaving for Erice, I
rote out an (n1) draft of the paper ith an introduction
uoting the early react
ion of Weyl, Pauli and Eddington to the Eintein peudo tenor. June 1991
Let me continue ith the tory of the Eintein peudo tenor. A I rote earlier
, our intention a that Sorkin hould rite an account of hi on on the origin
and the meaning of peudo tenor and their relation ith Noether current. He
completed a rt draft of hi paper by the end of July. He then crutinized the n
1 draft that I had ritten. He pointed out that hat I had ritten about the u
itability of the Eintein peudo tenor for the purpoe of evaluating the ux int
egral a not valid and that the correct ay of looking at the problem a in te
rm of the identity, 1 ij gij G , 2 t and it rt and econd variation. Thi ident
ity clari ed for me for the rt time the problem that had been troubling me for om
e three year. Sorkin uggetion re
uired the reriting of the earlier ection
of the paper. Both paper ere communicated to the Royal Society a eek before V
aleria left. (A a potcript, I may add that Ei = 0,i
248
both paper ere accepted by the Royal Society ithin a eek of their ubmiion
.) While the paper on peudo tenor a till pending, I had dicuion ith R
oland Winton, in hich I expreed my uneaine ith the relationhip beteen
the manner in hich e had olved the problem of reonant cattering by tar an
d the conventional treatment of the BreitWigner formula in
uantum mechanic. Som
e day later, Roland called to ay that perhap the theory of the Regge pole co
uld be ued to clarify my doubt. While Roland idea a not entirely to the poin
t, I oon became convinced that the Regge theory provided an alternative approac
h to the problem ith important rami cation for the ue of the ux integral e had
derived. I made a preliminary outline of my on development and hoed it to Win
ton. He a enthuiatic about thi ne approach; but the matter had to be tet
ed. The nal court of appeal in all uch cae i numerical con rmation. I called V
aleria before her departure from Rome, indicating that an alternative approach t
o our problem via Regge theory had opened up and aking her to bring ith her pr
ogram relating to our earlier calculation. By the time he arrived, I had ee
ntially completed the application of Regge theory to the reonant cattering of
axial gravitational ave. She tarted on thi ork ith her uual enthuiam an
d e ciently, and ithin a eek of her arrival, the application of the theory of Re
gge pole to the axial mode of ocillation a completed; and the baic idea
ere con rmed by the numerical ork. Turning next to the polar ocillation, it a
not too di cult to iolate the Regge pole that correponded to the imaginary par
t of the complex fre
uency belonging to the
uai normal mode. The reolution o
f the problem relating to the groth of gravitational energy through the tar a
not a traightforard. The problem a a conceptual one. After many trial, t
he olution of the problem became tranparent once e realized that all that a
re
uired a the analytic continuation of the ux integral (zero on the real axi
)

249
into the complex plane. The neceary calculation ere completed before Valeri
a left. After Valeria left, I had to concentrate on the opening addre I a to
give at Erice on Daniel Chalonge. And there a alo the unexpected interruptio
n to go to Boulder to receive the Abott aard. (I am ure that Roland Winton a
behind it, although he diclaim any reponibility!) Beide, I alo anted t
o have the n 1 draft of the Regge paper ritten before e ent to Erice and late
r to Rome. The three day in Erice ere largely memorable becaue of our meeting
ith Karen Chalonge after ome 45 year. It a an unexpected experience to nd t
he friendhip of long ago had retained it frehne. The eek in Rome a motl
y pent in viiting the Sitine Chapel, the Vatican Mueum, the Colieum, and va
riou other ite. Valeria a very generou in pending almot the entire eek
ith u taking u around in her car. But e did nd the time to revie the n 1 dra
ft of the Regge paper that I had brought ith me. She made a number of uggetio
n for improving the manucript in everal place and thought that a concluding
ection tating the premie of our paper clearly a eential. On returning to
Chicago, I revied the paper and rote a freh n1 draft. A I rote the concludi
ng ection comparing the approach to the cattering theory a developed in our
erie of paper ith the conventional approache I felt that I might be reading
on the toe of the phyicit. I therefore aked Peter Freund to crutinize the
paper ith maximum everity. Peter did read the ection carefully, and pointed o
ut a miundertanding on my part on
uantum theory ide and clari ed the baic i
ue that ere involved. The nal verion of the concluding ection oe a great de
al to Peter criticim. All the reviion took a fair amount of time. The nal man
ucript a typed and communicated to the Royal Society on September 18. I forgo
t to rite about the variou illutration hich form an eential part of the p
aper. It a not too eay to organize and
250
arrange the many illutration. It re
uired more time than I had originally thou
ght. The excellent cooperation that I received from the Graphic Art department
and epecially from Edard Poole a very eential. I felt that I had no a fai
rly complete undertanding of the problem of the non radial ocillation of tar
. I did not have any unanered
uetion in my mind; and I had no plan for fu
rther ork. October 1991
Continued Effort IV (November 1991December 1994)

At long lat, I am returning to my narration of my Continued Effort after a lape
of three year during hich time my book on Neton Principia a begun and comp
leted. It a alo the period of my failed e ort to complete the erie on Non rad
ial ocillation by olving the lat remaining problem. But to return to October
1991. In ome ay, 1991 a a ucceful year. The paper on the reonant axial
mode of ocillation, the application of the Regge Theory of cattering to det
ermine the o of gravitational radiation through the tar, and the reurrection o
f the Eintein peudo tenor (ith the help of Rafael Sorkin) ere all ritten a
fter the Oxford Lecture (April 17May 22) and the contract ith the Clarendon Pre
for my book on the Principia had been negotiated. And that a not all! I had
to prepare and give a brief talk on Abbot on the occaion of the Abbot Aard by
the American Solar Energy and the opening addre at the Chalonge Sympoium at
Erice. (Both thee addree gave me the opportunity to return to my early inter
et in the continuou pectrum of the Sun and in H .) Beide, I had to give ve
Ruell Marker Lecture at
251
252
the Pennylvania State Univerity. Finally, e had to go to Crete for the preen
tation of the rt Baili Xanthopoulo Aard to Chritadoulu. The year 1992 began
ith the Mathematic Collo
uium (at the invitation of Raghavan Naraimhan) on So
me Propoition from Neton Principia. The imultaneou arrival of Perideo hera
lded that my book on the Principia cannot be potponed any further. Indeed durin
g 1992 I did rite 13 Chapter. But my e ort ith Valeria, hile dormant, did not
ceae altogether. Contrary to hat I rote in October 1991, I felt that the er
ie on the Non radial ocillation ould not be complete ithout hoing the exact
emergence of the Netonian limit. We attempted to olve thi problem during Val
eria viit in July 26Augut 29 and October 18November 11 in 1992. Our approach to
the problem at thi time a to eparate the curvature term in ,r ad 2,r i the
basic Equatios (48) (51) (i S. C. ad V. F., Proc. Roy. Soc. A 432 (1991)) fro
m the rest ad cosider the scatterig of free gravitatioal waves by the Newto
ia star i the maer of the RayleighMie theory of the scatterig of electromag
etic waves by spherical particles. We foud out after may trials that we were p
ursuig a false trail. But we did salvage our treatmet of the propagatio of fr
ee gravitatioal waves i Miowsia space; ad we set a short paper o this t
o the Royal Society durig Valerias visit early i 1993 (February 21March 1). Whil
e this was a small accomplishmet for the time ad e ort spet, the idetity (A4)
derived i this paper was to lead to the evetual solutio of the problem. A spo
radic e ort durig Valerias secod visit i August 114 was equally futile.
o
At the time, whe Basilis was assassiated, Persides, as a result of a act of b
ravery i attemptig to prevet the assassi from further acts of violece, rece
ived deadly ijuries. I thought that a chage of scee ad iterests might accel
erate his recovery. I ivited him to come to Chicago for a few moths ad assist
me i critically readig my mauscript as it progressed. By his e orts durig the
followig two years, Persides was a eormous ad a essetial help.
Cotiued E orts IV (November 1991December 1994)

253
There was oe other matter which I ept o rumiatig i spite of the cotiuig
pressure of the Pricipia. Ad that was o the questio that arose durig the m
emorable coversatio I had with Perose durig our brief visit to Oxford i Oct
ober 1989 o our retur from our vacatio i Viea (see page 219 of Cotiued E o
rts III). It will be recalled that durig that coversatio, the similarity of M
oets motivatios i paitig his Series Paitigs ad my ow motivatios i my ser
ies of papers o blac holes, collidig waves, ad scatterig of gravitatioal r
adiatio by stars became apparet. After our retur from Oxford, I studied the v
arious catalogues of Moets paitigs particularly Moet i the 90s: The Series Pai
tigs issued by the Art Istitute of Chicago o the occasio of the exhibitio o
f Moets series paitigs i 1989). The little boolet Moet by Moet i the series
Artists by Themselves was specially useful. I this cotext, I should metio the
hadsome collectio of Moets Series Paitig that Jac Cella ad Ipsita Chatter
jee assembled ad preseted to me. Evetually, I wrote a essay o The Series Pai
tigs of Claude Moet ad the Ladscape of Geeral Relativity. My itetio was
to iclude it amog the articles that I had solicited for a theme issue o Classi
cal geeral relativity for the Trasactios of the Royal Society. But the umber
of pages allowed for the issue did ot allow for its iclusio. My rst attempt to
preset the essay as a lecture at Rutgers Uiversity was a failure. My secod at
tempt to give it as my Dedicatio Address at the iauguratio of the Iter Uive
rsity Cetre of Astroomy ad Astrophysics at Pue i December, 1992 was a eve
worse failure. I both cases the arragemets were very bad: e.g. i Pue the l
ecture had to be give outdoors i daress! But IUCAA did publish my lecture i
a hadsome format. I made a third attempt to give it as my opeig address at t
he 7th Marcel Grosma meetig at Staford Uiversity o July 24, 1994. I though
t it wet o moderately well. Ad lastly, I gave the same lecture at the Physics D
epartmet Colloquium i October (1994). That eds this matter.
254
Amog other icidetal matters that occurred durig 1994, I may metio my prese
tatio of the bust of Ramauja to the Royal Society i May, 1994. At the die
r arraged by Atiyah o this occasio (also, the 50th aiversary of my electio
to the Royal Society), Ae Daveport, David ad Kate Shoeberg, Roger ad Vae
ssa Perose, Richard Dalitz ad his wife, Meggie ad Joh WestoSmith, ad Valer
ia were preset as my ivited guests. Perose made a geerous speech; ad my ow
remars o Ramaujas bust is to be published i the Notes ad Records of The Ro
yal Society (Ja. 1995). Ad ally at the 44th Coferece of Nobel Laureates i L
idau, I gave a lecture o Newto & Michelagelo (published i Curret Sciece 6
7 (1994)) alog with a earlier article O Readig Newtos Pricipia at age past e
ighty dedicated to Kothari. 1994, November 27 Postscript I the leisure that foll
owed the completio of my boo o the Pricipia I bega to thi oce agai abou
t the problem of a fully relativistic treatmet of Newtoia oscillatios. I cas
ually oticed a remarable feature of the four basic equatios that we had deriv
ed already i our rst paper (Equatios (72)(75) i Paper I) a feature that stares
i the face oce oticed! The four equatios split ito two pairs: a pair that s
urvives i the Misowia limit whe all the terms depedig o the curvature of
the space-time are igored equatios which i essece describe the propagatio
of free gravitatioal waves i Miowsi space; ad the other pair which vaishe
s idetically as each of the terms i this pair is directly depedet o the cur
vature expressed by ,r , 2,r or e22 1. If one emoves the common p opo tionality fa
cto G/c2 of these te ms, the equations emain nite afte igno ing te ms that a e
of second and highe o de s in the cu vatu e.
Continued E o ts IV (Novembe 1991Decembe 1994)

255
But Vale ias st e o ts at calculations had e o s. And she concluded that we must ac
cept that the method does not wo k. I was not convinced and I t ied a di e ent app
oach via the identity in the Appendi to the pape on Sphe ical G avitational Wa
ves. In this manne , I obtained a pai of coupled second o de linea di e ential
equations in two va iables which combine in a common scheme both the Minkowskian
and the Newtonian limits. The equations we e so beautiful that I was convinced
that the app oach must be ight. Again, Vale ia thought that equations must be l
inea ly dependent. Again, I was convinced that she was w ong and I essentially o
btained the co ect indical equation. But the e was an ove sight which I co ect
ed late . But all was well that ends well. Vale ia was too busy to do the calcul
ations. But I w ote the pape anyway. The concluding pa ag aphs state my nal view
s. The equations de ived in the manne desc ibed, dete mine the eact Newtonian
cha acte istic f equencies of non adial oscillations by allowing two linea ly i
ndependent singula ity f ee solutions at the cent e and satisfying the bounda y
conditions that will ensu e that no g avitational adiation eme ges (even as the
y do not fo dipole oscillations of fully elativistic sta s). In othe wo ds, t
he distinguishing cha acte istic of the scatte ing of g avitational waves by New
tonian sta s is that no g avitational adiation eme ges. Seve al questions occu
in contets la ge than in the eample conside ed: Should one epect, quite gen
e ally, that equations desc ibing the scatte ing of g avitational waves by the s
pace times of closed Newtonian systems will combine in the same manne in a comm
on scheme both of the Minkowskian and the Newtonian limits? Can one epect that
no g avitational adiation will eme ge f om such Newtonian system as a theo em o
f gene al validity? 1995, Feb ua y 14
256
1992: 28 Feb ua y: U of C Mathematics Colloquium Some p opositions f om Newtons P
incipia 1314 Ap il: New Bu nswick, NJ, Rutge s Unive sity, Depa tment of Philosoph
y Rutge s Distinguished Lectu e. Talk titled The Se ies Painting of Claude Monet
and the Landscape of Gene al Relativity 27 Ap il: Unive sity of Califo nia, Be ke
ley; The Indo Ame ican Community Chai in India Studies Lectu e: Indias Cont ibuti
ons to the Physical Sciences: Befo e and Afte Independence. 28 Ap il1 May: Nobel
Lau eate Lectu e Se ies, Long Beach, CA., Califo nia State Unive sity Discussion
with students on T uth and Beauty. 1415 May: Sy acuse Unive sity fo Walifest Lectu
e: Scatte ing of G avitational Waves by Sta s and by Black Holes. 2325 Decembe : O
fo d: Cla endon P ess & Roge Pen ose. 2730 Decembe : Pune, India, IUCAA Dedicati
on Add ess: The se ies Paintings of Claude Monet and the Landscape of Gene al Rel
ativity. 30 Decembe : Mad as Visiting Schola s: 17 Feb ua y 31 May: Soti ios Pe si
des 26 July29 August; 18 Octobe 11 Novembe : Vale ia Fe a i Pape s Published: On
the non adial oscillations of a sta . IV. An application of the theo y of Regge
poles (with Vale ia Fe a i), P oc. Roy. Soc. London A 437 (1992) 133149. 1993:
318 Janua y: Bangalo e 3 Ma ch: On sphe ical f ee g avitation waves (with Vale ia
Fe a i), P oc. Royal Society, London communicated) 1718 Ap il: The Lincoln Acad
emy of Illinois, Lau eate Convocation 12 May: No thweste n Unive sity, Evanston,
Illinois: The Relevance of the P incipia fo a Student of Today 2830 Septembe : O
fo d, Cla endon P ess: Chapte s 121 fo editing
Continued E o ts IV (Novembe 1991Decembe 1994)

257
15 Octobe : Amste dam, Inte national Confe ence: Child Labo and Child Abuse 28 Oct
obe : The Chicago Academy of Sciences symposium: Motivations in Science and in th
e A ts 627 Decembe : India: Delhi, Mad as, Bangalo e Visiting Schola : 21 Feb ua y1
Ma ch; 114 August: Vale ia Fe a i Pape s Published: On sphe ical f ee g avitati
on waves (with Vale ia Fe a i), P oc. Roy. Soc. London A 443 (1993) 445449. The
Se ies Paintings of Claude Monet and the Landscape of Gene al Relativity, P oc.
(IUCAA, India, 1993). On the occasion of the Cha les G eeley Abbot Awa d by the
Ame ican Sola Ene gy Society, Sola Ene gy 51, No. 3 (1993) 233235. Daniel Chalo
nge and the p oblem of the abundance of Hyd ogen, P oceedings of Fi st Cou se: C
u ent topics in Ast o fundamental Physics (Wo ld Scienti c Publishing Co.). 1994:
1315 Janua y: Ame ican Mathematical Society, Cincinnati: Some P opositions f om N
ewtons P incipia. May 3: USAAPCC Ecel 2000 Awa d, Washington, DC. 911 May: The Roy
al Society of London, to p esent the bust of Ramanujan as a gift to the Royal So
ciety and to attend the Ascension Feast at T inity. 21 June1 July: The 44th Confe
ence of Nobel Lau eates: Invited attendance and to give a lectu e on Newton and
Michelangelo. 2430 July: Seventh Ma cel G osmann meeting at Stanfo d Unive sity: Th
e Se ies Paintings of Claude Monet and the Landscape of Gene al Relativity. 1324 D
ecembe : India Visiting Schola : 820 August: Vale ia Fe a i
258
Pape s Published: On eading Newtons P incipia at age past eighty, Cu ent Scienc
e 67 (1994) 495496. Newton and Michelangelo, Cu ent Science 67 (1994) 497499.
Notes & Comments Kameshwa C. Wali

By no means ehaustive, these notes a e meant to p ovide to the inte ested eade
quick efe ences to the pape s and pe sonalities mentioned in the tet as they
appea in the o iginal tet. Names with aste isks and the yea efe to Chand as
students and the yea they got thei deg ees.
I. A Histo y of Pape s on Radiative Equilib ium (19431947) 1. Placzek [Geo ge (19051
955)], a Czech physicist, bo n in B no, Mo avia, one of the impo tant physicists
of the 20th centu y, who made seminal cont ibutions to the elds of molecula phy
sics, scatte ing of light f om liquids and gases, the theo y of atomic nucleus a
nd the inte action of neut ons with condensed matte . Chand a met him in 1932 in
Copenhagen, at Niels Boh Institute and had become f iends. 2. L. G atton, Soc.
Ast . Italiano 10 (1937) 309. 3. Abe deen: the Ballistic Resea ch Labo ato y at
the Abe deen P oving G ounds (APG), whe e Chand a was involved in wa elated w
o k f om 27 Janua y 1943 till the end of the wa . He commuted between Ye kes and
APG th ee weeks at Ye kes, th ee weeks at APG. He was elected to the Royal Soci
ety of London in 1944. 4. Henyey [Louis Geo ge] was an ast onome at Ye kes, who
had ea ned his docto ate f om the Unive sity of Chicago with a mathematical the
sis on the topic of e ection nebulae. Chand as eputation as a teache , and his yo
uth and enthusiasm fo esea ch had att acted students fo all pa ts of the wo l
d. Sahade [Jo ge], Cesco [Ca los] and K ogdahl [Ma ga et Kiess] we e among them.
5. HopfB onstein elation efe s to solutions of a class of Integ o di e ential eq
uations studied by mathematicians, E. Hopf, J. Be nstein and N. Wiene . Fo mo e
details and fo an ehaustive eview of the whole subject, see The T ansfe of
Radiation in Stella Atmosphe es, S. Chand asekha , Bulletin of the Ame ican Mat
hematical Society 53, no. 7 (1947) 641711.
259
260
6. Non g ay atmosphe e. A stella atmosphe e in local the mo dynamic equilib ium
with a constant abso ption coe cient is desc ibed as g ay atmosphe e. If the abso p
tion coe cient is a function of f equency of adiation at each point, the co espo
nding stella atmosphe e is desc ibed as nong ay. M nch [Guido (1946)] to be one o
f the g aduate students. Ref. to u Unsld: A. Unsld, Physik de Ste natmospha en (S
p inge , Be lin, 1938), o o pp. 113116. 7. Van de Mondie [Vande monde] dete mina
nt is the dete minant of a mat i with te ms of a geomet ic p og ession in each
ow. Kopal [Zdenk], a e Czech ast onome , who was at the time at Ha va d College
Obse vato y. Amba tsumian: Chand a had met Amba tsumian [Victo Amazaspovitz] in
the summe of 1934 in Lening ad. Because of the Second Wo ld Wa , he st became
awa e of his pape on p inciples of inva iance only in the summe of 1945 (C.R.
(Doklady) Acad. URSS 38 (1943) 257. 8. Kuipe [Ge a d], the obse vational ast on
ome had joined Ye kes at the same time as Chand a in 1937. 9. A. Schuste , M.N.
40 (1879) 35, M. Minnae t, Zs. f. Ap. 1 (1930) 209, H. Zanst a, M.N. 101 (1941)
250. He zbe g [Ge ha d], a pionee ing physicist, physical chemist and spect osc
opist, St uve [Otto] was the Di ecto of Ye kes Obse vato y. 10. Telle [Edwa d]
, B eit [G ego y], von Neumann [John]. 11. Stokes [Geo ge Gab iel] pa amete s th
at desc ibe the pola ization states of elect omagnetic adiation. On the composi
tion and esolution of st eams of pola ized light f om di e ent sou ces, T ans. Ca
mb. Phil. Soc. 9 (1852) 399. 12. Lindblad [Be til], Di ecto of Stockhom Obse va
to y, K ishnan [K. S.], Ramans collabo ato in the discove y of Raman E ect. Hamilt
on [D. R.], elated wo k conce ning esonance scatte ing, Ast ophys. J. 106 (194
7) 457. 13. Ledou [Paul] was a g aduate student. Titchma sh [Edwa d Cha les] we
llknown B itish Mathematician at Ofo d. Autho of the well known tetbook, Theo
y of Functions. 14. Davenpo t [Ha old], a pu e numbe theo ist and a mathematic
ian. Chand a had known Davenpo t since his Camb idge days. 15. Bengt: St mg en [B
engt], F ances: [Miss F ances He man]. o 16. van de Hulst [H. C. van de Hulst],
a Dutch ast onome , who had just completed his docto al thesis and was a post do
c at that time at Ye kes.
II. Tu bulence; Hyd omagnetism (19481960) 1. Ka l Schwa zschild [18731916], the we
ll known Ge man physicist, noted fo Schwa zschild solution in Einsteins equation
s and many othe impo tant cont ibutions. Eddington [A thu Stanley (18821944)].
Jeans [James Hopwood (18771946)]. Milne [Edwa d A thu (18961950)].
Notes & Comments

261
2. Wigne [Eugene (19021995)]. An eample of Chand as patte n of beginning esea c
h in a new a ea, give semina s, teach a cou se o invite an epe t to teach him.
The pape by K mn [T. von] and Howa th [L.] p obably a a efe s to the equation k
nown as K mnHowa th equation de ived f om a a Navie Stokes equations in the case of
isot opic tu bulence. On the statistical theo y of isot opic tu bulence, P oc. R
oy. Soc. Se . A 164 (1938) 192215. Taylo [G. I.], P oc. R. Soc. London A 164 (19
38) 476. Pape s by Kolmogo o [And ey Nikolaevich Kolmogo ov], C.R. Acad. Sci. U.S
.S.R. 30 (1941), 301; 32 (1942) 16 and Batchelo [G. K.], P oc. Camb idge Phil.
Soc. 43 (1947) 533. Heisenbe g [We ne ], Z. Phys. Rev. 124 (1948a) 628 and P oc.
Roy. Soc. A 195 (1948b) 402. The audience at the evening semina s included g ad
uate students Mnch [Guido], Oste b ock [Donald E. (1952)], u Code [A thu D. (1950)
]. Fo the o cial cou se on Radiative T ansfe , two that egiste ed we e Yang [Che
n Ning] and Lee [Tsung Dao], Donna [Elbe t D.]. 3. Robe tson [H. P.] The inva ia
nt theo y of isot opic tu bulence, P oc. Camb idge Philos. Soc. 36 (1940) 209223.
And Weil [19061998], a mathe ematician and G ego Wentzel [18981978], a theo etic
al physicist, a colleague at the Unive sity of Chicago. Uhlenbeck [Geo ge Eugene
(1900 1988)], a theo etical physicist known among othe , the hypothesis of elect
on spin along with Goudsmit [Samuel Ab aham (19021978)]. 4. Spitze [Lyman (19141
997], Schwa zschild [Ma tin (19121997)] enowned ast ophysicists. Lo d Ad ian [Ed
ga (18891977)], Maste of T inity College, winne of Nobel P ize fo Physiology
and Medicine in 1932. 5. Jeans C ite ion: about g avitational stability of an in ni
te homogeneous (non tu bulent) medium, J. H. Jeans, Ast onomy and Cosmology (Cam
b idge Unive sity P ess, London, 1920), pp. 345349. 6. Rayleigh: [Lo d Rayleigh,
St ut John William (18421919)], Je eys [Si Ha old (18911989)] Fe mi [En ico (190119
54], Bu bidge [Geo ey (1925 2010)] Couette [Mau ice Ma ie Alf ed, a P ofesso of P
hysics at the F ench Unive sity of Ange s in the late 19th centu y] Couette ow e
fe s to the lamina ow of viscous uid between two pa allel plates, one of which is
moving elative to the othe . Taylo Coutte ow efe s to the ow between two co a
ial cylinde s. Mo gan [William W.]. 7. Hylle aas [Egil], Zs. F. Phys. 60 (1930)
624. Limbe [Nelson D (1953)], vecto H and vecto refer to te magnetic eld and a
ngular velocity. Te paper wit Limber, Te Astropysical Journal 118, no. 1 (19
54) 1013. 8. Raymond. Hide, Te caracter of te equilibrium of an incompressible
eavy viscous uid of variable density: an approximate teory, Proc. Cambridge P
ilos. Soc. 51 (1955) 179201. 9. Fultz, D. and Nakagawa, Y., Proc. Roy. Soc. A 231
(1955) 211. 10. Dyson [Freeman], Goldberger [Marvin].
262
11. [Going to Madison to consult wit Wigner. A abit Candra cultivated as we s
all discuss later, ying to Oxford, England to consult wit Roger Penrose]. Prend
ergast [Kevin H.] Paper wit Prendergast, Proceedings of te National Academy of
Sciences 42, no. 1 (1956) 59. Backus [George E. (1956)], paper wit Backus, ibid.
42, no. 3 (1956) 1059. Heisenberg [Werner (19011976)]. 12. P. 16. It is not clear
wat paper Candra is referring to in te last paragrap on tis page. 13. Tre
an [Surinder K. (1958)], Siciy [. . . ]. 14. Allison [. . . ], setting up of ydr
omagnetic laboratory. ONR [O ce of Naval Researc?]. 15. Rosenblut [Marsall (192
72003)], a noted Plasma pysicist. Paper of Lst u and Scl ter, Kraftfreie Magnetfe
lder, Z. f. Astropysik 34 (1954) 26382. u Ken Watson [K. M.] and Murp Goldberge
r [M. L.] Well known teoretical pysicists, known for teir work on Scattering
Teory. S. Candrasekar, On force free magnetic elds, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 42 (
1956) 15. 16. Metropolis [. . . ], Sykes [Jon]. 17. Onsager [Lars (19031976)] Don
nelly [R. J.] was at te Institute for te study of metals at te University of
Cicago. Te two papers regarding Helium II between rotating cylinders: Te Hydr
odynamic Stability of Helium II Between Rotating Cylinders, I & II, Proceedings
of te Royal Society A 241 (1957) 928 and 2936, Paper I is wit Donnelly. Te Rumf
ord Medal Lecture: Termal Convection, Proceedings of te American Academy of Ar
ts and Sciences 86, no. 4 (1957) 32339. 18. Matematica Paper: Te stability of v
iscous ow between rotating cylinders. Matematica 1, 513. Te joint paper wit Rei
d [W. H.]: On te expansion of functions wic satisfy four boundary conditions,
Proceedings of te National Academy of Sciences 43, 52127. 19. Papers publised
in te Annals of Pysics: Properties of ionized gas of low density in a magnetic
eld, III (wit A. Kaufman and K. M. Watson), Annals of Pysics 2, 43570; and ibid
. IV, Annals of Pysics 5, 125. 20. Te stability of viscous ow between rotating c
ylinders in te presence of a magnetic eld, II (wit D. Elbert), Proceedings of t
e Royal Society A 262, 44354. R. J. Donnelly and M. Ozima, Hydromagnetic stabili
ty of ow between rotating cylinders, Pys. Rev. Lett. 4 (1960) 4978. 21. Edmonds [
Frank N. Jr. (1950)] Te oscillations of a viscous liquid globe, Proceedings of t
e London Matematical Society 9, 14149. On te continuous absorption coe cient of
te negative ydrogen ion, V (wit D. Elbert), Te Astropysical Journal 128, 63
335. 22. Te termodynamics of termal instability in liquids, in Max PlanckFests
crift (Veb Deutscer Verlag der Wissenscaften, Berlin, 1958), pp. 10314.
Notes & Comments

263
23. Te stability of inviscid ow between rotating cylinders, Journal of te India
n Matematical Society 24, 21121. Friedman [Jon L. (1973)]. 24. Vandervoort [Pete
r O. (1960)]. Boussinesq approximation in deriving te ydrodynamical equations:
J. Boussinesq, Torie Analytique de la Caleur e 2, 172, Gautier Villars, Paris,
1903. 25. TaylorProudman Teorem: All steady slow motions in a rotating inviscid
uid are necessarily two dimensional. G. I. Taylor, Experiments wit rotating uids
, Proc. Roy. Soc. (London) A 100 (1921) 11421; J. Proudman, On te motion of soli
ds in a liquid possessing vorticity, Proc. Roy. Soc. (London) A 92 (1916) 40822.
26. E. Lyttkens, Te onset of convection in a mantle of spere wit a eavy core
(unpublised). Di Prima: R. C. Di Prima, Te stability of viscous ow between rot
ating concentric cylinders wit a pressure gradient acting round te cylinders,
J. Fluid Mec. 6 (1959) 4628. Sort paper: Te ydrodynamic stability of inviscid
ow between coaxial cylinders, Proceedings of te National Academy of Sciences 46
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rium and th staility of th Darwin llipsoids, Th Astrophysical Journal 140
(1964) 599620. Dynamical instaility of asous masss approachin th Schwarzsch
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hin th Schwarzschild limit in nral rlativity, Th Astrophysical Journal 14
0 (1964) 41733; Uhlnck [or Eun (19001988)] Dutch orn Amrican thortic
al physicist notd for postulatin lctron spin lon with Samul oudsmit. Th
quilirium and th staility of th Ddkind llipsoids, Th Astrophysical Jour
nal 141 (1965) 104355; Th staility of a rotatin liquid drop, Proc. Royal Soci
ty A 286 (1965) 126; Th quilirium and th staility of th Rimann llipsoids,
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namics (Camrid, En.: Dihton Bll & Co.; rprintd 1961, Dovr Pulications
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Astrophysical Journal 145 (1966) 84277. Ellipsoidal urs of quilirium An hist
orical account, Communications on Pur and Applid Mathmatics 20 (1967) 25165; T
h virial quations of th fourth ordr, Th Astrophysical Journal 152 (1968) 29
3304; Th pulsations and th dynamical staility of asous masss in uniform rot
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h Astrophysical Journal 157 (1969) 14191434; Th instaility of th conrunt Da
rwin llipsoids, II, Th Astrophysical Journal 160 (1970) 104348; Th ook asd
on th Silliman Lcturs, Ellipsoidal Fiurs of Equilirium (Nw Havn and Lond
on, al Univrsity Prss, 1969) turnd out to a monumntal monoraph.
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n his Camrid days whn attndin Royal Socity mtins in London. Thy ca
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Wntzl]. 2. Schrdinr [Erwin (18871961)] Spac-Tim Structur (Camrid Univr
o sity Prss, 1950). Wathrurn [Charls E. (18841974)], an Australian mathmati
cian. Tolman [Richard C. (18811948)], Amrican thortical physicist and physical
chmist, notd also for his contriutions to Rlativity and Cosmoloy. Rlativi
ty, Thrmodynamics and Cosmoloy (Oxford Clarndon Prss, 1934). Th odsics i
n dls Univrs (with o
J. P. Wriht (1961)), Procdins of th National Acadmy
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. 39 (1938). Th virial thorm in nral rlativity in th post-Nwtonian appr
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nian quations of hydrodynamics in nral rlativity, Th Astrophysical Journal
142 (1965) 14881512. Th post-Nwtonian cts of nral rlativity on th quili
rium of uniformly rotatin odis, I. Th Maclaurin sphroids and th virial th
orm, Th Astrophysical Journal 142, 151318. Th staility of asous masss for
radial and non-radial oscillations in th post-Nwtonian approximation of nr
al rlativity, Th Astrophysical Journal 142, 15191540. 5. Hnk [H. C. van d Hul
st]. Spil [Edward A.] Astronomy Dpartmnt, Columia Univrsity Cowlin [Thom
as or (19061990)], an Enlish mathmatician and astronomr. Syn [John Lihto
n (18971995)], an
Nots & Commnts

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6.
7.
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9. 10. 11.
12.
13. 14.
Irish mathmatician and physicist. Fokkr [Adriaan (18871972], a Dutch physicist.
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al rlativity on th quilirium of uniformly rotatin odis, II. Th dformd
urs of Maclaurin sphroids, Th Astrophysical Journal 147 (1967) 33452. Th post
-Nwtonian cts of nral rlativity on th quilirium of uniformly rotatin
odis, III, Th Astrophysical Journal 148 (1967) 62144. On a post-alilan transf
ormation appropriat to th post-Nwtonian thory of Einstin (with . Contopoul
os), Procdins of th Royal Socity A 298 (1967) 12341. Trautman [Andrz], a Po
lish physicist spcializin in Rlativity. Pnros [Ror], Rous Ball Profssor
of Mathmatics at Oxford. Nutku [avuz (1969)]. rnr [Philip J. (1971)] Land
auLifshitz nry-momntum psudotnsor; S L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Th
Classical Thory of Filds (Pramon Prss, Addison-Wsly Pulishin Company I
nc., 1962), pp. 341344. Dyson [Frman]. Satchl [John], physicist and philosoph
r of scinc. Th Richtmyr Mmorial Lctur: Som Historical Nots, Amrican Jo
urnal of Physics 37 (1969) 577. Consrvation laws in nral rlativity and in t
h post-Nwtonian approximations, Th Astrophysical Journal 158 (1969) 45 54. Th
scond post-Nwtonian quations of hydrodynamics in nral rlativity (with .
Nutku), Th Astrophysical Journal 158, 5579. Th oscillations of a rotatin as
ous mass in th post-Nwtonian approximation in nral rlativity in Quanta, d
s. P. . O. Frund, C. J. ol and . Namu (Univrsity of Chicao Prss, 1970
), pp. 18895. Kip Thorn [Kip S. Thorn]; Th Astrophysical Journal 158 (1969a) 9
97. Prs A., Nuovo Cimnto 15 (1960) 351. Trautman A., Bull. Acad. Polon. Sci.
6 (1958a) 627; also Lcturs on nral Rlativity (1958); mimoraphd nots (
London: Kins Coll). 1 Th 2 2 post-Nwtonian quations of hydrodynamics and r
adiation raction in nral rlativity (with F. P. Esposito), Th Astrophysical
Journal 160 (1970) 15379. Post-Nwtonian mthods and consrvation laws in Rlati
vity, ds. M. Carmli, S. I. Ficklr and L. Wittn (Plnum Prss, Nw ork), pp.
81108.
V. Th Fallow Priod (19701974) 1. Cartr [Brandon] an Australian thortical phy
sicist, notd for his work on lack hols at th faculty of Mudon campus of th
Laoratoir Univrs t Thoris. roch [Rort P.], notd Rlativist, collau
at th Univrsity
268
2.
3. 4.
5. 6.
7.
8.
9.
of Chicao. Ellis [or F. R.], Cosmoloist, co-author of Th Lar Scal Stru
ctur of th Univrs with Stphn Hawkin. Fridman [John (1973)]. Luytn [Will
m J. (18991994)] Notd Astronomr, discovrr of many whit dwarfs and th star n
amd aftr him, th Luytn star. Prsids [Sotirios C. (1970)]. Norman [Norman L
ovitz]. J. R. Oppnhimr and H. Snydr, Phys. Rv. 56 (1939) 455. Th paprs
for lavin for India on March 31, 1970: Th post-Nwtonian cts of nral r
lativity on th quilirium of uniformly rotatin odis, V. Th dformd urs o
f th Maclaurin sphroids (Continud), Th Astrophysical Journal 167 (1971) 44753
. Th post-Nwtonian cts of nral rlativity on th quilirium of uniformly
rotatin odis, VI. Th dformd urs of th Jacoi llipsoids (Continud), Th
Astrophysical Journal 167 (1971) 45563. Som lmntary applications of th viri
al thorm to stllar dynamics (with D. Elrt), Monthly Notics of th Royal As
tronomical Socity 155 (1971) 43547. A limitin cas of rlativistic quilirium
(in honor of J. L. Syn) in nral Rlativity, d. L. ORaifartaih (Clarndon
Prss, Oxford), pp. 18599. Lady Raman [wif of Sir C. V. Raman (18881970)], Ramas
shan [Sivraj (19232003)], on of Indias most accomplishd scintists. Editor of C.
V. Ramans paprs on Liht Scattrin. On th drivation of Einstins ld quations, A
mrican Journal of Physics 40 (1972) 22434. Hartl [Jams B.] Amrican physicist,
currntly at th Univrsity of California, Santa Barara, notd for his work on
nral rlativity, astrophysics and intrprtation of quantum mchanics. Prss
[William], Tukolsky [Saul A.], oth to com minnt scintists. Prss aftr
a distinuishd carr as a thortical astrophysicist and Profssor of Astronom
y and Physics at Harvard Univrsity for twnty yars, is currntly at th Univr
sity of Txas, Austin, as th chair in computr scincs and intrativ ioloy
. Tukolsky is a Profssor of Physics and Astronomy at Cornll Univrsity. H is
rconizd for sminal contriutions in nral rlativity, rlativistic astrop
hysics and computational astrophysics. On th staility of axisymmtric systms
to axisymmtric prturations in nral rlativity, I. Th quations ovrnin
nonstationary, stationary, and prturd systms (with J. L. Fridman), Th Astr
ophysical Journal 175 (1972) 379405. On th staility of axisymmtric systms to
axisymmtric prturations in nral rlativity, II. A critrion for th onst
of instaility in uniformly rotatin con urations and th frquncy of th fundam
ntal mod in cas of slow rotations, Th Astrophysical Journal 176 (1972) 745 68
. Staility of stllar con urations in nral rlativity, Procdins at Mtin
of th Royal Astronomical Socity, Th Osrvatory 92 (1972) 160 74. Th incras
in rol of nral rlativity in astronomy (Hally Lctur),
Nots & Commnts

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Th Osrvatory 92 (1972) 16074. 10. On th staility of axisymmtric systms to
axisymmtric prturations in nral rlativity, IV. Allowanc for ravitationa
l radiation in an odd-parity mod (with J. L. Fridman), Th Astrophysical Journ
al 181 (1973) 48195. Ehlrs [J rn (19282008)], amon th distinuishd rman phy
sicists u who spcializd in nral Rlativity. 11. Whlr [John A. (19112008)]
, Dsr [Stanly]. P. A. M. Dirac on his svntith irthday, Contmporary Physi
cs 13 (1973) 38994. 12. On a critrion for th occurrnc of a Ddkind-lik poin
t of ifurcation alon a squnc of axisymmtric systms, I. Rlativistic thor
y of uniformly rotatin con urations (with J. L. Fridman), Th Astrophysical Jou
rnal 185 (1973) 118. On a critrion for th occurrnc of a Ddkind-lik ifurca
tion lon a squnc of axisymmtric systms, II. Nwtonian thory for di rntial
ly rotatin con urations (with N. R. Lovitz), Th Astrophysical Journal 183 (19
73) 1930. 13. On a critrion for th onst of dynamical instaility y a non-axis
ymmtric mod of oscillation alon a squnc of di rntially rotatin con uration
s, Th Astrophysical Journal 187, 16974. Sciama [Dnnis W. (19261999)], British ph
ysicist, considrd as on of th fathrs of Modrn Cosmoloy. On th slowly rot
atin homonous masss in nral rlativity (with J. C. Millr), Monthly Noti
cs of th Royal Socity 167 (1974) 6379. 14. Th lack hol in astrophysics: Th
oriin of th concpt and its rol, Contmporary Physics 14 (1974) 124. Th dfo
rmd urs of th Ddkind llipsoids in th post-Nwtonian approximation to n
ral rlativity (with Donna Elrt), Th Astrophysical Journal 192, 73146. Corrct
ions and ampli cations to this papr in Th Astrophysical Journal 220 (1978) 303 11
, ar incorporatd in th prsnt vrsion. T. R and J. A. Whlr, Phys. Rv
. 108 (1957) 1063. 15. F. J. Zrilli, Phys. Rv. D 2 (1970) 2141. J. M. Bardn
and W. H. Prss, J. Math. Phys. 14 (1972) 719. S. A. Tukolsky, Astrophys. J. 185
(1973) 635. On th quations ovrnin th prturations of th Schwarzschild
lack hol, Procdins of th Royal Socity A 343 (1975) 28998. Th quasinormal m
ods of th Schwarzschild lack hol (with S. Dtwilr), Procdins of th Roy
al Socity A 344 (1975) 44152.
VI. nral Rlativity; Ryrson Lctur; Sparation of Dirac Equation (January 1
975Auust 1977) 1. On th quations ovrnin th axisymmtric prturations of t
h Krr lack hol (with S. Dtwilr), Procdins of th Royal Socity A 345 (
1975) 14567; RERSON LECTURE, Shakspar, Nwton, and Bthovn or pattrns of c
rativity, dlivrd April 22, 1975. Worth notin th rmarkal
270
2.
3. 4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9. 10.
ort in prparin for this lctur durin th priod of convalscnc aftr a maj
or hart surry. On a transformation of Tukolskys quation and th lctroman
tic prturations of th Krr lack hol, Procdins of th Royal Socity A 348
(1976) 3955. Rmark aout of Moniqu Tassoul ndin an rror. Vrifyin th Thory
of Rlativity, Nots and Rcords, Roy. Soc. 30 (1976) 249260. Oriinally pulish
d in th Bulltin of th Atomic Scintists undr th titl Of Som Famous Mn. Va
rna Lctur: Why Ar th Stars as Thy Ar? On coupld scond-harmonic oscillatio
ns of th conrunt Darwin llipsoids, Th Astrophysical Journal 202 (1975) 80914
. Th solutions of Maxwlls quations in Krr omtry, Procdins of th Royal
Socity A 349 (1975) 18. On th quations ovrnin th ravitational prturatio
ns of th Krr lack hol (with S. Dtwilr), Procdins of th Royal Socity,
A 350 (1976) 16574. Scond Varna Lctur: On th linar prturations of th Sch
warzschild and th Krr Mtrics, (Dcmr 19, 1975). Wil [Andr (19061998)], min
nt mathmatician rnownd for his work in numr thory and alraic omtry
. Hadamard [Jacqus (18651963)], Frnch mathmatician. Cartan [Eli (18691951)], n
otd Frnch mathmatician for his fundamntal contriutions pur as wll as math
matical physics. Cartan had introducd th concpt of Torsion tnsor in 1932 and
had nralizd Einstins thory of Rlativity. Rmarkal story of th sparatio
n of varials, startin and nishin in th sam vnin, in Diracs quations in K
rr omtry. Th solution of Dirac quation in Krr omtry, Procdins of th
Royal Socity A 349 (1976) 57175. Nutrino wavs: On th r ction and transmissi
on of nutrino wavs y a Krr lack hol (with S. Dtwilr), Procdins of th
Royal Socity A 352 (1977) 32538. Pas 1012 iv a dtaild account of trials a
nd rrors in achivin complt intration of th NwmanPnros quations. Xanth
opoulos [Basils C. ], who collaoratd with Chandra almost continuously sinc 197
8 till . . . was shot to dath in an unspakal act of violnc on th vnin o
f Novmr 27, 1990, whil ivin a sminar lctur at th Rsarch Cntr of th
Univrsity of Crt (Iraklion, rc), ndin without warnin, a lif of lov,
joy, rich in Promis . . . My association with Basilis is th most indin in a
ll my sixty yars in scinc. [S. Chandraskhar, In rmmranc of Basilis Xantho
poulos, Authors Not in Slctd Paprs, Volum 6]. Ernsts Equation; F. J. Ernst,
Phys. Rv. 167 (1968) 11758; iid. 168 (1968) 14157. Th Krr mtric and stationar
y axisymmtric ravitiational lds, Procdins of th Royal Socity A 358 (1978)
40520; Th ravitational prtur-
Nots & Commnts

271
ations of th Krr lack hol, I. Th prturations in th quantitis which van
ish in th stationary stat, Procdins of th Royal Socity A 358 (1978) 40520;
Th ravitational prturations of th Krr lack hol, II, Th Procdins of
th Royal Socity A 358 (1978) 44165. Th dats of sumission of ths paprs wr
April 18, May 2, and Jun 20, all in 1977! 11. Th dformd urs of th Ddki
nd llipsoids in th post-Nwtonian approximation to nral rlativity: Corrct
ions and ampli cations (with D. Elrt), Th Astrophysical Journal 220 (1978) 30313
. An incidnt in th lif of S. Ramanujan, F.R.S.: Convrsations with . H. Hard
y, F.R.S. and J. E. Littlwood, F.R.S.; and thir squl (Archivs of th Royal
Socity). On th discovry of th nclosd photoraph of S. Ramanujan, F.R.S. (A
rchivs of th Royal Socity). 12. Edward Arthur Miln: rcollctions and r ctio
ns (Archivs of th Royal Socity). Book Rviw: A History of Ancint Mathmatic
al Astronomy (3 volums) y O. Nuaur, Bulltin of th Amrican Mathmatical
Socity (with N. Swrdlow). VII. nral Rlativity; KrrNwman Prturations (A
uust 1977Dcmr 1978) 1. As 1976 cam to an nd, Chandra flt his work on lac
k hols was rachin a climax. Durin th sprin quartr of 1977, whil tachin
a raduat cours, h workd hard prparin thr manuscripts [Rf. 10 in th p
rvious chaptr] and flt h was narin a complt solution of th prturation
of th Krr mtric. But th work was provin to xcptionally di cult and taki
n a havy toll on his halth with priodic xprinc of prssur in his chst.
H larnd that h had a srious hart prolm, havin had a hart attack in 19
74. H was advisd to hav a tst (cardio cathtrization) to dcid whthr h
ndd a hart surry. With th work nar compltion within a fw months and al
so th nral Rlativity Confrnc (R-8) just a fw months away in Auust, h
dcidd to postpon th tst, lst it would lad to an immdiat surry, only
aftr th rturn from th confrnc. In lat Auust soon aftr his rturn, h u
ndrwnt a major surry with thr ypass valvs put in. 2. Isral [Wrnr] Not
d Canadian physicist with sminal contriutions to lack hol physics. Pas 38
dscri stacks, prolms and th rol of svral popl in th compltion of
th followin paprs: Th ravitational prturations of th Krr lack hol, II
I. Furthr ampli cations, Procdins of th Royal Socity A 365 (1979) 42551. Monc
rif, V, Phys. Rv. D 9, 2707 and D 10 (1974) 1057. On th mtric prturations
of th RissnrNordstrm lack hol (with B.C. Xanthopoulos ), Procdins of th R
oyal o Socity A 367 (1979) 114.
272
3. Einstin and nral rlativity: Historical prspctivs (1978 Oppnhim Mmo
rial Lctur), Amrican Journal of Physics 47 (1979) 21217. Einstins nral tho
ry of rlativity and cosmoloy, in Th rat Idas of Today, 90138. Encyclopdia
Britannica. 4. Matznr, R., Phys. Rv. D 14 (1976) 3724. On th quations ovrn
in th prturations of th RissnrNordstm lack hol, Procdins of th Royal
o Socity A 365 (1979) 45365. VIII. A ar of Failurs and Oliations (1979) 1.
On th potntial arrirs surroundin th Schwarzschild lack hol, in Spactim
and omtry: Th Alfrd Schild Lcturs, ds. R. A. Matznr and L. C. Shply
(Univrsity of Txas Prss, Austin, 1982), pp. 12046. 2. Bauty and th qust for
auty in scinc, Physics Today 32 (1979) 2530. R. Narasimhan, a collau in t
h Mathmatics Dpartmnt. 3. Monodromic roup; Monodromy is th study of how o
jcts from mathmatical analysis, alraic topoloy and alraic and di rntial
omtry hav as thy run round a sinularity. Monodromy roup is a roup of tr
ansformations actin on th data that ncods what dos happn as w run round a s
inularity. Sorkin [Rafal], notd rlativist, associat in th physics dpartm
nt. 4. On on-dimnsional potntial arrirs havin qual r xion and transmissio
n co cints, Procdins of th Royal Socity A 369 (1980) 42533. I.A.U mtin in
Montral talk: Th rol of nral rlativity in astronomy: Rtrospct and pros
pct, in Hihlihts in Astronomy, Vol. 5, d. P. A. Wayman (D. Ridl, Dordrcht
, Holland), pp. 4561. 5. nral thory of rlativity: Th rst thirty yars, Cont
mporary Physics 21 (1980) 42949; Oxford Lctur: Edward Arthur Miln: His part in
th dvlopmnt of modrn astrophysics, Unsco Lctur: Black hols: th why and
th whrfor. 6. Pas 89. Discussion of his dissatisfaction with th prvious p
apr on th ravitational Prturations of th Krr lack hol and nal rsolution
and pulication: Th ravitational prturations of th Krr lack hol, IV. Th
compltion of th solution, Procdins of th Royal Socity A 384 (1980) 30115
. Rady to writ th ook Th Mathmatical Thory of Black Hols. IX. Th Mathm
atical Thory of Black Hols (19801981) 1. Wilkinson [Dnys], Notd British Nucl
ar Physicist. Parkr [Eun], Distinuishd Srvic Profssor in th Dpartmnt
of Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics. 2. Rfrncs for Cotton-Darouh thorm
, so dsinatd y Chandra, E. Cotton, Ann. Fac. Sc. Toulous, Sr. 2, 1 (1899)
385438; . Daroux,
Nots & Commnts

273
3. 4.
5.
6.
7.
8. 9. 10.
Lcons sur ls Systms Orthoonaux t ls d Cordinns Curvilins (athir
-Villars, Paris, 1898). Xanthopoulos thory: B. C. Xanthopoulos, Proc. Roy. Soc.
(London) A 378 (1981) 6171. M. Walkr and R. Pnros, Commun. Math. Phys. 18 (19
70) 26574; A spci c typ of spac-tim, typ-D in Ptrov classi cation, A. Z. Ptrov
, Einstin Spacs, translatd y R. E. Kllhr and J. Woodrow (Pramon Prss,
Oxford, 1969); For Krr-Schild co-ordinats, s R. P. Krr and A. Schild, Proc
dins of Symposia in Applid Mathmatics 17, Amrican Math. Soc. (1965) 199209;
B. Cartr, Phys. Rv. Ltt. 26 (1972) 33133; D. C. Roinson, iid. 34 (1975) 9056.
P. A. Connors and R. F. Stark, Natur 269 (1977) 1289. Pnros procss of xtrac
tin th rotational nry of a Krr lack hol: R. Pnros and R. M. Floyd, Nat
ur Phys. Sci. 229 (1971) 1779. Suprradianc rfrs to a class of radiation cts
(or nhancd radiation cts) typically associatd with th acclration or moti
on of a nary ody (which supplis th nry and momntum for th ct). Suprr
adianc allows a ody with concntration of anular or linar momntum to mov t
owards a lowr nry stat, vn whn thr is no ovious classical mchanism f
or this to happn. Klin paradox rfrs to a surprisin rsult found y Oscar Kl
in otaind y applyin th Dirac quation to th familiar prolm of lctron
scattrin from a potntial arrir. In non-rlativistic quantum mchanics, lc
tron tunnlin into a arrir is osrvd, with xponntial dampin. Howvr, Kl
ins rsult showd that if th potntial is on th ordr of th lctron mass, V
mc2 , the barrier i nearly tranparent. Moreover, a the potential approache
in nity, the re ection diminihe and the electron i alay tranmitted. R. Geroch
and J. B. Hartle, J. Math. Phy. 23 (1982) 68092; J. B. Hartle and S. W. Haking,
Commun. Math. Phy. 26 (1972) 87101. Wald procedure; R. M. Wald, Atrophy. J. 1
91 (1974) 2313; Ann. Phy. 82 (1974) 54856. J. L. Friedman and B. F. Schutz Jr., P
hy. Rev. Lett. 32 (1973) 2435. X. POSTSCRIPT: 1982 a Year that Paed
1. On Croing the Cauchy Horizon of a ReinerNordtrm Black Hole (ith o J. B. H
artle), Proceeding of the Royal Society A 384 (1982) 30115; Vikram Sarabhai Lect
ure: Why Are the Star a They Are? Mathematical Theory of Black Hole I & II.
2. Eddington: The Mot Ditinguihed Atrophyicit of Hi Time (Cambridge Unive
rity Pre, Cambridge, 1983).
274
XI. The Beginning of the End (19831985) [The enuing page record Chandra on li
t of publication, lecture and trip aay from home. I refer to them in my Note
.] 1. Algebraically pecial Perturbation (1). Hayakaa [Satio (19231992)] Doyen
of Japanee phyic, leader in everal branche of phyic including comic ray
, particle and nuclear phyic and comology. Padua GR 10 Lecture (3) 2. Announ
cement from Stockholm. Paper ith Norman Lebovitz (2). Khan, K. and Penroe, R.,
Nature, Lond. 229 (1971) 185. 3. Valeria Ferrari, Ru n tudent. Ru ni [Remo], Profe
or of Theoretical Phyic at the Univerity of Rome Sapienza and the Preident o
f the International Center of Relativitic Atrophyic. 4. Nutku, Y. and Halil,
M., Phy. Rev. Lett. 39 (1977) 1379. 5. Going to Rome to ork ith and complete
the paper on the NutkuHalil olution for colliding impulive gravitational ave
(3). 6. Paper ith Xanthopoulo on colliding ave in the EinteinMaxell theory
(4). 7. Cronin [Jame] Experimental nuclear and particle phyicit, co dicover
er of CP violation in eak interaction of elementary particle. The puruit of
cience and it motivation. Lecture (5). 8. Going to Crete to ork ith Xantho
poulo to get the ork done ithin a eek to complete the paper on the colliion
of impulive gravitational ave hen coupled ith uid motion (5, 6) and then r
uhing to conult ith Roger Penroe. Penroe uggetion leading to paper (6) on
the colliion of impulive gravitational ave coupled ith null dut ith Xant
hopoulo.
XII. Continued E ort I (September 1985May 1987) [A in the previou Chapter, number
refer to Chandra on record of publication, Lecture and trip.] 1. Viit to
Crete to ork ith Xanthopoulo combined ith brief vacation. Problem ith paper
(1): A ne type of Singularity. Abloitz [Mark J.] Profeor in Applied Mathema
tic at the Univerity of Colorado; coauthor of book on oliton. Ruh to Oxfor
d to conult ith Roger Penroe. 2. Paper (1) and (2) completed, Solution of t
he EinteinMaxell e
uation and generalization of a olution by Bell and Szeker
e: [Bell, P. & Szekere, P., Gen. Rel. Grav. 5 (1974) 275.] On colliding ave
that develop time like ingularitie (3). 3. Scharzchild Lecture. The aetheti
c bae of the general theory of relativity. Lecture (1).
Note & Comment

275
4. Woltjer Lo [Lodeiljk] Atronomer, ell knon for hi tudie on the Crab Neb
ula. Oort [Jan H. (19001992)] Noted Dutch atronomer, a pioneer in the eld of radi
o atronomy. 5. Paper ith V. Ferrari. On the diperion of cylindrical impuliv
e gravitational ave (4). 6. Kothari [Daulat S. (19051993)], an eminent cienti
t from India. Balakrihnan and Shyamala [younger brother and iter in la]. Sav
itri [Mr. R. R. Sarma] and Vidya [Mr. V. V. Shankar] iter. 7. Paper ith B.
Xanthopoulo. The e ect of ource on horizon (5). Begin nal ork on Neton Princ
ipia. XIII. Continued E ort II (May 1987September 1989) [In thi chapter, Chandra
ha provided reference to ome of hi paper in the text. I provide here only t
he miing one and bibliographical reference mentioned in the text] 1. Weyl, H
., Ann. Phy. 54 (1917) 117; Neumann, F. E., Beitrge zur Theorie a der Kugelfunct
ionen (Leipzig, 1878). 2. Flying to conult ith Roger Penroe and completing th
e paper, A perturbation analyi of the BellSzeckere pace time (ith B. C. Xant
hopoulo) Proceeding of the Royal Society A 420 (1988) 93123. MajumdarPapapetrou
olution: Solution dicovered independently by S. D. Majumdar, Phy. Rev. 72 (19
47) 3908; A. Papaptrou, Proceeding of the Roy. Irih Acad. 51 (1947) 191205; Gibb
on [Gary], theoretical phyicit, profeor at Cambridge Univerity. 3. Winton
[Roland] knon for hi path breaking reearch on Non Imaging Optic in the eld o
f Solar Energy. Roner [Jonathan l.], Nambu [Yoichiro], noted theoretical partic
le phyicit at the Univerity of Chicago. The tocenter problem in general rel
ativity: The cattering of radiation by to extreme ReinerNortrm black hole, P
roceeding of the Royal Society o A 421 (1989) 22758. 4. A one to one correponde
nce beteen the tatic EinteinMaxell and tationary EinteinVacuum pace time,
Proceeding of the Royal Society A 423 (1989) 37986; To black hole attached to
tring, ith B. C. Xanthopoulo, Proceeding of the Royal Society A 423 (1989)
387400. XIV. Continued E ort III (September 1989October 1991) 1. Short paper: The a
ccount ubmiion and ithdraal and reubmiion form
uite a facinating accou
nt of never ending e ort at a olution of the problem: The ux integral for axiymm
etric perturbation of tatic pace time (ith V. Ferrari), Proceeding of the
Royal Society A 428 (1990) 32549; The
276
2. 3.
4.
5. 6.
7.
Eintein peudo tenor and the ux integral for perturbed tatic pace time (ith
V. Ferrari), Proceeding of the Royal Society A 435 (1991) 64557. No le facin
ating and dramatic i the e ort at riting the next to paper: On the non radial
ocillation of a tar (ith V. Ferrari), Proceeding of the Royal Society A 432
(1991) 24779; On the non radial ocillation of loly rotating tar (ith V. F
errari), Proceeding of the Royal Society A 433 (1991) 42340. A long to hour di
cuion ith Roger Penroe on the topic of motivation in the puruit of cience
and the aethetic component. Pertinent article: The Serie Painting of Claude
Monet and the Landcape of General Relativity. Dedication Addre, Inter Univer
ity Center for Atronomy and Atrophyic, 28 December 1992. Science and Scient
i c Attitude, Nature 279, no. 6264 (22 March 1990) 28586. On the non radial ocill
ation of a tar. II (ith V. Ferrari and R. Winton), Proceeding of the Royal
Society A 434 (1991) 63541. On the non radial ocillation of a tar. III. A reco
nideration of the axial mode (ith V. Ferrari), Proceeding of the Royal Socie
ty A 434 (1991) 44957. Regge Theory of Potential Scattering; Alfaro, V. de & Regg
e, T., Potential cattering (Amterdam North Holland Pre, 1963); On the non ra
dial ocillation of a tar. IV. An application of the theory of Regge Pole (i
th V. Ferrari), Proceeding of the Royal Society A 437 (1992) 13349.
XV. Continued E ort IV (November 1991December 1994) [Attaching Chandra on record
of hi activitie ith ome detail added] 1. On the occaion of the Charle Gre
eley Abbot Aard by the American Solar Energy Society, Solar Energy 51(3) (1993)
23335; Chalonge Sympoium: Daniel Chalonge and the Problem of the Abundance of H
ydrogen. Opening Addre, Firt Coure of the International School of Atrophyi
c. D. Chalonge, Firt Coure Current Topic in Atrofundamental Phyic, ed. N.
Snchez and A. Zichichi (World Scienti c Publihing Co., River a Edge, N.J., 1992) [
Selected Paper of S. Chandraekhar, Volume 7 (Univerity of Chicago Pre, 1997
), p. 249]. 2. RayleighMie Theory: Mie G., Ann. Phy. 4 (1908) 377; Rayleigh, Lor
d, Phil. Mag. 61 (1871) 447454. (Alo Scienti c Paper (reprinted in Dover Publicat
ion (1964), vol. 1, p. 104). On pherical free gravitational ave (ith V. Fer
rari), Proceeding of the Royal Society A 443 (1993) 44549. 3. The Serie Paintin
g of Claude Monet and the Landcape of General Relativity. Dedication Addre,
Inter Univerity Center for Atronomy and Atrophyic, 28, December 1992. [Sele
cted Paper of S. Chandraekhar, Volume 7, p. 127].
Note & Comment

277
4. Neton and Michelangelo, Current Science 67, no. 7 (10 October 1994) 49799. [S
elected Paper, Volume 7, p. 241]. On reading Neton Principia at age pat eight
y, Current Science 67, no. 7 (10 October 1994) 49596 [Selected Paper, Volume 7,
p. 235]. 5. On the non radial ocillation of a tar: V. A fully relativitic tr
eatment of a Netonian tar (ith V. Ferrari), Proceeding of the Royal Society
A 450 (1995) 45076. The E
uation ere o beautiful that I a convinced that the
approach mut be right.

A Scientific Autobiography S Chandrasekhar K Wali World 2010 BBS

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A History of My Papers on Radiative Equilibrium (19431948)

A History of My Papers on Radiative Equilibrium

A History of My Papers on Radiative Equilibrium

A History of My Papers on Radiative Equiibrium

A History o My Papers on Radiative Equilibrium

A History of My Ppers on Rditive Equilibrium

A Histor of M Papers on Radiative Equilibrium

A His ory of My Papers on Radia ive Equilibrium

This page in en ionally lef blank

Turbulence; Hydromagne ism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagne ism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagne ism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagne ism (19481960)

he conclusions we had reached were un enable. So nex Tuesday (I was a member o

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagnetism (19481960)

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Vi ial Method and Ellipsoidal Figu es of Equilib ium

Virial Method and Ellipsoidal Figures o Equilibrium

Virial Metho an Ellipsoial Figures of Equilibrium

Virial Metho an Ellipsoial Figures of Equilibrium

Virial Metho an Ellipsoial Figures of Equilibrium

Virial Method and Ellipsoidal Figures o Equilibrium

Virial Method and Ellipsoidal Figures o Equilibrium

Virial Method and Ellipsoidal Figures o Equilibrium

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Tis page intentionally left blank

General Relativity (19621969)

General Relativity (19621969)

General Relativity (19621969)

General Relativity (19621969)

General Relativity (19621969)

General Relativity (19621969)

General Relativity (19621969)

Generl Reltivity (19621969)

Te Fallow Period (19701974)

The Fallo Period (19701974)

The Fallo Period (19701974)

The Fallo Period (19701974)

The Fallow Pe iod (19701974)

The Fallow Pe iod (19701974)

The Fallow Pe iod (19701974)

The Fallow Period (19701974)

The Fallow Period (19701974)

General Relativity; Ryerson Lecture; Separation of Dirac Equation (January 1975Au

General Relativity; Ryeron Lecture; Separation of Dirac E

General Relativity; Ryeron Lecture; Separation of Dirac E

General Relativity; Ryeron Lecture; Separation of Dirac E

A History of My Papers on Radiative Equiibrium

A History o My Papers on Radiative Equilibrium

A Histor of M Papers on Radiative Equilibrium

A Hisory of My Papers on Radiaive Equilibrium

This page inenionally lef blank

Turbulence; Hydromagneism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagneism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagneism (19481960)

Turbulence; Hydromagneism (19481960)

he conclusions we had reached were unenable. So nex Tuesday (I was a member o

Virial Method and Ellipsoidal Figures o Equilibrium

Virial Metho an Ellipsoial Figures of Equilibrium

Virial Metho an Ellipsoial Figures of Equilibrium

Virial Metho an Ellipsoial Figures of Equilibrium

Virial Method and Ellipsoidal Figures o Equilibrium

Virial Method and Ellipsoidal Figures o Equilibrium

Virial Method and Ellipsoidal Figures o Equilibrium

The Fallo Period (19701974)

The Fallo Period (19701974)

The Fallo Period (19701974)

General Relativity; Ryeron Lecture; Separation of Dirac E

General Relativity; Ryeron Lecture; Separation of Dirac E

General Relativity; Ryeron Lecture; Separation of Dirac E

General Relativity; Ryeron Lecture; Separation of Dirac E

General Relativity; Ryeron Lecture; Separation of Dirac E

General Relativity; Ryeron Lecture; Separation of Dirac E

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General Relativity; KerrNeman Perturbation (Augut 1977December 1978)

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1979 A Year o Failures and o Obligations

1979 A Year o Failures and o Obligations

1979 A ear of Failures and of Obliations

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1980, 1981: Th Mathmatical Thory of Black Hols

1980, 1981: The Mathematial Theory o Blak Holes

1980, 1981: Th Mathmatical Thory of Black Hols

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POSTSCRIPT: 1982, er tht Pssed

The Beginning of the En (19831985)

Continud E orts I (Sptmr 1985May 1987)

Continue E orts I (September 1985May 1987)

Continud E orts I (Sptmr 1985May 1987)

Continud Efforts II (May 1987Sptmr 1989)

Continud E orts II (May 1987Sptmr 1989)

Continud E orts II (May 1987Sptmr 1989)

herea it hould have been

Continue E orts II (May 1987September 1989)

Continue E orts II (May 1987September 1989)

17 August: Withre Lanau-Lifshitz pseuo-tensor

Valeria Ferrari orking ith Chanrasekhar

Continue Efforts III (September 1989October 1991)

Continued E ort III (September 1989October 1991)