Nils Andersson is a professor of mathematics and an expert on Einstein's theory of relativity and related astrophysics. He is an elected honorary Fellow of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation and was awarded the 2024 Karl Schwarzschild Prize in astrophysics. His research mainly concerns black holes, neutron stars and gravitational waves. Over the last couple of decades, he has actively pursued many issues relevant to the emerging area of gravitational-wave astronomy. His current work focuses on the extreme physics that neutron stars represent, from the state and composition of matter to the dynamical role of the superfluid and superconducting components expected to be present in the core of a mature neutron star.

• 1: Opening the window 2: A brief survey of general relativity 3: Gravitational waves 4: From black holes to stars and the universe at large 5: Binary inspiral 6: Spinning stars and cosmic recycling 7: Catching the wave 8: Mining the data 9: The stellar graveyard 10: Testing relativity 11: Beyond Newton 12: Towards the extreme 13: From oscillations to instabilities 14: Building mountains 15: The r-mode instability 16: Black-hole dynamics 17: Spinning black holes 18: Relativistic asteroseismology 19: Colliding black holes 20: Cosmic Fireworks 21: Anatomy of a merger 22: Whispers from the Big Bang

This book is a wonderful introduction to one of the most exciting research areas in modern physics (gravitational wave astronomy) written by a leading expert on the structure and dynamics of black holes and neutron stars....The book is an excellent resource for students and for researchers working in specific areas (general relativity, astronomy, data analysis, nuclear and particle physics) who may want to put their work in a broader context.