Misner

Misner is a surname of English origin. In science, it is most closely associated with Charles W. Misner, an American theoretical physicist noted for his contributions to general relativity and for co-authoring the influential textbook Gravitation with Kip Thorne and John Archibald Wheeler.

The name Misner also appears in several theoretical constructs named after Misner. Misner space is a two-dimensional Lorentzian manifold obtained by identifying points in Minkowski space under a Lorentz boost. It is used as a simple model to study causality in general relativity, notably the appearance of closed timelike curves. Another important eponym is the Misner–Sharp mass, a quasi-local measure of gravitational energy inside a closed surface in spherically symmetric spacetimes. This concept helps describe energy content in gravitational collapse and cosmological settings, and it reduces to familiar limiting cases in appropriate regimes.

Beyond these concepts, the Misner surname is associated with broader work in the field of gravitation, particularly the formulation of the initial value problem in general relativity and the development of tools and methods that influenced modern studies of spacetime, black holes, and cosmology. Misner-related terms are widely cited in theoretical physics literature and remain part of standard discussions in general relativity education.