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June 2010

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[Hyperspace-list] Hyperspace Bulletin for June 2010
by hyperspace＠aei.mpg.de 02 Jun '10

02 Jun '10

################################################################# Table of Contents ################################################################# 1. Conferences 1.1 2nd Galileo-Xu Guangqi Meeting (registration) 1.2 Chandra Centennial Symposium 1.3 5th VESF School on Gravitational Waves 1.4 IPMU focus week on string cosmology 1.5 Primordial Features and Non-Gaussianities (PFNG-2010) 2. Jobs 2.1 International Relativistic Astrophysics PhD Program 2010-2011 2.2 Research Fellow in Fundamental Physics in the European Space Agency 3. News 3.1 Death of Clive Kilmister 3.2 2010 Awards for Essays on Gravitation Winners 3.3 Prizes and Honors at the GR19 Conference in Mexico City ================================================================= 1. Conferences ================================================================= 1.1 2nd Galileo-Xu Guangqi Meeting (registration) ------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/05/31/2nd-galileo-xu-guangqi-meeting-regi… Starting Sun, Jul 11, 2010 to Fri, Jul 16, 2010 Location: Ventimiglia, Italy and Nice, France Additional Information: http://www.icranet.org/2nd_galileo-xuguangqi Registration at: http://ntsrvg9-2.icra.it/meetings/RegistrationXU2.htm A reduced fee of 350 EUR will be applied prior to June 15th, 2010. After this date the fee will be 450 EUR. Dear Colleagues, The 2nd Galileo-XuGuangqi meeting follows the 1st meeting of this series held on October 2009 in Shanghai. The goal is to create once a year a forum for strategic exchanges between eastern and western science at the highest level dealing with Relativistic Astrophysics and related fundamental theoretical, experimental and observational fields. We plan to continue the format of this meeting addressing topics generally related to Relativistic Astrophysics and theoretical and observational topics. The aim is to enlarge the audience from the one strictly Chinese and Italian to one embracing European and western scientific interests and the Eastern ones. In this sense a broader participation from Korea and Taiwan has been encouraged, as well as a participation of scientists from Europe and the Americas. The 2nd Galileo - Xu Guanqi meeting will be limited to 90 participants and will be held on July 11 - 17, 2010. It represents a collaboration between the University of Nice - Sophie Antipolis, ICRANet, University of Genova, University of Roma “La Sapienza”, Institute for the Early Universe, APCTP, ENEA, Embassy of Italy in Seoul, Stockholm University, NAOC, INFN, Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Cote d’Azur Observatory, Free University of Berlin, ICTP. The lectures will take place at the splendid Hanbury Villa (http://www.giardinihanbury.com) on the border between Italy and France on the Riviera. A special visit will be planned on the 14th of July to Villa Ratti, Nice, where a new ICRANet Center is going to be inaugurated. This 2nd Galileo –Xu Guangqi meeting will be the occasion to establish the lectures of the IRAP PhD program sponsored by the European Community, which will be delivered starting from September 2010 at the University of Nice - Sophia Antipolis. Such a program sees the participation of the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, the University of Savoie, the University of Stockholm, the University of Berlin, the University of Ferrara, the University of Roma, ICRANet, Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur, the Tartu Observatory, the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, the Albert Einstein Institut, the Indian Centre for Space Physics and the Brazilian Centre for Physics Research. The ten selected international students, four from Europe and six from Asia and the Americas, will participate in these lectures. The preliminary program can be downloaded clicking on the following link: http://www.icranet.org/images/stories/Meetings/XU2/program.pdf On the webpage you can find the list of titles and abstracts too. Moreover, on the same page you can find a list of hotels; you can directly contact the hotel you prefer, indicating you are taking part in the conference in order to have the special rate reserved for the participants. A transportation to and from Villa Hanbury in the morning and at the end of the afternoon session will be provided. There will be the possibility of having lunch in the Garden of the Villa. Li-Zhi Fang and Remo Ruffini, Co-Chairs of the "2nd Galileo - Xu Guanqgi meeting" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.2 Chandra Centennial Symposium --------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/05/20/chandra-centennial-symposium-2/ Starting Fri, Oct 15, 2010 to Sun, Oct 17, 2010 Location: Chicago, U.S.A. Additional Information: http://chandra100.uchicago.edu/ The website for the previously announced Chandra Centennial Symposium is now "live": http://chandra100.uchicago.edu/ We recommend that you register for the Symposium and book your accommodations as early as possible. Full announcement at http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/02/13/chandra-centennial-symposium/ Bob Wald +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.3 5th VESF School on Gravitational Waves ------------------------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/05/18/5th-vesf-school-on-gravitational-wa… Starting Mon, Jul 26, 2010 to Fri, Jul 30, 2010 Location: Sesto Pusteria (Bolzano), Italy Additional Information: http://www.roma1.infn.it/teongrav/VESF/SCHOOL.html This is the annual school on Gravitational Waves, now in its 10th edition (5th under the VESF auspices. This year, for the first time, the school will take place in the summer and in the Dolomites village of Sesto Val Pusteria (Sexten in German). Topics taught in the school will be: * Introduction to GR and sources of GW: isolated (burst and periodic) binaries and stochastic background * Interferometers, present and future facilities * Data Analysis * LISA space interferometer * Related astrophysical searches: neutrinos, gamma and X ray, pulsar timing etc. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.4 IPMU focus week on string cosmology --------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/05/18/ipmu-focus-week-on-string-cosmology/ Starting Mon, Oct 04, 2010 to Fri, Oct 08, 2010 Location: Kashiwa, Japan Additional Information: http://www.ipmu.jp/node/709 We project a workshop on string cosmology just after the COSMO/CosPa 2010 conference. Covered topics include stringy inflation models, string phenomenology, and various theoretical approaches to string cosmology. The daily schedule will include a few presentations and plenty of time for informal discussions. Dates: October 4-8, 2010 Place: Lecture Hall, IPMU, University of Tokyo, Japan Organizers: * Robert Brandenberger (McGill) * Shinji Mukohyama (IPMU) * Fuminobu Takahashi (IPMU) Confirmed invited speakers: * Daniel Baumann (IAS) * Robert Brandenberger (McGill) * Kiwoon Choi (KAIST) * Sumit R. Das (Kentucky) * Elias Kiritsis (Crete) * Tatsuo Kobayashi (Kyoto) * Gary Shiu (Wisconsin) * Kostas Skenderis (Amsterdam) Contributed talk: Those who wish to apply for a contributed talk are requested to send the title and abstract to the registration form before July 30, 2010 (JST): http://regist.ipmu.jp/fw2010oct/ Registration: If you would like to attend, please register on-line: http://regist.ipmu.jp/fw2010oct/ Registration Deadline: July 30, 2010. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.5 Primordial Features and Non-Gaussianities (PFNG-2010) --------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/05/17/primordial-features-and-non-gaussia… Starting Tue, Dec 14, 2010 to Sat, Dec 18, 2010 Location: Allahabad, India Additional Information: http://www.hri.res.in/~pfng/index.html We are pleased to announce the international meeting titled "Primordial features and non-Gaussianities (PFNG-2010)" that is to be held at the Harish-Chandra Research Institute (HRI), Allahabad, India, during December 14-18, 2010. The meeting will focus on understanding the generation and detection of primordial (both inflationary as well as non/post-inflationary) features and non-Gaussianities. While the first four days (December 14-17, 2010) of the meeting will be dedicated to these topics, the fifth day (i.e. December 18, 2010) will focus on issues in string cosmology. The web-site for the meeting can be accessed at either of the following URLs: http://www.hri.res.in/~pfng/index.html http://www.mri.ernet.in/~pfng/index.html The Scientific Organizing Committee of the meeting consists of: * Richard Easther (Yale University) * Alan Heavens (Institute for Astronomy, Edinburgh) * Eiichiro Komatsu (University of Texas at Austin) * Juan Maldacena (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) * Jerome Martin, Chair (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris) * Subir Sarkar (University of Oxford) * Tarun Souradeep (IUCAA, Pune) * Matias Zaldarriaga (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) The program will consist of invited plenary talks and contributed talks as well as posters. Invited plenary speakers include: * Xingang Chen (DAMTP, University of Cambridge) * Asantha Cooray (University of California, Irvine) * Amir Hajian (Princeton University) * Mark Hindmarsh (University of Sussex) * Shamit Kachru (KITP, Santa Barbara) * Liam McAllister (Cornell University) * Dipak Munshi (Cardiff University) * Hiranya Peiris (University College, London) * Christophe Ringeval (Louvain University) * David Seery (University of Sussex) * Arman Shafieloo (University of Oxford) * Eva Silverstein (KITP, Santa Barbara) * Kendrick Smith (Princeton University), To be confirmed * Licia Verde (Institute of Cosmological Sciences, Barcelona) The registration for the meeting is now open, and we welcome contributed talks and posters. Please visit the web-site or write to us at the address <pfng[AST]hri.res.in> for further information about the meeting. We look forward to seeing you at HRI in December 2010. L. Sriramkumar and Sudhakar Panda. (On behalf of the Local Organizing Committee) ================================================================= 2. Jobs ================================================================= 2.1 International Relativistic Astrophysics PhD Program 2010-2011 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/05/31/international-relativistic-astrophy… Institution: Nice, France Deadline: Thu, Sep 30, 2010 Additional Information: http://www.icra.it/IRAPPhD/2010/ In 2010-2011 ten positions will be available, six with fellowship support. The application deadline is September 30th, 2010. Application Forms: http://www.icra.it and http://www.icranet.org Information: Dr. Carlo Luciano Bianco tel. + 39 06 4991 4 397 e-mail: bianco[AT]icra.it Following the successful scientific space missions by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern observatory (ESO) in Chile, as well as the high-energy particle activities at CERN in Genève, we have created a Ph.D. program dedicated to the formation of scientists in the field of relativistic astrophysics. The students of such a program will lead the theoretical developments of one of the most active fields of research, based on the above observational and experimental facilities. This program provides expertise in the most advanced topics of mathematical and theoretical physics, and in relativistic field theories, in the context of astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology.It provides the ability to model the observational data received from the above facilities. This activity is necessarily international, no single university can cover the broad expertises. The proposed program of the IRAP Ph.D. enjoys the collaboration of some of the most famous European Universities with one of the youngest and most dynamical French universities, the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis. Also it benefits from the presence of the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur and the presence of the ICRANet Center at Villa Ratti in Nice, where the coordination of the IRAP Ph.D. will take place. The astronomical aspects of the large scale of the Universe will be illustrated by the teaching by the Tartu Observatory. The activities at ICRANet Centers, at the ETH of Zurich, at the University of Rome, at Stockholm University offer teaching programs in all the fields of relativistic astrophysics, including cosmology, the physics of gravitational collapse, gamma-ray bursts, and black hole physics. The participation of the Freie Universität Berlin and of the Einstein Institute in Potsdam offers the possibility of teaching in relativistic field theories at the highest level. The University of Savoie offers the link to the particle physics at CERN. The University of Ferrara will be present with lectures and researches in the topics they have pioneered such as instrumentations developments and data analysis for X and Gamma ray astrophysics and observational cosmology.Through ICRANet the extra-European connections with Brazil, China and India will be guaranteed: in China, with the Shanghai Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Science, studying the formation and evolution of large-scale structure and galaxies; in India, with the Indian Centre for Space Physics (ICSP), renowned for its research on compact objects as well as on solar physics and astrochemistry; in Brazil, with ICRABR at CBPF and the Rio de Janeiro brach of ICRANet, where a successful program of research and teaching in relativistic astrophysics has been established in recent years. The Courses: Each student will have to follow 180 hours of courses during the three years of the Ph.D. program. There is also the possibility to follow courses from the other Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrophysics Ph.D. programs in each participating institution, after approval by the faculty. A list of courses and faculty is available at http://www.icra.it/IRAPPhD/2010/ The Host Institution for the call of 2010-2011 is the Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis Grand Château 28 Avenue Valrose 21 - B.P. 2135 06103 NICE CEDEX 2 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2.2 Research Fellow in Fundamental Physics in the European Space Agency ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/05/20/research-fellow-in-fundamental-phys… Institution: Noordwijk, The Netherlands Additional Information: http://www.esa.int/act The European Space Agency's Advanced Concepts Team (ACT) is looking for highly motivated young researchers in the area of fundamental physics, with good analytical and communicational skills and an excellent aptitude for teamwork. The Team The Advanced Concepts Team (ACT) is a group of research fellows (post-docs) and young graduates who originate from a broad variety of academic fields and aim at an academic career. The team's task is to monitor, perform and foster research on advanced space systems, innovative concepts and working methods. It interacts externally almost exclusively with academia and operates as a truly interdisciplinary team bound to high scientific standards. Via its research, the team acts as a cross-departmental pathfinder to explore novel, potentially promising areas for ESA and the space sector, ranging from applied to basic fundamental topics. The team is in constant evolution and attempts to lead and embrace changes and new trends. Each member is therefore encouraged and expected to contribute and suggest changes. Internally, the Advanced Concepts Team acts as the technical think-tank within the Director General's Policy Office. Thus, an important task of the team is to communicate scientific trends and results, as input to the strategic planning of the Agency. The team has been active in the field of fundamental physics since several years and interested candidates are invited to get familiar with these projects (http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/phy/index.htm), while being encouraged to expand the domain to new interesting fields not yet covered. Duties and Tasks Successful candidates will perform research in theoretical physics and will in particular carry out the following tasks: • Assess and investigate concepts and effects, either current of foreseen, derived from novel theoretical or experimental discoveries in physics for their potential application and use in space systems. • Propose and perform high-level research in the field of physics together with universities of ESA member states (in particular through the Ariadna programme (http://www.esa.int/ariadna). • Lead and assist interdisciplinary projects with other ACT Research Fellows in topics where the above-mentioned areas of physics play an important role. • Participate, with the rest of the team, in the assessment of proposed space system concepts - these not being restricted only to the area of fundamental / theoretical physics - and propose new concepts and assessment studies. • Perform or participate in small studies on subjects of strategic interest to provide inhouse expertise to ESA's Director General's Policy Office and its General Studies Programme. • Follow and monitor the progress of research in areas of physics of interest to the team in order to derive and report strategic trends. • Critically assess ideas and concepts for space systems relying on methods or phenomena of the area of fundamental physics that are brought to the attention of the ACT. Areas of research are partly chosen by the successful candidate based on his/her own expert judgements and insight into trends and developments in fundamental physics, partly chosen by the team as to follow strategic directions of the Agency. Based on past and current assessments, ACT areas of research in fundamental physics include condensed matter physics, quantum physics and applications of Bose-Einstein condensates and gravitation, but candidates are encouraged to expand these. Qualifications The candidate should hold a degree in Physics, Mathematics or Aerospace Engineering. He or she should also have completed (or be about to complete) a PhD in Physics (with the subject of the thesis being relevant to the description of the tasks outlined above) and aim at an academic/research career. The candidate is expected to bring to the team functioning links to universities and research institutes. The candidate should demonstrate an interest in space science and / or technology as well as the ability and interest to get actively involved in prospective interdisciplinary research. Successful candidates are expected to show an aptitude to contextualise specialised areas of research and to quickly assess their potential with respect to other domains and applications. An avid, natural curiosity and a passion for new subjects and research areas are essential. As member of an interdisciplinary, multicultural team of peers, the candidate should have a natural aptitude to teamwork, while being able to set-up, follow, monitor and be responsible for his/her own personal research plans and directions. Good methodological and organisation skills are therefore a valuable asset. Application Information on the ESA Research Fellowship Programme and the application form are available at: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Careers_at_ESA/SEM19DXO4HD_0.html. Applicants should send their CV, a covering letter stating their research interests and the filled-out RF application form to: act[At]esa.int as well as temp.htr[At]esa.int. (if not possible by email, the four reference letters can also be sent via normal mail to: ESTEC HR Division, RES-HTR, ESA/ESTEC; Keplerlaan 1, PO Box 299, 2200AG Noordwijk ZH, The Netherlands). The general eligibility criteria of the ESA Research (Internal) Fellowship Programme apply. All applications will be considered until the available post is filled. Application deadline for this round of interviews: no later than May 31, 2010. For more information please visit: ESA: http://www.esa.int, the Advanced Concepts Team: http://www.esa.int/act or send us an email to: act[AT]esa.int ================================================================= 3. News ================================================================= 3.1 Death of Clive Kilmister ---------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/05/31/death-of-clive-kilmister/ Clive Kilmister I regret to have to report that Clive Kilmister died on the second of May 2010. Clive's Ph D research was carried out at Queen Mary College where the cosmologist George McVittie was his supervisor. From 1950 until he retired in 1984 he spent his academic career in the Mathematics Department at King's College London. In 1954, Hermann Bondi, Felix Pirani and Clive formed the nucleus of the King's gravitational theory group, one of the small number of centres that initiated the renaissance of research on general relativity in the 1950's. At one time Clive was a member of the International Committee on GRG and he was heavily involved in the organisation of the GR4 conference in London. Clive had broad interests and at various times he was the president of the British Society for the History of Mathematics, the president of the Mathematical Association, and the president of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science. He was also Gresham Professor of Geometry from 1972 until 1988. As well as his research papers Clive wrote about a dozen books, including a number on relativity and classical mechanics. His Ph D research had been related to Eddington's later work, which is opaque to most, and throughout his career he retained his interest in it. Later in life he and his long-term collaborator Ted Bastin became founding members of the Alternative Natural Philosophy Association. Together they wrote a number of books, the last of which "The Origin of Discrete Particles" was published in 2009. Clive was noted for his willingness to undertake heavy administrative tasks. These he discharged amiably and efficiently. He was loved by the students and admired and respected by his grateful colleagues. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- David Robinson, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Mathematics Department, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK. Room K4U.22, Fourth floor King's Building, Strand Campus. My office telephone: +44 (0)20 7848 2221; Maths Department Office: +44 (0)20 7848 2828 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.2 2010 Awards for Essays on Gravitation Winners ------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/05/23/2010-awards-for-essays-on-gravitati… Additional Information: http://www.gravityresearchfoundation.org/ GRAVITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION PO BOX 81389 WELLESLEY HILLS MA 02481-0004 USA THE TRUSTEES ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE AWARDS FOR ESSAYS FOR 2010. 1. $4,000 - Building Up Spacetime with Quantum Entanglement by Mark Van Raamsdonk, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1W9, Canada; e-mail: mav[AT]phas.ubc.ca 2. $1,250 - Membrane Paradigm Realized? by Samir D. Mathur, Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210; e-mail: mathur[AT]mps.ohio-state.edu 3. $1,000 - The Dangers of Extremes by Donald Marolf, Physics Department, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA 93106; e-mail: marolf[AT]physics.ucsb.edu 4. $750 - The Necessity of Torsion in Gravity by Richard T. Hammond, Department of Physics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 and ARO Research Triangle Park; e-mail: rhammond[AT]email.unc.edu 5. $500 - Conditions for Spontaneous Homogenization of the Universe by Krzysztof Bolejko (1) and William R. Stoeger (2), (1) Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 and Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Bartycka 18, 00-716 Warszawa, Poland; (2) Vatican Observatory Research Group, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721: e-mail: bolejko[AT]camk.edu.pl Selected for Honorable Mention this year were (listed in alphabetical order): Antonio Accioly, Jose' Helayel- Neto, and Eslley Scatena; Giovanni Amelino-Camelia, Niccolo' Loret, Gianluca Mandanici, and Flavio Mercati; Sudarshan Ananth; R. Balbinot, I. Carusotto, A. Fabbri, and A. Recati; Rabin Banerjee; R. Brout; A. A. Coley; F. I. Cooperstock and M. J. Dupre; Aharon Davidson and Ilya Gurwich; John Bruce Davies; A. Di Virgilio, U. Schreiber, N. Beverini, and A. Tartaglia; Sourish Dutta, Robert J. Scherrer, and Stephen D. H. Hsu; Ariel Edery and Benjamin Constantineau; Shahar Hod; Craig J. Hogan; Vishnu Jejjala, Djordje Minic, Y. Jack Ng, and Chia-Hsiung Tze; Axel Kleinschmidt and Hermann Nicolai; Lance Labun and Johann Rafelski; M. D. Maia; Adam Moss, Ali Narimani, and Douglas Scott; Ishwaree P. Neupane; T. Padmanabhan; Don N. Page; Carlo Rovelli and Francesca Vidotto; Tejinder P. Singh; C. Sivaram; Martin S. Sloth; George F. Smoot; C. S. Unnikrishnan and G. T. Gillies; A sher Yahalom. This announcement and abstracts of award-winning and honorable mention essays will be posted when ready on our web site, http://www.gravityresearchfoundation.org/. The five award-winning essays will be published in the Journal of General Relativity and Gravitation (GRG) and subsequently, in a special issue of the International Journal of Modern Physics D (IJMPD). They will also be posted at a later date on our web site. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.3 Prizes and Honors at the GR19 Conference in Mexico City ----------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2010/05/23/prizes-and-honors-at-the-gr19-confe… AWARDS FOR BEST PRESENTATIONS DURING GR19 Session Chairs will send their nominations for the best student and post-doc presentations during GR19 to Professor Donald Marolf, the Chair of the GR19 Scientific Committee. He will send an ordered list to the Executive Committee of the Society which will make the final selection soon after GR19, taking into account the geographic, gender and thematic balance. The students prizes, the Hartle Awards are sponsored by Professor James B. Hartle. The post-doc prizes, the S. Chandrasekhar Awards are sponsored by World Scientific. *** THE JÜRGEN EHLERS THESIS PRIZE for an outstanding Ph.D. thesis in mathematical and numerical relativity will be awarded to DR NICHOLAS YUNES The selection committee consisting of David Garfinkle (Chair), Bernd Brügmann, Bala Iyer and Alan Rendall prepared the following citation: "For pioneering work on a variety of topics involving binary black holes, gravitational radiation, and Chern-Simons gravity" This prize is sponsored by Springer to honor the memory of Professor Jügen Ehlers. See: http://grg.maths.qmul.ac.uk/grgsoc/ehlersprize.php It carries a certificate and a check for $1,500 and will be awarded during the opening ceremony of the 19th International conference. *** THE BERGMANN-WHEELER THESIS PRIZE for a outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the broad area of quantum gravity will be awarded to DR VICTOR TAVERAS The selection committee consisting of Stephen Carlip (Chair), Gary Horowitz, Theodore Jacobson and Carlo Rovelli prepared the following citation: "For contributions to loop quantum cosmology and the development of a novel extension of loop quantum gravity." This prize is sponsored by Classical and Quantum Gravity to honor the memory of Professors Peter Bergmann and John Wheeler, pioneers of the field of quantum gravity. It carries a certificate and a check for $1,500 and will be awarded in the opening ceremony of the 19th International conference. *** THE GWIC THESIS PRIZE for an outstanding Ph.D. thesis based on research in gravitational waves. This is an annual award sponsored by the Gravitational Wave International Committee. See http://grg.maths.qmul.ac.uk/grgsoc/gwicprize.php It will be presented during the opening ceremony of the GR19 conference. *** THE BASILIS XANTHOPOULOS INTERNATIONAL AWARD will be presented to DR STEFAN HOLLANDS The committee consisting of Profs. Jorge Pullin (Chair), Piotr Chrusciel, Gary Gibbons, Nikolaos Stergioulas and Clifford Will prepared the following citation: "For his contributions to the mathematical aspects of gravitational physics, especially concerning the theory of quantum fields in curved space-time. Dr. Hollands' work helped bring this area of research to a new level of clarity and mathematical rigor." The prize is sponsored by the FORTH Foundation, Hellas, to honor the memory of Basilis Xanthopoulos and is given to a scientist, below 40 years of age, who has made outstanding (preferably theoretical) contributions to gravitational physics. See: http://grg.maths.qmul.ac.uk/grgsoc/xanthprize.php It carries a certificate and a check for approximately $10,000. It will be awarded during the opening ceremony of the conference. *** FELLOWSHIPS The Society elected 10 Fellows in this first round. According to the rules governing this election, at least five had to be below 45 years of age. The Electors were Beverly Berger (Chair), David Blair, Misao Sasaki, and three ex-officio members Abhay Ashtekar (President), Clifford Will (Deputy president) and Malcolm MacCallum (Secretary). The new Fellows will be inducted during the Business Meeting of the Society. * Alessandra Buonanno "For leading advances in the theory of general relativistic two-body dynamics and in the production and detection of gravitational waves''. * Alejandro Corichi "For his significant contributions to loop quantum gravity and his leadership in numerous initiatives for the international gravity community''. * Gabriela Gonzalez "For her outstanding contributions to the gravitational wave science and leadership in the LIGO Collaboration''. * James Hough "For outstanding contributions in gravitational wave detection''. * Don Marolf "For a broad range of insightful contributions to quantum gravity and quantum field theory in curved spacetime''. * Roger Penrose "For his pioneering contributions to our understanding of global issues in general relativity which form many of the foundations of the modern era of gravitational physics''. * Frans Pretorius "For his seminal contributions which have transformed the subject of numerical relativity". * Carlo Rovelli "For leading contributions to the field of quantum gravity, including loop quantum gravity and spin foam models, and for leadership in creating a vibrant quantum gravity community in France". * Madhavan Varadarajan "For his numerous insightful contributions to conceptually difficult and deep problems in classical and quantum gravity". * David Wands "For his seminal contributions to theoretical cosmology, particularly in the areas of cosmological perturbation theory".

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