########################################## Table of Contents ########################################### 1. Conferences 1.1. Dark Side of the Universe 2014 (DSU2014), 2nd announcement 1.2. Jerusalem winter school - 100 Years to General Relativity 1.3. The Fourteenth Marcel Grossman Meeting – Rome, Italy, July 12-18, 2015 1.4. Mini-Workshop on Relativistic Positioning Systems, Noordwijk, Netherlands 1.5. Towards gravitational wave astronomy: data analysis techniques and challenges, London 2. Jobs 2.1. Research Fellow in Fundamental Physics in Advanced Concepts Team, ESA 2.2. ESA Research Fellowships in Space Science 2.3. Burke Fellows in Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at Caltech 3. News 3.1. Ecole Internationale d'Astrophysique Daniel Chalonge, summer highlights, online presentations and pictures 3.2. LIGO Laboratory and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration release 2 years of data from their Fifth Science Run 3.3. Living Reviews in Relativity: “Massive Gravity” / "Time-Delay Interferometry" 3.4. Hyperspace moves to Frankfurt ============================================== 1. Conferences ============================================== 1.1. Dark Side of the Universe 2014 (DSU2014), 2nd announcement --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=9578 Starting: 2014-11-17 to 2014-11-21 Location: Cape Town, South Africa Additional Information: www.acgc.uct.ac.za/dsu2014 Contact: peter.dunsby[AT]uct.ac.za Dear Colleague, Here is the second announcement for the Dark Side of the Universe 2014 X International Workshop Surveying the Dark Side of the Universe - Theory and Observations 17-21 November 2014 (Cape Town, South Africa) http://www.acgc.uct.ac.za/dsu2014/ Follow us on Twitter @dsu2014 Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dsu2014 The meeting is in the series of the DSU workshops previously held in Seoul (2005), Madrid (2006), Minnesota (2007), Cairo (2008), Melbourne (2009), Leon (2010), Beijing (2011), Buzios, Rio de Janeiro (2012) and Trieste (2013). For more information, see http://dark.ft.uam.es/dsu/ Topics of the workshop: Surveying the Dark Universe Dark Energy - beyond the Concordance Model Simulations of galaxies, clusters and the Universe Dark Matter candidates Modified Gravity Speakers include (this will be updated on the website). G. Bertone (University of Amsterdam), C. Bonvin (Cambridge University), C. de Rham (Case Western Reserve University), R. Dave (University of the Western Cape), R. Durrer (University of Geneva), G. Ellis (University of Cape Town), J. Kneib (EPFL), O. Lahav (University College London), S. Matarrese (Padova University) - TBC, T. Medupe (University of the North West), K. Moodley (University of KwaZulu Natal), P. Patel (University of the Western Cape), S. Razzaque (University of Johannesburg), G. Starkmann (Case Western Reserve University), J-P. Uzan (IHP, IAP), C. Wetterich (University of Heidelberg). International Committee Pyungwon Ko (KIAS, South Korea), Carlos Muñoz (UAM/IFT, Spain), Keith Olive (Minnesota University, USA), Shaaban Khalil (BUE, Egypt), Csaba Balazs (Monash University, Australia), David Delepine (Guanajuato University, Mexico), Yu-Feng Zhou (KITPC/ITP-CAS, China), Qaisar Shafi (Delaware University, USA), Christiane Frigerio Martins (São Paulo University, Brasil), Paolo Salucci (SISSA, Italy). Local Committee Vinicius Busti (UCT), Vincent Bouillot (UCT), Chris Clarkson (UCT), Sergio Colafrancesco (WITS), Peter Dunsby - Chair (UCT), Marc Lilley (UCT), Roy Maartens (UWC), Diego Saez Gomez (UCT), Amanda Weltman (UCT). Immediately after DSU2014, there will be a meeting hosted by the South African Gravity Society (SAGS) to celebrate the 75th birthday of George Ellis (24 November). Please contact Roy Maartens (roy.maartens[AT]gmail.com) if you are interested in attending this event. You can also register for SAGS at http://math.ukzn.ac.za/~sags2014 Important Dates: Deadline for talk submissions: 1st October 2014 Workshop: 17th-21st November 2014 George Ellis at 75 and the South African Gravity Society Meeting: 24-25 November 2014 Please feel free to forward this invitation to anyone you think might be interested on DSU 2014. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.2. Jerusalem winter school - 100 Years to General Relativity --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=9586 Starting: 2014-12-28 to 2015-01-07 Location: Jerusalem Additional Information: http://www.as.huji.ac.il/schools/phys32 Contact: barak_kol[AT]phys.huji.ac.il The 32nd Winter School in Theoretical Physics is titled "100 Years to General Relativity: From Theory to Experiment and Back." Speakers include: Arkani-Hamed, Bekenstein*, Damour, Gibbons, Gross, Maldacena, Mukhanov, Nicolai, Peebles, Polchinski, Thorne and Van Raamsdonk*. * to be confirmed +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.3. The Fourteenth Marcel Grossman Meeting – Rome, Italy, July 12-18, 2015 --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=9605 Starting: 2014-07-12 to 2014-07-18 Location: Jerusalem Additional Information: http://www.icra.it/MG/mg14/ Contact: barak_kol[AT]phys.huji.ac.il The Fourteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting will be held in Rome, Italy, at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, July 12-18, 2015.Since 1975, the Marcel Grossman Meetings have been organized in order to provide opportunities for discussing recent advances in gravitation, general relativity and relativistic field theories, emphasizing mathematical foundations, physical predictions and experimental tests. The objective of these meetings is to elicit exchange among scientists that may deepen our understanding of space-time structures as well as to review the status of ongoing experiments aimed at testing Einstein’s theory of gravitation either from the ground or from space. Previous meetings have been held in Trieste (1975) and (1979), Shanghai (1982), Rome (1985), Perth (1988), Kyoto (1991), Stanford (1994), Jerusalem (1997), Rome (2000), Rio (2003), Berlin (2006), Paris (2009) and Stockholm (2012). Interested scientists should address a member from any one of the organizing commi ttees or the conference secretariat. This edition of the Marcel Grossmann Meeting marks the 100^th anniversary of the Einstein equations and celebrates the International Year of Light 2015 organized by UNESCO and with the Golden Jubilee of Relativistic Astrophysics, all of which will be celebrated by MG14 and other satellite meetings (soon announced). The meeting poster is ready and can be downloaded at: http://www.icra.it/mg/mg14/MG14_poster.pdf The planning of the scientific program is in progress, with the renewal of selected past parallel sessions and the introduction of new ones. Website: http://www.icra.it/MG/mg14/ email: mg14@icra.it +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.4. Mini-Workshop on Relativistic Positioning Systems, Noordwijk, Netherlands --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=9613 Starting: 2014-09-25 to 2014-09-25 Location: ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands Additional Information: http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/events/workshops/ws_2014_Sept_25.html Contact: anna.heffernan[AT]esa.int The Advanced Concepts Team of the European Space Agency is organising a mini-workshop on relativistic positioning systems at ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands. The workshop will showcase the recent results of the ESA PECS project as well as those of the RPS research community and their applications to space. There is no registration fee and participants are invited to give presentations on their current research. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.5. Towards gravitational wave astronomy: data analysis techniques and challenges, London --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=9618 Starting: 2014-12-12 to 2014-12-12 Location: Royal Astronomical Society, London, UK Additional Information: http://tinyurl.com/RAS-Towards-GW-Astronomy Contact: matthew.pitkin[AT]glasgow.ac.uk The next few years promise to be exciting ones for the field of gravitational wave astronomy: ground-based gravitational wave detectors will begin taking data at unprecedented sensitivities; pulsar timing arrays are continuing to improve their timing accuracy; and several experiments are studying the cosmic microwave background polarisation in great detail. Together, these methods are probing a huge range of the gravitational wave spectrum, and detections will offer a wealth of new information on compact binaries, supermassive black holes, and general relativity in extreme environments from the early universe to black hole mergers. Exploiting the datasets provided by these cutting edge observations has spurred the development of novel data analysis methods to understand gravitational wave sources. This Royal Astronomical Society discussion meeting will bring together researchers from these diverse areas to encourage the sharing of techniques and foster further collaboration within the data analysis community. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ============================================== 2. Jobs ============================================== 2.1. Research Fellow in Fundamental Physics in Advanced Concepts Team, ESA ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=9593 Deadline: 2014-09-09 Location: Noordwijk, Netherlands Additional Information: http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/opportunities/open_rf.html Contact: act[AT]esa.int Internal Research Fellow (Post-doc) in Fundamental Physics ESA - European Space Agency Noordwijk, Netherlands The European Space Agency's Advanced Concepts Team is looking for a highly motivated young researcher in the field of Fundamental Physics. 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. Its 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 research topics. An important task of the team is to communicate scientific trends and results, as input to the strategic planning of the Agency. RESEARCH FIELD The team has been active in the field of fundamental physics since 2004 with the overall objective to assess the impact of new ideas in physics on the space sector. The scope of its research spans from relativity (testing Einstein gravity,? relativistic positioning systems, black hole physics,?non negligible relativistic effects, metamaterial design (optical, acoustic), quantum theories (entanglement and other quantum paradoxes, vacuum energy, Casimir effect) to advanced propulsion concepts. Candidates are highly encouraged to get familiar with the research done in this field by the team as well as on the overall research of the ACT and the main activities lines of ESA. DUTIES AND TASKS The successful candidate will carry out research in the field of fundamental physics. Areas of research are partly chosen by the successful candidate based on his/her own expert judgements and insight into trends and developments, partly chosen by the team as to follow strategic directions of the Agency. Scientifically she/he will in particular: Propose and perform research in the field of physics, where appropriate together with universities of ESA Member States (in particular through the Ariadna programme); Assess and investigate concepts and effects, either current or foreseen, derived from novel theoretical or experimental discoveries in physics for their potential application and use in space systems; 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. As ACT researcher, she/he will: Publish results in peer-reviewed publications and use modern communication tools to communicate with broader audience inside and outside ESA; Lead and assist interdisciplinary projects with other ACT Research Fellows and Young Graduate Trainees; Participate together with the team in the assessment of proposed space system concepts - these not being restricted only to advanced energy systems - and propose new concepts and assessment studies; and Perform and participate in assessments on subjects of strategic interest of ESA, provide in-house expertise to strategy development and ESA’s General Studies Programme. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS Required academic qualifications: a degree in physics, mathematics or equivalent; PhD (completed before take up of duty) in Physics, subject of the thesis being relevant to the description of the tasks outlined above and aim at an academic/research career. Additional Requirements: interest in space science and technology; ability for and interest in prospective interdisciplinary research; aptitude to contextualise specialised areas of research and quickly assess their potential with respect to other domains and applications; academic networking to add functioning links to universities and research institutes; ability to work in a team, while being able to work individually and autonomously regarding his/her own personal research plans and directions; natural curiosity and a passion for new subjects and research areas; good methodological and organisation skills. knowledge of English and/or French, the working languages of the Agency. A good proficiency in English is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset. More information: http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/opportunities/open_rf.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2.2. ESA Research Fellowships in Space Science ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=9597 Deadline: 2014-10-01 Location: Noordwijk, NL and Madrid, Spain Additional Information: http://cosmos.esa.int/fellowship Contact: fellowship[AT]cosmos.esa.int ESA Postdoctoral Fellowships in Space Science The European Space Agency awards several postdoctoral fellowships each year. The aim of these fellowships is to provide young scientists, holding a PhD or the equivalent degree, with the means of performing space science research in fields related to the ESA Science and Robotic Exploration Programmes. Areas of research include planetary science, astronomy and astrophysics, solar and solar-terrestrial science, plasma physics and fundamental physics. The fellowships have a duration of two years and are tenable at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, Netherlands, or at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villafranca del Castillo, near Madrid, Spain. Applications are now solicited for fellowships in space science to begin in the fall of 2015. Preference will be given to applications submitted by candidates within five years of receiving their PhD. Candidates not holding a PhD yet are encouraged to apply, but they must provide evidence of receiving their degree before starting the fellowship. ESA fellows are enrolled in ESA's Social Security Scheme, which covers medical expenses, invalidity and death benefits. A monthly deduction covers these short-term and long-term risks. The deadline for applications is 1 October 2014. More information on the ESA Research Fellowship programme in Space Science, on the conditions and eligibility, as well as the application form can be found on the world-wide web at this address: http://cosmos.esa.int/fellowship Questions on the scientific aspects of the ESA Fellowship in Space Science not answered in the above pages can be sent by e-mail to the fellowship coordinators, Dr. Oliver Jennrich or Dr. Matteo Guianazzi, at the address fellowship[AT]cosmos.esa.int +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2.3. Burke Fellows in Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at Caltech ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2014/08/19/burke-fellows-in-theoretical-physics... Deadline: 2014-11-15 Location: Pasadena, CA, USA Additional Information: http://burkeinstitute.caltech.edu/Apply/BurkeFellowship Contact: cott[AT]tapir.caltech.edu The Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) solicits applications for its inaugural Burke Fellowship program. The Burke Fellowship offers an opportunity for outstanding recent and new Ph.D. recipients to perform research at Caltech for three years. They are selected by a faculty committee representing all areas of theoretical physics and astrophysics at Caltech and are provided with: * Independence in research direction within theoretical physics and astrophysics (including but not limited to theoretical astrophysics/cosmology, condensed matter theory, general relativity, particle/string theory, physical mathematics, and quantum information), * faculty mentorship and activities organized by the Burke Institute to promote scientific exchanges and professional growth, and * a competitive annual stipend/salary and an annual research fund. The Burke Fellowship program significantly expands and strengthens the existing Prize Fellowship program at Caltech. The Prize Fellowship program has been successful with over 95 percent of the more than 120 former fellows holding distinguished academic positions. We encourage all candidates to apply by November 15, 2014. Applicants should submit curriculum vitae (with email address and citizenship), a statement of research interests, and a list of publications at http://burkeinstitute.caltech.edu/Apply/BurkeFellowship. Applicants should also ensure that at least three letters of reference are submitted on their behalf to the website. Burke Fellowship applicants will automatically be considered for other available postdoctoral positions. Caltech is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, Minorities, Veterans and Disabled Persons are encouraged to apply. Email inquiries regarding the application process may be sent to nell_at_caltech.edu. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ============================================== 3. News ============================================== 3.1. Ecole Internationale d'Astrophysique Daniel Chalonge, summer highlights, online presentations and pictures ------------------------------------------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2014/08/04/ecole-internationale-dastrophysique-... Additional Information: http://chalonge.obspm.fr Ecole Internationale d'Astrophysique Daniel Chalonge HIGHLIGHTS of the COLLOQUIUM OF THE 18TH PARIS COSMOLOGY COLLOQUIUM CHALONGE 2014: CMB Observations and its implications for Cosmology: A Status Report . Polarisation of the Cosmic Microwave Background: Toward an Observational Proof of Cosmic Inflation. Beyond the Power Spectrum: Cosmology with Spectral Distortions and the PIXIE mission. Fermionic Warm Dark Matter and the Thomas-Fermi galaxy structure theory. Cosmological and astrophysical signatures of Warm Dark Matter. Galaxy Structure Observations and Cored Density Profiles. Changing Direction It is Time for Warm Dark Matter X-ray and Phase Space Density Constraints on the Properties of the Dark Matter Particle. The Fertile Phenomenology of Sterile Neutrinos. Gravitational lensing in Warm Dark Matter cosmology: the cross section for giant arcs. Cosmology with Gaia. The dusty universe unveiled by Herschel. High energy sources in the epoch of reionization of the Universe Synergies between CMB and SKA radio observations. Observational overview on galaxy formation and evolution. Neutrino masses, phases and m ixings: Theory vs. Experiments. A Status Report. Absolute scale of the active neutrino mass and the search of sterile neutrinos at the KATRIN experiment The tensor to scalar ratio and large scale power suppression from fast- roll initial conditions Warm Dark Matter Cosmology and Galaxy Theory in agreement with observations. New Results. Open Session. Panel Discussion on BICEP2. Cosmology Now and Tomorrow. The James Webb Space Telescope and the First Light . ON LINE PRESENTATIONS and POSTER presented by student Hareth Mahdi are available here: http://chalonge.obspm.fr/Programme_Paris2014.html Peter BIERMANN, Daniel BOYANOVSKY, Carlo BURIGANA, Christopher CONSELICE, Asantha COORAY, Hector DE VEGA, Gianluigi FOGLI, Gerard GILMORE, Alan KOGUT, Eiichiro KOMATSU, Anthony LASENBY, Hareh MAHDI, Felix MIRABEL, Paolo SALUCCI, Norma SANCHEZ, George SMOOT, Casey WATSON, Christian WEINHEIMER, Rogier WINDHORST ALBUM of PICTURES capturing moments of the stimulating atmosphere created by all lecturers and participants is available here: http://chalonge.obspm.fr/album2014/index.html ON LINE PROGRAMME 2014 and SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND is available here: http://chalonge.obspm.fr/Programme2014.html http://chalonge.obspm.fr/colloque2014.html PRE VIEW 2014-2015: - 27-28 November 2014: Concluding Session and Chalonge Programme 2015 - The Chalonge WDM Meudon Workshop 2015 - The 19th Paris Cosmology Colloquium Chalonge 2015 and more events ------------------------------------------------------------ We look forward to welcome you in the next meetings of this series With Compliments and kind regards Norma G Sanchez , Hector J. de Vega and the Chalonge School Team http://chalonge.obspm.fr ------------------------------------------------------------ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.2. LIGO Laboratory and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration release 2 years of data from their Fifth Science Run ------------------------------------------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=9620 Additional Information: http://www.ligo.org/news/s5-data-release.php The LIGO Laboratory and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) announces the public release of two years of data taken by the three LIGO gravitational-wave detectors the during its fifth science run, 2005-2007 (S5). The full announcement is at http://www.ligo.org/news/s5-data-release.php and the data is released at https://losc.ligo.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.3. Living Reviews in Relativity: “Massive Gravity” / "Time-Delay Interferometry" ------------------------------------------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2014/08/25/living-reviews-in-relativity-massive... Additional Information: http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2014-7 Living Reviews in Relativity recently published two new articles: a major update of the review on “Time-Delay Interferometry” by Massimo Tinto and Sanjeev V. Dhurandhar and a new article on “Massive Gravity” by Claudia de Rham. Please find the abstracts and further details below. ------------------ PUB.NO. lrr-2014-7 de Rham, Claudia "Massive Gravity" ACCEPTED: 2014-07-18 PUBLISHED: 2014-08-25 FULL ARTICLE AT: http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2014-7 ABSTRACT: We review recent progress in massive gravity. We start by showing how different theories of massive gravity emerge from a higher-dimensional theory of general relativity, leading to the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati model (DGP), cascading gravity and ghost-free massive gravity. We then explore their theoretical and phenomenological consistency, proving the absence of Boulware-Deser ghosts and reviewing the Vainshtein mechanism and the cosmological solutions in these models. Finally, we present alternative and related models of massive gravity such as new massive gravity, Lorentz-violating massive gravity and non-local massive gravity. ------------------ PUB.NO. lrr-2014-6 Tinto, Massimo and Dhurandhar, Sanjeev V. "Time-Delay Interferometry" ACCEPTED: 2014-07-28 PUBLISHED: 2014-08-05 FULL ARTICLE AT: http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2014-6 ABSTRACT: Equal-arm detectors of gravitational radiation allow phase measurements many orders of magnitude below the intrinsic phase stability of the laser injecting light into their arms. This is because the noise in the laser light is common to both arms, experiencing exactly the same delay, and thus cancels when it is differenced at the photo detector. In this situation, much lower level secondary noises then set the overall performance. If, however, the two arms have different lengths (as will necessarily be the case with space-borne interferometers), the laser noise experiences different delays in the two arms and will hence not directly cancel at the detector. In order to solve this problem, a technique involving heterodyne interferometry with unequal arm lengths and independent phase-difference readouts has been proposed. It relies on properly time-shifting and linearly combining independent Doppler measurements, and for this reason it has been called time-delay interferometry ( TDI). This article provides an overview of the theory, mathematical foundations, and experimental aspects associated with the implementation of TDI. Although emphasis on the application of TDI to the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission appears throughout this article, TDI can be incorporated into the design of any future space-based mission aiming to search for gravitational waves via interferometric measurements. We have purposely left out all theoretical aspects that data analysts will need to account for when analyzing the TDI data combinations. UPCOMING ARTICLES AT: http://relativity.livingreviews.org/Articles/upcoming.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.4. Hyperspace moves to Frankfurt ------------------------------------------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2014/09/02/hyperspace-move-to-frankfurt/ Additional Information: Hyperspace will move to Frankfurt as a result of my move to the Goethe University. Users will not see any difference in behaviour or use, but the service may be suspended for one day or two as the move takes place (likely in one week time). Any pending post or subscription will be made public as soon as the new server is online. The next bulletin will be sent as usual (Oct. 2nd). I apologize in advance for any inconvenience. Luciano Rezzolla ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++