################################################################# Table of Contents ################################################################# 1. Conferences 1.1 Gravitational Wave Physics and Astronomy Workshop (GWPAW) 1.2 LOFT Science Meeting 1.3 The 21st workshop on General Relativity and Gravitation in Japan (JGRG21) 1.4 South African Gravity Society Meeting 2011 1.5 Relativity and Gravitation - 100 Years after Einstein in Prague 2. Jobs 2.1 OG51 Theory Postdoc fellowship for non-Italians 2.2 International Relativistic Astrophysics PhD: 2nd call for 2011-2012 3. News 3.1 Presentations of the 15th Paris Cosmology Colloquium 2011 3.2 A Statement from the European LISA Study Team 3.3 Living Reviews in Relativity: "Gravitational Wave Detection by Interferometry" (major update) 3.4 Quantum Gravity: the first 25 years. Read the focus section published in Classical and Quantum Gravity. ================================================================= 1. Conferences ================================================================= 1.1 Gravitational Wave Physics and Astronomy Workshop (GWPAW) ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/29/gravitational-wave-physics-and-astro... Starting Mon, Jun 04, 2012 to Thu, Jun 07, 2012 Location: Hannover, Germany GWPAW is the meeting formerly called GWDAW. It is a general meeting on the physics and astronomy of gravitational waves, techniques for their detection, and interpretation of data and results. The meeting will be hosted by AEI Hannover, but held at the Novotel here: http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-5390-novotel-hannover/index.shtml. AEI has signed a contract for the meeting rooms and have also reserved a block of guest rooms at reasonable cost. People are welcome to make reservations at any time. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.2 LOFT Science Meeting ------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/17/loft-science-meeting/ Starting Wed, Oct 26, 2011 to Fri, Oct 28, 2011 Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands Additional Information: http://www.isdc.unige.ch/loft/index.php/meetings/loft-science-meeting LOFT, the Large Observatory For X-ray Timing, is a newly proposed space mission that will answer fundamental questions about the motion of matter orbiting close to the event horizon of a black hole, and the state of matter in neutron stars. LOFT was recently selected by ESA as one of the four M3 mission candidates that will compete for a launch opportunity at the start of the 2020s. During this assessment phase we need to make a full study of the exciting science that could be done with such a telescope, and solidify the relationship between the science goals and the technical requirements. To do this, and to solicit full involvement from the wider astronomical community in this opportunity, there will be a LOFT Science meeting on October 26-28 this year at the Science Park in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. There will be a mix of invited reviews, contributed talks, and discussion sessions, to ensure that innovative science ideas get full exposure. To register, and for more details, please see the meeting website: http://www.isdc.unige.ch/loft/index.php/meetings/loft-science-meeting We look forward to seeing you in Amsterdam in October! Anna Watts, on behalf of the international SOC +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.3 The 21st workshop on General Relativity and Gravitation in Japan (JGRG21) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/13/the-21st-workshop-on-general-relativ... Starting Mon, Sep 26, 2011 to Thu, Sep 29, 2011 Location: Sendai, Japan Additional Information: http://www.astr.tohoku.ac.jp/jgrg21/ Sakura Hall, Katahira Campus, Tohoku University 26-29 September 2011 There has been an impressive progress in astrophysical/cosmological observations in recent years. Cosmology has entered an era of precision science. Astrophysical black holes have been observed in many frequency bands with better resolutions and sensitivities. Observations of gamma-ray bursts have added a new mystery to relativistic astrophysics. And, a new frontier is waiting to be explored by gravitational wave interferometers. On the theoretical side, motivated by unified theories of fundamental interactions, especially string theory, many efforts have been made for studies of physics in 5-dimensional or higher dimensional spacetimes, and there is a growing interest in experimental verifications of extra dimensions. There have been also important and interesting developments in various other areas, including alternative theories of gravity, quantum gravity, and spacetime singularities, to mention a few. In this workshop, we plan to overview these recent developments and discuss future perspectives through invited and contributed presentations. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.4 South African Gravity Society Meeting 2011 ---------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/11/south-african-gravity-society-meetin... Starting Sun, Sep 11, 2011 to Tue, Sep 13, 2011 Location: Grahamstown, South Africa Additional Information: http://www.ru.ac.za/mathematics/events/sags2011 The 2011 meeting of the South African Gravity Society will take place at Rhodes University, in Grahamstown, from the 11th to the 13th of September 2011. Registration and abstract submission will be open from the 1st of June 2011 to the 15th of August 2011. The following registration fees apply: * Early registration (before 1st of August 2011): R650 * Late registration: R750. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.5 Relativity and Gravitation - 100 Years after Einstein in Prague ------------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/07/relativity-and-gravitation-100-years... Starting Mon, Jun 25, 2012 to Fri, Jun 29, 2012 Location: Prague, Czech Republic Additional Information: http://ae100prg.mff.cuni.cz At the beginning of April 1911 Albert Einstein arrived in Prague to become full professor of theoretical physics at the German part of Charles University. It was there, for the first time, that he concentrated primarily on the problem of gravitation. Before he left Prague in July 1912 he had submitted the paper “Relativität und Gravitation: Erwiderung auf eine Bemerkung von M. Abraham” in which he remarkably anticipated what a future theory of gravity should look like. At the occasion of the Einstein-in-Prague centenary we organize an international meeting: "Relativity and Gravitation - 100 Years after Einstein in Prague" June 25 – 29, 2012, Prague, Czech Republic The main topics of the conference will include • Mathematical relativity • Numerical relativity • Relativistic astrophysics • Relativistic cosmology • Quantum gravity • Gravitation and experiment • Conceptual and historical issues The conference is organized under the auspices of the Rector of Charles University. The lectures will take place in the historical complex of the University in the heart of Prague’s Old Town. The Scientific Organizing Committee includes Marek Abramowicz, Lars Andersson, Abhay Ashtekar, Julian Barbour, Jiří Bičák, Roger Blandford, Bernd Brügmann, Piotr Chruściel, Thibault Damour, Karsten Danzmann, Fernando De Felice, George Ellis, John Friedman, Helmut Friedrich, Valeri Frolov, Gary Gibbons, Gary Horowitz, Joseph Katz, Karel Kuchař, Jerzy Lewandowski, Malcolm MacCallum (to be confirmed), Gernot Neugebauer, Hermann Nicolai, Igor Novikov, Martin Rees, Oscar Reula, Luciano Rezzolla, Misao Sasaki, Gerhard Schäfer, Bernd Schmidt, Alexei Starobinsky, Paul Tod, Robert Wald, Clifford Will. The program will be centered on invited lectures; it will also include contributed oral and poster presentations. We will reserve time for cultural events and sightseeing (e.g., places associated with Einstein, Mach, Doppler, Kepler, and Brahe). We are considering the publication of proceedings in a scientific journal. Anticipated attendance is 120-150 participants. Jiří Bičák (on behalf of SOC and LOC) ================================================================= 2. Jobs ================================================================= 2.1 OG51 Theory Postdoc fellowship for non-Italians --------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/29/og51-theory-postdoc-fellowship-for-n... Institution: Italy, various locations Deadline: Fri, Sep 30, 2011 Additional Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/808 The theory group OG51 announces one postdoctoral position for non-Italian citizens. The research program regards the modeling of gravitational wave sources, with particular reference to gravitational wave emission during the early stages of neutron stars life, and to the associated neutrino processes. Research will be carried on at one of the following Institutes: - Department of Physics, "Sapienza" University of Rome - Department of Physics, University of Catania - S.I.S.S.A., Trieste - Departiment of Physics, University of Parma - Departiment of Physics, University of Milano Bicocca - Department of Physics, University of Torino - Department of Physics, University of Ferrara. The winner of the position can choose one these institutions. The team members are: - Rome: Valeria Ferrari, Leonardo Gualtieri, Omar Benhar - Catania: Fiorella Burgio, Hans-Joseph Schultze - S.I.S.S.A.: John Miller - Parma: Roberto De Pietri - Milano: Francesco Haardt - Torino: Angelo Tartaglia - Ferrara: Pierluigi Fortini The initial appointment will be for 1 year, renewable for a second year. For full consideration, applications should be received by Sept. 30, 2011. Later applications might be considered until the position is filled. Application must be submitted through the website https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/808 For more information contact Leonardo Gualtieri leonardo.gualtieri[AT]roma1.infn.it +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2.2 International Relativistic Astrophysics PhD: 2nd call for 2011-2012 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/27/international-relativistic-astrophys... Institution: several universities in ICRANET Deadline: Fri, Sep 30, 2011 Additional Information: http://www.irap-phd.org/ 9 Erasmus Mundus funded positions available (3 for European students, 5 for non-European students, 1 for “Western Balkans and Turkey Window” candidates) Deadlines: 30 September 2011 Additional Information: http://www.irap-phd.org – http://www.icranet.org – http://www.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 initiated a Ph.D. programme dedicated to create a pool of scientists in the field of relativistic astrophysics. After taking full advantage of the observational and experimental facilities mentioned above, the students of our programme are expected to lead the theoretical developments of one of the most active fields of research: relativistic astrophysics. 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 laboratories. This activity is necessarily international as no single university can have a scientific expertise in such a broad range of fields. The Erasmus Mundus program has a very competitive salary as well as comprehensive benefits. The Institutions participating in the IRAP PhD are: the international organization ICRANet as coordinating institution and the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis as the host Institution; the Albert Einstein Institute, Potsdam; the Brazilian Center for Physics Research (CBPF) and ICRA Brasil; the Free University of Berlin; Indian Centre for Space Physics, Kolkata; Observatoire de la Cote D’Azur, Nice; Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, China; University of Ferrara, Italy; University of Rome, la Sapienza, Italy; University of Savoie, Annecy, France; University of Stockolm, Sweden, Tartu Observatory , Estonia. The Final Ph.D. degree will be jointly delivered by the Academic Institutions participating in the program. We encourage applications from the most qualified and motivated candidates worldwide, independent of nationality, gender or background. Special attention will be given to applicants originating from or planning to move to countries where ICRANet activities are in action or being planned. The Courses: Each student will have to follow 180 hours of courses during the three years of the Ph.D. program. There is also a possibility to follow courses from other Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrophysics Ph.D. programs in each participating institution, after approval by the Faculty. Courses can be chosen from the following list: VERY HIGH ENERGY PHENOMENA IN ASTROPHYSICS Felix AHARONIAN COSMOLOGICAL SINGULARITY Vladimir BELINSKI RELATIVISTIC EFFECTS IN ASTROPHYSICS Carlo Luciano BIANCO OBSERVERS AND OBSERVABLES IN BLACK HOLES SPACETIME Donato BINI ACCRETIONS ON BLACK HOLES Sandip Kumar CHAKRABARTI PARTICLE PHYSICS APPLIED TO ASTROPHYSICS Pascal CHARDONNET GENERAL RELATIVITY Thibault DAMOUR SUPERNOVAE AND GRBS Massimo DELLA VALLE LARGE SCALE STRUCTURE Jaan EINASTO TOPICS IN COSMOLOGY AND PARTICLE ASTROPHYSICS Li Zhi FANG X/GAMMA-RAY INSTRUMENTATION Filippo FRONTERA HIGH ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS: X-RAYS CLUSTERS Riccardo GIACCONI OBSERVATIONS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS Cristiano GUIDORZI FORMATION OF GALAXIES Yipeng JING ON THE KERR SOLUTION Roy KERR RELATIVISTIC FIELD THEORIES Hagen KLEINERT HOLOGRAPHY, ENTROPIC GRAVITY AND COSMOLOGY Li MIAO BOUNCING COSMOLOGY Mario NOVELLO BKL COSMOLOGY AND HIDDEN SYMMETRIES Hermann NICOLAI THE HIGH-ENERGY GAMMA-RAY UNIVERSE Marco TAVANI SPECTRAL TIMING FROM BLACK HOLE SOURCES Lev TITARCHUK SINGULARITIES AND GENERAL RELATIVITY – Kjell ROSQUIST BLACK HOLES AND FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS Remo RUFFINI RELATIVISTIC KINETIC THEORY Gregory VERESHCHAGIN QED AND ELECTRON-POSITRON PLASMA She-Sheng XUE The Host Institution for the call of 2011-2012 is the Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis; Grand Château 28 Avenue Valrose 21 – B.P. 2135 – 06103 NICE CEDEX 2 Applications and Fellowships: In the call of September 30, 2011 nine additional fellowships will be available: six with full financial support. See http://www.icra.it and http://www.icranet.org. For further Information please contact: Dr. Carlo Luciano Bianco tel. + 39 06 4991 4 397, secretariat-irapphd[at]icra.it; Dr. Pina Barbaro Université de Nice- Parc Valrose 06108 Nice Cedex, Pina.Barbaro[at]unice.fr The Faculty Giovanni Amelino-Camelia – SAPIENZA Università di Roma Vladimir Belinski – SAPIENZA Università di Roma and ICRANet Carlo Luciano Bianco – SAPIENZA Università di Roma and ICRANet Donato Bini – CNR – Istit. per Applicaz. del Calcolo “M. Picone” Sandip Kumar Chakrabarti – Indian Centre For Space Physics, India Pascal Chardonnet (Erasmus Mundus Coordinator) – Université de Savoie Christian Cherubini – Università “Campus Biomedico” di Roma Pierre Coullet – Université de Nice – Sophie Antipolis Thibault Damour – IHES, Bures-sur-Yvette Jaan Einasto – Tartu Observatory Simonetta Filippi – Univ.“Campus Biomedico” di Roma and ICRANet Sergio Frasca – SAPIENZA Università di Roma Filippo Frontera – Università di Ferrara Yipeng Jing – Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, China Hagen Kleinert – Freie Universitat Berlin Gian Luca Lippi – Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis Francois Mignard – Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur Hermann Nicolai – Max Planck Inst. for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam Mario Novello – Brazilian Centre For Physics Research, Brazil José Pacheco – Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur Kjell Rosquist – Stockolm University Remo Ruffini (Director) – SAPIENZA Università di Roma and ICRANet Farrokh Vakili – Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur Gregory Vereshchagin – SAPIENZA Università di Roma and ICRANet Xue She Sheng – SAPIENZA Università di Roma and ICRANet ================================================================= 3. News ================================================================= 3.1 Presentations of the 15th Paris Cosmology Colloquium 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/27/presentations-of-the-15th-paris-cosm... Additional Information: http://www.chalonge.obspm.fr/colloque2011.html Ecole Internationale d'Astrophysique Daniel Chalonge The 15th Paris Cosmology Colloquium 2011`From Cold Dark Matter to Warm Dark Matter in the Standard Model of the Universe: Theory and Observations'. 20 Years of Activity. 20, 21 and 22 JULY 2011 Paris Observatory (HQ), historic Perrault building, Paris, France We are pleased to inform you that the presentations by the lecturers during the 15th Paris Cosmology Colloquium 2011 are available on line (in pdf format) in "Programme and Lecturers .pdf " in the www site of this Colloquium http://www.chalonge.obspm.fr/colloque2011.html http://www.chalonge.obspm.fr/Programme_Paris2011.html Contents: - The Standard Model of the Universe: CMB present status. PIXIE CMB project - Inflation Effective theory, predictions and observations, Planck results, Atacama Cosmology Telescope. - Last results from Herschel: interstellar medium Initial Mass Function, structures and filaments, Herschel-SPIRES cosmology - Large scale flows. Astrophysical black holes, Re-ionization - Observations of Dark matter on small astrophysical scales, cored density profiles and small baryon feedback - Warm Dark Matter (WDM): Cosmological, astrophysical, numerical and keV particle WDM candidates, sterile neutrinos: theory and observations, neutrino masses and mixing, Neutrinoless Beta decay. Mare and Katrin experiments. - Astrophysical origin of the positron excess in cosmic rays. Helioseismology and Dark Matter Open Special Session: - The Ultra Fast Flash Observatory UFFO - The James Webb Space Telescope JWST The photographs of the Colloquium capturing moments of the stimulating and outstanding atmosphere created by all lecturers and participants during the Colloquium and Open Session will be posted soon in this www site. Norma G Sanchez, Hector J de Vega http://chalonge.obspm.fr +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.2 A Statement from the European LISA Study Team ------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/21/a-statement-from-the-european-lisa-s... Due to the recent adjustment in how L-class missions within the Cosmic Vision framework are chosen, ESA is currently investigating a design for a European-led variant of LISA that can be launched before 2022. After studying several configurations, a new baseline has been identified that will be refined in the coming month with the help of European industry. The new baseline simplifies the design of LISA, reducing the distance between the satellites and employing only four instead of previously six laser links. The science team and a science task force, composed of members of the gravitational wave and astrophysics communities in both Europe and the US, have assessed the scientific validity of the new baseline for the fields of physics, astrophysics and cosmology and have shown that the new configuration is very promising regarding sources such as galactic binaries, (super)massive black hole and extreme mass ratio inspirals. Over the next few months, this work will continue until we have a finalised mission proposal by the fall of 2011. The near future is very bright for astrophysics and cosmology using observations of gravitational waves in space. (Posted on behalf of the team by Bernard Schutz, 21.07.2011) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.3 Living Reviews in Relativity: "Gravitational Wave Detection by Interferometry" (major update) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/11/living-reviews-in-relativity-gravita... Additional Information: http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2011-5 Today, Living Reviews in Relativity has published a major update of the review "Gravitational Wave Detection by Interferometry (Ground and Space)" by Matthew Pitkin, Stuart Reid, Sheila Rowan, and Jim Hough. Please find the abstract and further details below. ------------------ PUB.NO. lrr-2011-5 Pitkin, Matthew, Reid, Stuart, Rowan, Sheila and Hough, James "Gravitational Wave Detection by Interferometry (Ground and Space)" ACCEPTED: 2011-06-17 PUBLISHED: 2011-07-11 FULL ARTICLE AT: http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2011-5 UPDATE: There have been minor updates to Sections 1, 2 and 3; major updates to Sections 4 and 5; Section 6 has been renamed and includes entirely new material on the operation of, and results from, the first generation of gravitational wave detectors and upgrades that are under way; and Section 7 also includes major updates about the status of LISA. The number of references has increased from 110 to 324. ABSTRACT: Significant progress has been made in recent years on the development of gravitational-wave detectors. Sources such as coalescing compact binary systems, neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries, stellar collapses and pulsars are all possible candidates for detection. The most promising design of gravitational-wave detector uses test masses a long distance apart and freely suspended as pendulums on Earth or in drag-free spacecraft. The main theme of this review is a discussion of the mechanical and optical principles used in the various long baseline systems in operation around the world - LIGO (USA), Virgo (Italy/France), TAMA300 and LCGT (Japan), and GEO600 (Germany/U.K.) - and in LISA, a proposed space-borne interferometer. A review of recent science runs from the current generation of ground-based detectors will be discussed, in addition to highlighting the astrophysical results gained thus far. Looking to the future, the major upgrades to LIGO (Advanced LIGO), Virgo (Advanced Virgo), LCGT and GEO600 (GEO-HF) will be completed over the coming years, which will create a network of detectors with the significantly improved sensitivity required to detect gravitational waves. Beyond this, the concept and design of possible future "third generation" gravitational-wave detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope (ET), will be discussed. UPCOMING ARTICLES AT: http://relativity.livingreviews.org/Articles/upcoming.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.4 Quantum Gravity: the first 25 years. Read the focus section published in Classical and Quantum Gravity. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2011/07/05/quantum-gravity-the-first-25-years-r... Additional Information: http://iopscience.iop.org/0264-9381/28/15 We invite you to read-for-free the CQG focus section reviewing 25 years of quantum gravity research. http://iopscience.iop.org/0264-9381/28/15 This issue features 2 invited review articles from physicists who have been associated with String Theory and Loop Quantum Gravity from their inception. They were invited to write a retrospective review: What were the initial hopes? To what extent have these hopes been realised? What were the major successes, surprises, disappointments? The emphasis is on what has come OUT of the program rather than technical developments internal to the program. We hope that the reader, whatever her persuasion, will be able to form a panoramic view of quantum gravity research today within these two programmes. Yours sincerely Joseph Samuel Editorial Board Member Classical and Quantum Gravity