########################################## Table of Contents ########################################### 1. Conferences 1.1. International Workshop on Astronomy and Relativistic Astrophysics (IWARA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1.2. 16th Eastern Gravity Meeting, Toronto, Canada (2nd circular) 1.3. Karl Schwarzschild Meeting 2013, Frankfurt, Germany (2nd circular) 1.4. 2nd Erlangen Fall School on Quantum Geometry 1.5. 1st Scientific ICRANet Meeting in Armenia - Black Holes: the largest energy sources in the Universe 1.6. The first URCA meeting on Relativistic Astrophysics 2. Jobs 2.1. Postdoctoral position in General Relativity and Gravitation, at Charles University, Prague, CZ 2.2. Tenure-track position in theoretical physics at the University of Vienna 3. News 3.1. 2013 Awards for Essays on Gravitation: results 3.2. CQG Focus Issue on "Higher Spins and Holography" guest edited by Per Kraus and Simon F Ross ============================================== 1. Conferenes ============================================== 1.1. International Workshop on Astronomy and Relativistic Astrophysics (IWARA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/05/02/international-workshop-on-astronomy-... Starting: 2013-09-29 to 2013-10-04 Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Additional Information: http://mesonpi.cat.cbpf.br/iwara/ Contact: iwara13[AT]gmail.com The Sixth International Workshop on Astronomy and Relativistic Astrophysics (IWARA 2013), will be held at the Brazilian Center for Research in Physics (Rio de Janeiro), from September 29 to October 4. The IWARA meetings are devoted to Cosmology, Gravitation, Cosmic Rays, Compact Objects and Astroparticle Physics. The main subject of the IWARA in the last five editions was "New Phenomena and New States of Matter in the Universe". Contributions in the realms of General Relativity, Gravitation, Cosmology, Heavy Ion Collisions and the Quark-Gluon Plasma, White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars and Pulsars, Black Holes, Gamma Ray Bursts, High-Energy Cosmic Rays, Gravitational Waves, Dark Matter and Dark Energy, Strange Matter and Strange Stars, Antimatter and Ion Research and Cosmic Matter in the Laboratory, are traditionally included among the topics covered in the Workshop. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.2. 16th Eastern Gravity Meeting, Toronto, Canada (2nd circular) --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=8223 Starting: 2013-06-07 to 2013-06-08 Location: Toronto, Canada Additional Information: http://cita.utoronto.ca/conferences/easterngravity13/ Contact: pfeiffer[AT]cita.utoronto.ca The 16th Eastern Gravity Meeting will be held June 7-8, 2013 at the University of Toronto. The format of the meeting will follow previous regional Gravity meetings, where all participants may present a talk of approximately 10-15 minutes, depending on the total number of talks. Registration and abstract submission is now open at http://cita.utoronto.ca/conferences/easterngravity13/ This website also contains information about accommodation and general visitor information to Toronto. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.3. Karl Schwarzschild Meeting 2013, Frankfurt, Germany (2nd circular) --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/05/04/karl-schwarzschild-meeting-2013-fran... Starting: 2013-07-22 to 2013-07-26 Location: Frankfurt am Main, Germany Additional Information: https://fias.uni-frankfurt.de/ksm2013/ Contact: ksm2013[AT]fias.uni-frankfurt.de The first Karl Schwarzschild Meeting (KSM) on Gravitational Physics will be held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany on 22-26 July, 2013. The meeting will bring together both working specialists in the field of black holes and rising young researchers to foster new conversations and collaborations. Invited speakers will deliver plenary talks on a wide range of black hole theory, highlighting their applications to astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics, and strongly correlated systems. In addition to plenary talks, several sessions devoted to the next generation of gravitational physicists. The senior scientists will also serve as “mentors” to the attending younger generation of researchers. We invite abstracts from both senior researchers, postdocs and students pursuing research in the fields covered by the meeting. The early registration fee is 200 EUR (including the conference dinner) by June 15. After this date the fee is 350 EUR (including the conference dinner). For more information about the KSM follow the conference website and the related links about the program and registration or write ksm2013@fias.uni-frankfurt.de. The current list of confirmed key note speakers includes: Alfio Bonanno (Catania Astrophysical Observatory) Silke Britzen (MPI for Radioastronomy, Bonn) Bernard Carr (QMU, London) Georgi Dvali (LMU and MPI for Physics, Munich & NYU) Steven Gubser (Princeton U.) Andreas Karch (Washington U., Seattle) Claus Laemmerzahl (Bremen U. and ZARM, Bremen) Greg Landsberg, (Brown U. and CERN) Frank Linhard (Frankfurt U.) Reinhard Meinel (Jena U.) Robert Mann (Waterloo U. and Perimeter Institute) John Moffat (Waterloo U. and Perimeter Institute) Leonardo Modesto (Fudan U., Shanghai) Thanu Padmanabhan (IUCAA, Pune) Luciano Rezzolla (MPI for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam) Kellog Stelle (Imperial College, London) Leonard Susskind (Stanford U.) Herman Verlinde (Princeton U.) Robert Wald (Chicago U. and EFI, Chicago) Clifford Will (Florida U., Gainesville and Washington U., Saint Louis) Scientific Advisory Board Jacob Bekenstein (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Ted Jacobson (University of Maryland, College Park) Joseph Polchinski (University of California and KITP, Santa Barbara) Martin Reuter (Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz) Carlo Rovelli (Aix-Marseille University and CPT Marseille) Dam T. Son (University of Chicago). Organizing Committee Marcus Bleicher (Goethe University Frankfurt) Matthias Kaminski (University of Washington, Seattle) Jonas Mureika (Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles) Piero Nicolini (Goethe University Frankfurt) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.4. 2nd Erlangen Fall School on Quantum Geometry --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=8268 Starting: 2013-10-07 to 2013-10-11 Location: Erlangen, Germany Additional Information: http://www.gravity.physik.fau.de/events/school2013/school_2013.shtml Contact: thomas.thiemann[AT]gravity.fau.de Second Erlangen Fall School on Quantum Geometry 07.10.-11.10.2013 In 2011 the FAU Erlangen-Nuernberg initiated the Emerging Field Programme that supports research fields which have demonstrated a promising development but are just beginning to establish themselves in the scientific landscape. One of these "emerging fields" is "Quantum Geometry". In this Emerging Field Project, the expertise of both mathematicians and physicists are brought together in order to make progress in our understanding of Quantum Gravity. From the physics perspective, the task of combining the principles of General Relativity with those of Quantum Theory is one of the most important research problems in foundational physics. This requires novel mathematical input since the standard techniques of Quantum Field Theory fail in the case of the gravitational interaction.

From the mathematical perspective, the new mathematical structures that arise in this effort may trigger progress in various mathematical disciplines such as infinite dimensional geometry, representation theory and related areas of Mathematical Physics. The interaction between mathematicians and physicists is therefore quite natural in this research field but but it poses a challenge due to the different backgrounds that these two research communities have. It is therefore the aim of this school to introduce the concepts and techniques of the respective research programme in a "bilingual" form from which both mathematicians and physicists can profit and can start interacting with each other.

The school will cover the following topics: Causal Dynamical Triangulations Conformal Quantum Field Theory Representation Theory of Lie Groups Hopf Algebras, Tensor Categories and Topological Field Theories Lecturers Renate Loll (Nijmengen U.) Bernd Orsted (Aarhus U.) Karl-Henning Rehren (Goettingen U.) Christoph Schweigert (Hamburg U.) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.5. 1st Scientific ICRANet Meeting in Armenia - Black Holes: the largest energy sources in the Universe --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/05/31/1st-scientific-icranet-meeting-in-ar... Starting: 2014-07-01 to 2014-07-06 Location: Yerevan, Armenia, Additional Information: http://www.icranet.org Contact: annapia.delbeato[AT]icranet.org The Physics of Black Holes (BHs) dominates some of the most energetic astrophysical phenomena in the Universe. The formation of a ~10 Msun. BH appear to be related to the emission of a Gamma Ray Burst (GRB), the most energetic transient phenomena in the Universe. The basic mechanism appear to be e creation of electron positron pairs plasma occurring by vacuum polarization process around a Kerr-Newman Black Hole by the Heisenberg-Euler-Schwinger mechanism. Current effort of reaching such an extreme electromagnetic quantum regime is being currently approached also in MegaJoule Laser Projects in Europe, Russia, USA. In addition a prolonged emission appear to be related to rotating electromagnetic BH (~10 Msun). in microquasars. The presence of Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) of 10^8-10^9 Msun. appear to be related to active galactic nuclei, Blazars and Quasars. There is the possibility that unlike the 10 Msun BHs, which are formed by the gravitational collapse of baryonic matter, the SMBHs can originate from the gravitational collapse of Dark Matter. This meeting will address both observational/experimental and theoretical aspects. From an observational point of view results obtained from very high energy(VHE) observatories: from the ground such as HESS, MAGIC, AUGER and from next generation instruments will be reviewed. Similarly will be reviewed the observations from Space Observatories in X and Gamma Rays such as Agile, Fermi, Swift, MAXI and NuStar. The complementary observations in Microwave and infrared bands from Planck mission will be presented. Ongoing progress for experimental facilities to look for coincidence with Gravitational waves detectors and Neutrinos detectors will be also reviewed. From a theoretical point of view attention will be given to progress in understanding quantum and classical phenomena related to the physics of BHs and to the process of extraction of the Black Holic Energy (BHE). +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.6. The first URCA meeting on Relativistic Astrophysics --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/05/31/the-first-urca-meeting-on-relativist... Starting: 2013-06-24 to 2013-06-29 Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Additional Information: http://www.icranet.org Contact: annapia.delbeato[AT]icranet.org Within the Cesare Lattes program approved by the ICRANet Board during the 10th Steering Committee Meeting held on February 25th 2013, we are organizing this meeting that aims at fostering the development of the research in Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology between Brazil and the academic centers and Member States of ICRANet. It follows the objectives of the CAPES-ICRANet and the FAPERJ-ICRANet Program, promoted by these organizations, and the other agreements signed between ICRANet and Brazilian Institutions: University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Instituto Tecnòlogico de Aeronàutica (ITA), Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Government of the State of Ceara'. It is directed to the students completing this year the Erasmus Mundus PhD program. International students and researchers are welcome to participate. The registration fee is 200 EUR. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ============================================== 2. Jobs ============================================== 2.1. Postdoctoral position in General Relativity and Gravitation, at Charles University, Prague, CZ ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=8227 Deadline: 2013-06-10 Location: Prague, Czech Republic Additional Information: http://www.mff.cuni.cz/fakulta/prace/2013postdoc.htm Contact: oldrich.semerak[AT]mff.cuni.cz The Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, invites applications for a one-year postdoctoral position within Prague relativity group to a motivated person, working in the field of general relativity and/or its astrophysical or cosmological applications. More specifically, his/her doctoral expertise and research plan should include at least one of the following topics: solutions of Einstein's field equations and their interpretation, problems of energy and radiation in GR, asymptotic structure of space-times, particles and fields around black holes, dynamics of particles and extended bodies in GR, physics of neutron stars, black-hole perturbations, approximation methods and numerical relativity, gravitational lensing, contemporary cosmology (cosmological models and their perturbations, dark matter and dark energy, early universe). Please see http://www.mff.cuni.cz/fakulta/prace/2013postdoc.htm for more details. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2.2. Tenure-track position in theoretical physics at the University of Vienna ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/05/14/tenure-track-position-in-theoretical... Deadline: 2013-06-21 Location: Vienna, Austria Additional Information: http://personalwesen.univie.ac.at/fuer-bewerberinnen/laufbahnstellen/fakulta... Contact: piotr.chrusciel[AT]univie.ac.at The Rectorate of the University of Vienna invites applications for a post-doc position (Universitätsassistentin, tenure track) at the Faculty of Physics. The position is available as of October 1st, 2013. The successful candidate is expected to the strengthen the research and teaching profile in either of the three fields Theoretical: - Particle physics/gravitational physics/mathematical physics/condensed matter physics Experimental: - Complex nanoscale matter/condensed matter physics/materials physics - Physics of the environment/aerosol physics/isotope and nuclear physics See the web link for more information. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ============================================== 3. News ============================================== 3.1. 2013 Awards for Essays on Gravitation: results ------------------------------------------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/05/13/2013-awards-for-essays-on-gravitatio... 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 2013. 1. $4,000 - Information Conservation Is Fundamental: Recovering the Lost Information in Hawking Radiation by Baocheng Zhang[1], Qing-yu Cai[1], Ming-sheng Zhan[1], and Li You[2]; [1]Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, People's Republic of China, [2]Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; e-mail: zhangbc[AT]wipm.ac.cn, qycai[AT]wipm.ac.cn, mszhan[AT]wipm.ac.cn, lyou[AT]mail.tsinghua.edu.cn 2. $1,250 - What Is the Shape of the Initial State? by Nishant Agarwal[1], R. Holman[2], and Andrew J. Tolley[3]; [1]McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, [2]Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, [3]Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106; e-mail: nishanta[AT]andrew.cmu.edu, rh4a[AT]andrew.cmu.edu, andrew.j.tolley[AT]case.edu 3. $1,000 - What Happens at the Horizon? by Samir D. Mathur, Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210; e-mail: mathur.16[AT]osu.edu 4. $750 - On Negative Mass by Jonathan Belletete and M.B. Paranjape; Departement de Physique, Universite de Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3C 3J7; e-mail: jonathan.belletete[AT]umontreal.ca, paranj[AT]lps.umontreal.ca 5. $500 - Dark Energy with Rigid Voids versus Relativistic Voids Alone by Boudewijn F. Roukema; Nicolaus Copernicus University, ul. Gagarina 11, 87-100 Torun, Poland; e-mail: boud[AT]astro.uni.torun.pl Selected for Honorable Mention this year were (listed in alphabetical order): A. Accioly, J. Helayel-Neto, E. Scatena, R. Turcati; S. L. Adler; H. Arponen; M. Arzano, S. Bianco, O. Dreyer; A. Bagchi, D. Grumiller; T. Banks; S. Basilakos, J. Ademir Sales Lima, J. Sola'; A. Bhattacharyya, A. Sinha; T. Biswas; X. Calmet; S. Capozziello, T. Harko, F. S.N. Lobo, G. J. Olmo; L. Nam Chang, Z. Lewis, D. Minic, T. Takeuchi; Bin Chen, Jia-ju Zhang; B. D. Chowdhury; U.a Das, B. Mukhopadhyay; P. Girdhar, A. Kobakhidze; H. M. Haggard, C. Rovelli; R. T. Hammond; S. Hod; T. Jacobson; A. Kaya; T. S. Koivisto, D. E. Wills; B. Majumder; J. Mielczarek; D. G. Moore, V. H. Satheeshkumar; S. Mukoyama, J.-P. Uzan; D. Neill, I. Z. Rothstein; Y. Jack Ng; H. Padmanabhan, T. Padmanabhan; K. Papadodimas, S. Raju; K. Ropotenko; P. A. Sanchez, M. Bellini; C. Sivaram; M. Smerlak; D. Stojkovic; H. Telkamp; Li Xiang, Yi Ling, You Gen Shen. 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 posted on our web site and published in a special issue of the International Journal of Modern Physics D (IJMPD). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.2. CQG Focus Issue on "Higher Spins and Holography" guest edited by Per Kraus and Simon F Ross ------------------------------------------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/05/02/focus-issue-on-higher-spins-and-holo... Additional Information: http://j.mp/100eDpc I am very pleased to bring you this focus issue on ‘Higher Spins and Holography’ guest edited by Per Kraus and Simon F Ross. http://j.mp/100eDpc Higher spin gravity has gained broader appeal in recent years due to its appearance in the AdS/CFT correspondence. I hope that you will find this focus issue of particular interest and encourage you to share and circulate this with your colleagues and peers. I hope that you will publish your next paper with CQG http://bit.ly/Wut54Y and I look forward to working with you soon. Best wishes, Adam Day Publisher Classical and Quantum Gravity cqg@iop.org P.S. Don’t forget to read our Highlights of 2011-2012 http://bit.ly/vrrUyh selected by the Editorial Board, which are free to read until 31 December 2013. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++