The theory of General Relativity, after its invention by Albert Einstein, remained for many years a monument of mathemati cal speculation, striking in its ambition and its formal beauty, but quite separated from the main stream of modern Physics, which had centered, after the early twenties, on quantum mechanics and its applications. In the last ten or fifteen years, however, the situation has changed radically. First, a great deal of significant exper~en tal data became available. Then important contributions were made to the incorporation of general relativity into the framework of quantum theory. Finally, in the last three years, exciting devel opments took place which have placed general relativity, and all the concepts behind it, at the center of our understanding of par ticle physics and quantum field theory. Firstly, this is due to the fact that general relativity is really the "original non-abe lian gauge theory," and that our description of quantum field in teractions makes extensive use of the concept of gauge invariance. Secondly, the ideas of supersymmetry have enabled theoreticians to combine gravity with other elementary particle interactions, and to construct what is perhaps the first approach to a more finite quantum theory of gravitation, which is known as super gravity.

These proceedings contain lecture notes on computer algebra, cosmological models, quantum cosmology, and black hole physics. Several research articles which cover different aspects of classical cosmology, exact solutions to Einstein's equations, and quantum field theory are also included.

This volume provides an overview of the progress in gravitational physics, reporting recent theoretical, experimental and observational results. The book is based on the plenary, invited and contributed papers presented at the biennial conference of the Italian Society of General Relativity and Gravitation (SIGRAV) held in Rome, September 2002. The contributors discuss topics such as general relativity, quantum gravity, relativistic astrophysics, cosmology and experimental gravitation. This book is ideal for researchers and postgraduate students in relativity, gravitation, cosmology, astrophysics and high energy physics.

It is not an exaggeration to say that one of the most exciting predictions of Einstein's theory of gravitation is that there may exist "black holes": putative objects whose gravitational fields are so strong that no physical bodies or signals can break free of their pull and escape. The proof that black holes do exist, and an analysis of their properties, would have a significance going far beyond astrophysics. Indeed, what is involved is not just the discovery of yet another even if extremely remarkable, astro physical object, but a test of the correctness of our understanding of the properties of space and time in extremely strong gravitational fields. Theoretical research into the properties of black holes, and into the possible corol laries of the hypothesis that they exist, has been carried out with special vigor since the beginning of the 1970's. In addition to those specific features of black holes that are important for the interpretation of their possible astrophysical manifestations, the theory has revealed a number of unexpected characteristics of physical interactions involving black holes. By the middle of the 1980's a fairly detailed understanding had been achieved of the properties of the black holes, their possible astrophysical manifestations, and the specifics of the various physical processes involved. Even though a completely reliable detection of a black hole had not yet been made at that time, several objects among those scrutinized by astrophysicists were considered as strong candidates to be confirmed as being black holes.

This book summarizes recent developments in the research area of quantum gravity phenomenology. A series of short and nontechnical essays lays out the prospects of various experimental possibilities and their current status. Finding observational evidence for the quantization of space-time was long thought impossible. In the last decade however, new experimental design and technological advances have changed the research landscape and opened new perspectives on quantum gravity. Formerly dominated by purely theoretical constructions, quantum gravity now has a lively phenomenology to offer. From high precision measurements using macroscopic quantum oscillators to new analysis methods of the cosmic microwave background, no stone is being left unturned in the experimental search for quantum gravity. This book sheds new light on the connection of astroparticle physics with the quantum gravity problem. Gravitational waves and their detection are covered. It illustrates findings from the interconnection between general relativity, black holes and Planck stars. Finally, the return on investment in quantum-gravitation research is illuminated. The book is intended for graduate students and researchers entering the field.

1. Is the end of theoretical physics really in sight? / A. Khare -- 2. Holography, CFT and black hole entropy / P. Majumdar -- 3. Hawking radiation, effective actions and anomalies / R. Banerjee -- 4. Probing dark matter in primordial black holes / A.S. Majumdar -- 5. Physics in the `Once Given' universe / C.S. Unnikrishnan -- 6. Doubly-special relativity / G. Amelino-Camelia -- 7. Nuances of neutrinos / A. Raychaudhuri -- 8. Dynamics of proton spin / A.N. Mitra -- 9. Whither nuclear physics? / A. Abbas -- 10. Generalized Swanson model and its pseudo supersymmetric partners / A. Sinha and P. Roy -- 11. The relevance of berry phase in quantum physics / P. Bandyopadhyay -- 12. Quantum Hamiltonian diagonalization / P. Gosselin, A. Bérard and H. Mohrbach -- 13. The Hall conductivity of spinning anyons / B. Basu -- 14. Quantum annealing and computation / A. Das and B.K. Chakrabarti -- 15. Liouville gravity from Einstein gravity / D. Grumiller and R. Jackiw -- 16. Exact static solutions of a generalized discret ø[symbol] / A. Khare -- 17. A model for flow reversal in two-dimensional convection / K. Kumar [und weitere] -- 18. Euclidean networks and dimensionality / P. Sen -- 19. Equal superposition transformations and quantum random walks / P. Parashar -- 20. Cloning entanglement locally / S.K. Choudhary and R. Rahaman

Physical phenomena in astrophysics and cosmology involve gravitational collapse in a fundamental way. The final fate of a massive star when it collapses under its own gravity at the end of its life cycle is one of the most important questions in gravitation theory and relativistic astrophysics, and is the foundation of black hole physics. General relativity predicts that continual gravitational collapse gives rise to a space-time singularity. Quantum gravity may take over in such regimes to resolve the classical space-time singularity. This book investigates these issues, and shows how the visible ultra-dense regions arise naturally and generically as an outcome of dynamical gravitational collapse. It will be of interest to graduate students and academic researchers in gravitation physics, fundamental physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. It includes a detailed review of research into gravitational collapse, and several examples of collapse models are investigated in detail.

The Third Mexican Meeting on Mathematical and Experimental Physics brought together scientists from many different fields. The Meeting was divided into three Symposia: (i) Physical Chemistry, (ii) Biological Physics, (iii) Gravitation and Cosmology. This proceedings presents the papers of the Gravitation and Cosmology Symposium. The main goal of the Gravitation and Cosmology Symposium was to present the perspectives of scientists in the fields of cosmology and gravitation regarding their current work as well as the anticipated development of their research fields in the near future.

Einstein's general theory of relativity is widely considered to be one of the most elegant and successful scientific theories ever developed, and it is increasingly being taught in a simplified form at advanced undergraduate level within both physics and mathematics departments. Due to the increasing interest in gravitational physics, in both the academic and the public sphere, driven largely by widely-publicised developments such as the recent observations of gravitational waves, general relativity is also one of the most popular scientific topics pursued through self-study. Modern General Relativity introduces the reader to the general theory of relativity using an example-based approach, before describing some of its most important applications in cosmology and astrophysics, such as gamma-ray bursts, neutron stars, black holes, and gravitational waves. With hundreds of worked examples, explanatory boxes, and end-of-chapter problems, this textbook provides a solid foundation for understanding one of the towering achievements of twentieth-century physics.

The Relativity Meeting 1991 was devoted to the review of recent developments in gravity theory. Topics ranged from the classical theory of gravity to Quantum Gravity and Cosmology.