This volume offers a comprehensive overview of our understanding of gravity at both the experimental and the theoretical level. Critical reviews by experts cover topics ranging from astrophysics (anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background, gamma ray bursts, neutron stars and astroparticles), cosmology, the status of gravitational wave sources and detectors, verification of Newton's law at short distances, the equivalence principle, gravito-magnetism, measurement theory, time machines and the foundations of Einstein's theory, to string theory and loop quantum gravity.

This volume offers a comprehensive overview of our understanding of gravity at both the experimental and the theoretical level. Critical reviews by experts cover topics ranging from astrophysics (anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background, gamma ray bursts, neutron stars and astroparticles), cosmology, the status of gravitational wave sources and detectors, verification of Newton's law at short distances, the equivalence principle, gravito-magnetism, measurement theory, time machines and the foundations of Einstein's theory, to string theory and loop quantum gravity.

Explore spectacular advances in cosmology, relativistic astrophysics, gravitational wave science, mathematics, computational science, and the interface of gravitation and quantum physics with this unique celebration of the centennial of Einstein's discovery of general relativity. Twelve comprehensive and in-depth reviews, written by a team of world-leading international experts, together present an up-to-date overview of key topics at the frontiers of these areas, with particular emphasis on the significant developments of the last three decades. Interconnections with other fields of research are also highlighted, making this an invaluable resource for both new and experienced researchers. Commissioned by the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation, and including accessible introductions to cutting-edge topics, ample references to original research papers, and informative colour figures, this is a definitive reference for researchers and graduate students in cosmology, relativity, and gravitational science.

Thanks to Einstein's relativity theories, our notions of space and time underwent profound revisions about a 100 years ago. The resulting interplay between geometry and physics has dominated all of fundamental physics since then. This volume contains contributions from leading researchers, worldwide, who have thought deeply about the nature and consequences of this interplay. The articles take a long-range view of the subject and distill the most important advances in broad terms, making them easily accessible to non-specialists. The first part is devoted to a summary of how relativity theories were born (J Stachel). The second part discusses the most dramatic ramifications of general relativity, such as black holes (P Chrusciel and R Price), space-time singularities (H Nicolai and A Rendall), gravitational waves (P Laguna and P Saulson), the large scale structure of the cosmos (T Padmanabhan); experimental status of this theory (C Will) as well as its practical application to the GPS system (N Ashby). The last part looks beyond Einstein and provides glimpses into what is in store for us in the 21st century. Contributions here include summaries of radical changes in the notions of space and time that are emerging from quantum field theory in curved space-times (Ford), string theory (T Banks), loop quantum gravity (A Ashtekar), quantum cosmology (M Bojowald), discrete approaches (Dowker, Gambini and Pullin) and twistor theory (R Penrose).

This unique book contains a biographical portrait, accounts of Chandrasekhar's role and impact on modern science, historical perspectives and personal reminiscences, several of which appeared in Physics Today, and reviews by leading experts in areas which Prof. Chandrasekhar pioneered. The reviews, which appeared in the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India, are either based on papers presented by scholars in the Chandrasekhar Centennial Symposium at the University of Chicago during 15OCo17 October 2010, or were additional reviews covering topics not represented at the conference by other distinguished astrophysicists. It provides a glimpse of some of the most exciting areas of modern astrophysics as a tribute to Prof Chandrasekhar on his birth centenary.

Quantum gravity is the name given to a theory that unites general relativity - Einstein's theory of gravitation and spacetime - with quantum field theory, our framework for describing non-gravitational forces. The Structural Foundations of Quantum Gravity brings together philosophers and physicists to discuss a range of conceptual issues that surface in the effort to unite these theories, focusing in particular on the ontological nature of the spacetime that results. Although there has been a great deal written about quantum gravity from the perspective of physicists and mathematicians, very little attention has been paid to the philosophical aspects. This volume closes that gap, with essays written by some of the leading researchers in the field. Individual papers defend or attack a structuralist perspective on the fundamental ontologies of our physical theories, which offers the possibility of shedding new light on a number of foundational problems. It is a book that will be of interest not only to physicists and philosophers of physics but to anyone concerned with foundational issues and curious to explore new directions in our understanding of spacetime and quantum physics.

Observational and experimental data pertaining to gravity and cosmology are changing our view of the Universe. General relativity is a fundamental key for the understanding of these observations and its theory is undergoing a continuing enhancement of its intersection with observational and experimental data. These data include direct observations and experiments carried out in our solar system, among which there are direct gravitational wave astronomy, frame dragging and tests of gravitational theories from solar system and spacecraft observations. This book explores John Archibald Wheeler's seminal and enduring contributions in relativistic astrophysics and includes: the General Theory of Relativity and Wheeler's influence; recent developments in the confrontation of relativity with experiments; the theory describing gravitational radiation, and its detection in Earth-based and space-based interferometer detectors as well as in Earth-based bar detectors; the mathematical description of the initial value problem in relativity and applications to modeling gravitational wave sources via computational relativity; the phenomenon of frame dragging and its measurement by satellite observations. All of these areas were of direct interest to Professor John A. Wheeler and were seminally influenced by his ideas.

The masses of neutron stars are limited by an instability to gravitational collapse and an instability driven by gravitational waves limits their spin. Their oscillations are relevant to x-ray observations of accreting binaries and to gravitational wave observations of neutron stars formed during the coalescence of double neutron-star systems. This volume includes more than forty years of research to provide graduate students and researchers in astrophysics, gravitational physics and astronomy with the first self-contained treatment of the structure, stability and oscillations of rotating neutron stars. This monograph treats the equations of stellar equilibrium; key approximations, including slow rotation and perturbations of spherical and rotating stars; stability theory and its applications, from convective stability to the r-mode instability; and numerical methods for computing equilibrium configurations and the nonlinear evolution of their oscillations. The presentation of fundamental equations, results and applications is accessible to readers who do not need the detailed derivations.

A collection of essays discussing the philosophy and foundations of quantum gravity. Written by leading philosophers and physicists in the field, chapters cover the important conceptual questions in the search for a quantum theory of gravity, and the current state of understanding among philosophers and physicists.

The Marcel Grossmann Meetings are three-yearly forums that meet to discuss recent advances in gravitation, general relativity and relativistic field theories, emphasizing their mathematical foundations, physical predictions and experimental tests. These meetings aim to facilitate the exchange of ideas among scientists, to deepen our understanding of space-time structures, and to review the status of ongoing experiments and observations testing Einstein's theory of gravitation either from ground or space-based experiments. Since the first meeting in 1975 in Trieste, Italy, which was established by Remo Ruffini and Abdus Salam, the range of topics presented at these meetings has gradually widened to accommodate issues of major scientific interest, and attendance has grown to attract more than 900 participants from over 80 countries.This proceedings volume of the eleventh meeting in the series, held in Berlin in 2006, highlights and records the developments and applications of Einstein's theory in diverse areas ranging from fundamental field theories to particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, made possible by unprecedented technological developments in experimental and observational techniques from space, ground and underground observatories. It provides a broad sampling of the current work in the field, especially relativistic astrophysics, including many reviews by leading figures in the research community.