INSTITUTE FOR GRAVITATION AND THE COSMOS INAUGURAL CONFERENCE

Conference summary
Prepared by Derek Fox and Parampreet Singh for Matters of Gravity

Thursday, August 9, 2007

PLENARY SESSION:

8:00 – 9:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast (Lobby, Life Science Building)

9:00 – 9:15 Opening Remarks: Daniel Larson

Chair: Paul Sommers

9:15 – 10:15 Jim Cronin (Chicago)

"Solving the Mystery of the Highest Energy Cosmic Rays: 1938 to 2007"

10:15 – 11:15 Frans Pretorius (Princeton)

"Black Hole Collisions"

[Animation 1]

[Animation 2]

11:15 – 11:45 Coffee Break (Lobby, Life Sciences Building)

Chair: Murat Gunaydin

11:45 – 12:45 Joe Polchinski (UC, Santa Barbara)

"The Black Hole Information Paradox: Past and Future"

PARALLEL SESSIONS:

First Session: 2:15 – 3:45

Thomas 201 Cosmology: Physical Aspects

Chair: Mark Trodden

Thomas 216 Numerical Relativity I

Chair: Manuel Tiglio

3:45 – 4:15 Coffee Break (2^nd Floor Lobby, Thomas Building)

Second Session: 4:15 – 5:45

Thomas 201 Observational Issues in Particle Astrophysics

Chair: David Seckel

Thomas 216 Cosmology: Mathematical Aspects

Chair: Martin Bojowald

Thomas 215 Approaches to Quantum Gravity I

Chair: Radu Roiban

Friday, August 10, 2007

PLENARY SESSION:

Chair: Peter Mészáros

9:00 – 10:00 Slava Mukhanov (Munich)

"The Origin of the Big Bang: Inflation after WMAP"

[Video]

10:00 – 11:00 Thomas Gaisser (Bartol)

"Neutrino Physics – Cosmic Ray Connection”

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break (Lobby, Life Sciences Building)

Chair: Pablo Laguna

11:30 – 12:30 Clifford Will (Washington University)

"On the Unreasonable Accuracy of the Post-Newtonian Theory in Gravitational Wave Research”"

2:00 – 4:00 Forum on Science and Society – 102 Thomas Building

Chair: Daniel Larson

Edward Frymoyer (emf Associates) "Science and Society: Some Thoughts and Observations"

Christopher Liedel (National Geographic Society)

Duane Valz (Yahoo! Inc) "A New Way Forward"

Roger Penrose (Oxford and Penn State)

Open discussion on the goals, challenges and organization of the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos.

4:00 – 4:30 Coffee Break (2^nd Floor Lobby, Thomas Building)

PARALLEL SESSIONS: 4:30 – 5:30

Thomas 216 Numerical Relativity II

Chair: Manuel Tiglio

Thomas 215 Approaches to Quantum Gravity II

Chair: Radu Roiban

Conference Banquet at The Atherton Hotel

125 South Atherton Street, 231-2100

6:00 p.m. Reception (cash bar), Upper Lobby

6:45 p.m. Dinner (Mediterranean Theme), Ballroom

Saturday, August 11, 2007

PLENARY SESSION:

Chair: Abhay Ashtekar

9:00 – 10:00 Roger Penrose (Oxford and Penn State)

“Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, Dark Matter, and Black Hole Evaporation” (Movie)

10:00 – 11:00 Karsten Danzmann (Albert Einstein Institute)

"Multi-Wavelength Gravitational Wave Astronomy: A Dream Will Soon Be Reality”"

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break (Lobby, Life Sciences Building)

Chair: Hideo Kodama

11:30 – 12:30 Trevor Weekes (Whipple Observatory, Smithsonian)

"The Universe as Seen in TEV Gamma Rays"

PARALLEL SESSIONS:

First Session: 2:00 – 3:30

Thomas 201 Origins of High Energy Particles

Chair: John Beacom

Thomas 216 Black Holes and Gravitational Waves I

Chair: Deirdre Shoemaker

Thomas 215 Approaches to Quantum Gravity III

Chair: Laurent Freidel

3:30 – 4:00 Coffee Break (2^nd Floor Lobby, Thomas Building)

Second Session: 4:00 – 5:30

Thomas 201 Astroparticle Physics Beyond the Standard Model

Chair: Kaixuan Ni

Thomas 216 Black Holes and Gravitational Waves II

Chair: Ben Owen

Thomas 215 Approaches to Quantum Gravity IV

Chair: Laurent Freidel