Bagla J.S., Engineer S. (Eds.) Gravity and the Quantum: Pedagogical Essays on Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Quantum Gravity

Springer International Publishing AG, 2017. — 491 p. — (Fundamental Theories of Physics 187) — ISBN: 331951699XThis book provides a compilation of in-depth articles and reviews on key topics within gravitation, cosmology and related issues. It is a celebratory volume dedicated to Prof. Thanu Padmanabhan ("Paddy"), the renowned relativist and cosmologist from IUCAA, India, on the occasion of his 60th birthday. The authors, many of them leaders of their fields, are all colleagues, collaborators and former students of Paddy, who have worked with him over a research career spanning more than four decades. Paddy is a scientist of diverse interests, who attaches great importance to teaching. With this in mind, the aim of this compilation is to provide an accessible pedagogic introduction to, and overview of, various important topics in cosmology, gravitation and astrophysics. As such it will be an invaluable resource for scientists, graduate students and also advanced undergraduates seeking to broaden their horizons.Prof. Padmanabhan: A Personal and Professional History
Measuring Baryon Acoustic Oscillations with Angular Two-Point Correlation Function
Resonant Disruption of Binary Stars by a Catalytic Black Hole
Mechanics of Apparent Horizon in Two Dimensional Dilaton Gravity
Boundary Terms of the Einstein–Hilbert Action
Decay of the Cosmic Vacuum Energy
Understanding General Relativity After 100 Years: A Matter of Perspective
Piecewise Conserved Quantities
Units of the Nonlinear Universe
Self-similarity and Criticality in Gravitational Collapse
Notes on Semiclassical Weyl Gravity
Accelerated Observers, Thermal Entropy, and Spacetime Curvature
100 Years of the Cosmological Constant: Past, Present and Future
Pedagogical and Real Physics
A Local Stress Tensor for Gravity Fields
Nonlocal Infrared Modifications of Gravity. A Review
Emergence of Gravity and RG Flow
Modelling Non-paradoxical Loss of Information in Black Hole Evaporation
Relativistic Paths: A Feynman Problem
Einstein Equations from/as Thermodynamics of Spacetime
Thoughts on 50 Years in Astrophysics and Cosmology and on What Comes Next
Area Theorem: General Relativity and Beyond
What Are the Atoms of the Space Time?
From Quantum to Classical in the Sky
Classical and Quantum: A Conflict of Interest
Four Principles for Quantum Gravity
What Do Detectors Detect?
Stability Longevity and All That: False Vacua and Topological Defects