Preface

A few days before leaving Prague, after 15 months spent at the German part of Charles-Ferdinand University, Albert Einstein submitted a paper titled Relativity and Gravitation. Reply to a Comment by M. Abraham. It was received by Annalen der Physik on July 4, 1912. Here Einstein summarized the contemporary state of his relativistic theory of gravitation and, remarkably, anticipated what a future theory of gravity should look like. ‘‘Relativity and Gravitation: 100 years after Einstein in Prague,’’ was the name of the conference held in Prague on June 25–29, 2012, inspired by the title, date, and significance of this last of Einstein’s Prague papers. The aim of the conference was twofold. First, it was to review the present status of the general theory of relativity (both classical and quantum) and its applications in cosmology and astrophysics from a broad perspective. The second aim was to present the newest results in each of these fields. This volume is based on the invited plenary lectures at the conference. In another volume, ‘‘Relativity and Gravitation: 100 years after Einstein’s stay in Prague,’’ appearing in the ‘‘Springer Proceedings in Physics,’’ articles based on contributed talks and posters are included; more on cultural and other events associated with the conference is recalled therein. The articles included in this volume represent a broad and highly qualified view on the present state of general relativity, quantum gravity, and their cosmological and astrophysical implications. As such, it may serve as a valuable source of knowledge and inspiration for experts in these fields, as well as an advanced source of information for young researchers. The contents is divided into four broad parts: (i) Gravity and Prague, (ii) Classical General Relativity, (iii) Cosmology and Quantum Gravity, and (iv) Numerical Relativity and Relativistic Astrophysics.