Gravity and the Quantum

This 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.

J.S. Bagla is an astrophysicist specializing in cosmology and gravitational clustering in an expanding universe. His current interests are in galaxy formation and evolution with an emphasis on use of upcoming facilities for constraining models of galaxy formation. 

Sunu Engineer is an astrophysicist specializing in cosmology and structure formation. His current research interests are in thermodynamic theories of gravity, computational physics and technology and the physics of music.