PREFACE: Spanish Relativity Meeting/ERE2009Gravitation in the Large

Scientists working in Relativity, Gravitation and Cosmology in Spanish institutions have been organising the Spanish Relativity Meetings (ERE) for more than 30 years now, and 2009 was the turn of the group at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) to continue this well established tradition. There is no doubt these meetings have become a benchmark in the field not only because of the high scientific level reached in each edition, but also because of the almost legendary relaxed atmosphere.

The support of our sponsors --Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, through the funding actions FIS2008-03716-E and FIS2008-04494-E, Basque Government, UPV/EHU, and Spanish Relativity and Gravitation Society (SEGRE)-- and specially the scientific and social contributions of all the participants turned the ERE2009 a memorable edition for us, and we hope this is also the impression of everyone else involved in this meeting.

The organising committee was very pleased to present an excellent panel of invited speakers to dissert on four topics that are gathering enormous interest and activity: Quantum and thermodynamical effects in Gravity, Modern Cosmology, Numerical Relativity and Black holes. But the meeting also boasted a high scientific level thanks to the more than a hundred other participants from many different countries whose enthusiasm was an excellent proof of the good health of Relativity, Gravitation and Cosmology as a research area.

The scientific programme started on the 7th, with an opening by a representative of the Principal of the University of the Basque Country, along with the Deputy Mayor of Bilbao, and the Chair of the conference, José M.M. Senovilla. Lectures were delivered on the 7th, 8th, 9th and 11th of September 2009 following a scheme of plenary sessions in the morning (the first lecture always being an invited one) and two parallel sessions in the afternoon. There were of course coffee-breaks to refresh bodies and spirits and encourage the interaction between the participants and promote collaborative links, as scientific interaction is one of the main purposes of the meeting. The 10th was devoted to an emotional homage to Prof. Jesús Martín, with special talks to honour his scientific and academic careers. And last but not least, there was a quite plenty programme of social events, as has become customary in the ERE meetings; the programme started on the 6th with a friendly reception at the ''Ein Prosit'' bar, on the 7th we had a reception at the ''Salón Árabe'' of the Bilbao Town Hall hosted by the Deputy Mayor, the SEGRE public lecture in the Main Library of Bilbao on the 8th, a guided visit to the ''Ría de Bilbao'' on the Txinbito boat, and a closing dinner at the Aspaldiko restaurant in Loiu.

As editors of these proceedings and members of the Organizing Committee we want to take advantage of this opportunity to thank warmly everyone who made this conference possible and make the wish that in future editions to be held in Bilbao we will have again such a splendid support from the institutions and the scientific community.

Ruth Lazkoz and Raül Vera Invited Speakers Roberto Emparan (Universitat de Barcelona) Frans Pretorius (Princeton University) Joseph Silk (University of Oxford) Robert M. Wald (University of Chicago) Scientific Committee M. Alcubierre (ICN, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) R. Beig (Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Viena) C. Cutler (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Inst. of Technology) T. Damour (Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques) R. Maartens (Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth) F. Quevedo (DAMTP, University of Cambridge) Local Organising Committee J. Ibáñez R. Lazkoz J. M. M. Senovilla (Chair) R. Vera (Secretary and webmaster)

Conference photograph

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