Rationale

The year 2005 marks the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's "miraculous year" in which he published three seminal papers describing ideas that have since influenced all of modern physics: the theories of special relativity, the photoelectric effect and the Brownian motion. On June 1st, 2004, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared the year 2005 the International Year of Physics. In Germany several major scientific outreach events are planned for the "Einstein-Year".

Modern astrophysics and cosmology are building on Einstein's theories, most importantly the theory of relativity, and can thus undoubtedly represent one of his legacies. In the current "Golden Age" of Astrophysics, several new observatories, instruments and satellite missions (e.g. Swift and Astro-E2) are expected to provide new data in 2005. We are planning to celebrate the "Einstein-Year" in Munich, marking one of the final highlights of this "Annus Mirabilis" with an international conference summarizing recent progress in relativistic astrophysics and cosmology.

Topics to be addressed

• Gamma-Ray Bursts - the Creation of Black Holes?
• Neutron Stars, Black Holes, Microquasars
• The Galactic Center and Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxies
• Active Galactic Nuclei, Feeding and Feedback
• Gravitational Wave Astrophysics
• Clusters of Galaxies and Large Scale Structure
• Dark Matter and Dark Energy - Einstein's Greatest Triumph?

Scientific Advisory Committee

R. Blandford, J. Ehlers, R. Genzel, G. Hasinger (chair), B. Leibundgut, G. Neugebauer, M. Rees, H.-W. Rix, P. Schneider, B. Schutz, R. Sunyaev, J. Trümper

Local Organising Committee

B. Aschenbach (chair), V. Burwitz, M. Freyberg, B. Meyne, M. Lindner (TUM)

Preliminary List of Invited Speakers

Currently, the list of confirmed review and targeted speakers includes:

Roger Blandford, Jürgen Ehlers, Neil Gehrels,

Reinhard Genzel, Riccardo Giacconi, Piero Madau,

Felix Mirabel, Lyman Page, Sterl Phinney,

Martin Rees, Edward L. Wright

Conference Format

The program will feature:

- invited talks of 30+5 min
- contributed talks of 20+5 min
- poster presentations
- discussion sessions

The conference proceedings will be published in the Springer-Verlag series "ESO Astrophysics Symposia".

Abstracts

The Abstracts are due April 30th, 2005.

A LaTeX sample abstract can be downloaded from the conference website. The abstracts should then be sent to:

e05-abstracts at mpe.mpg.de

Location

The conference will be held in Munich, in the Auditorium Maximum of the Technical University close to the center of Munich. It can be easily reached by public transportation. See travel info for more information.

Participation

The conference will be limited to about 300 participants. The conference registration fee is 230 Euros if paid before the deadline, and 250 Euros if paid later. The fee includes the costs of the proceedings, opening reception, coffee and refreshments during breaks.

Accommodation

There are many hotels in Munich in different price categories. Further information will be made available soon on the Conference Accommodation webpage.