Converting java date to solr date and querying dates

[Rakhi Khatwani]

Hi,
     i am using solrj
      i want to store dates into a date field called publish date in solr.
how do we do it using solrj
      likewise how do we query from solr using java date? do we always have
to convert it into UTC field and then query it?
      How do i query solr for documents published on monday or for documents
published on March etc.
      or in that case even apply range queries on it??
Regards
Raakhi