Current understanding of different phases as well as the phase transitions between them has only been achieved following recent theoretical advances on the effects of dimensionality in statistical physics. P S Pershan explains the connection between these two separate areas and gives some examples of problems where the understanding is still not complete. The most important example is the second order phase transition between the nematic and smectic-A phase. Others include the relation between the several hexatic phases that have been observed and the first order restacking transitions between phases that were all previously identified as smectic-B, but which should more properly be identified as crystalline-B. Some relatively recent experimental developments on the discotic phase, liquid crystal surfaces and lyotropic phases are also included. The book includes 41 major reprints of some of the recent seminal work on the structure of liquid crystals. They are introduced by a brief review of the symmetries and other properties of liquid crystalline phases. In addition, there is a discussion of the differences between true liquid crystalline phases and others that were described as liquid crystalline in the early literature, but which have since been shown to be true three-dimensional crystals. The progression from the isotropic fluid, through the nematic, smectic, and various crystalline phases can be understood in terms of a systematic decrease in symmetry, together with an accompanying variation in structure is explained. A guide to the selected reprints and a sort of "Rosetta Stone" for these various phases is provided. The goal of this book is to explain the systematics of this progression to students and others that are new to this field, as well as to provide a useful handbook for people already working in the field.

This book is an edited version of lectures given by the authors at the 1985 Jilin University Summer School on Laser Physics. The School was held at Jilin University in Changchun, Peoples' Republic of China.

Anyone who has experienced turbulence in flight knows that it is usually not pleasant, and may wonder why this is so difficult to avoid. The book includes papers by various aviation turbulence researchers and provides background into the nature and causes of atmospheric turbulence that affect aircraft motion, and contains surveys of the latest techniques for remote and in situ sensing and forecasting of the turbulence phenomenon. It provides updates on the state-of-the-art research since earlier studies in the 1960s on clear-air turbulence, explains recent new understanding into turbulence generation by thunderstorms, and summarizes future challenges in turbulence prediction and avoidance.

With a length of about 1200 km, the Son-Narmada-Tapti Lineament (NSL) is one of the most prominent geomorphic features in the Indian subcontinent. Anomalous conductive bodies are delineated at mid-lower crustal depths below major earthquake epicentral zones. The region has been interpreted as the collision zone of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. The NSL zone is therefore also known to be the second most important tectonic feature in the Indian geology, after the Himalayas.
The present thesis describes significant new insight into the seismotectonics of this Central India tectonic zone, based on thorough magnetotelluric studies. The main objectives of the present study are: (i) to delineate subtrappean sediments across the NSL region along four different traverses, (ii) to understand the characterization of geo-electrical structure of the crust and examine the nature of geo-electrical signatures of the known faults, (iii) to integrate the results with other geophysical data such as seismicity, gravity and heat flow, in order to understand the tectonic scenario of the region.
Deep electromagnetic (magnetotelluric) analyses were integrated in this study with gravity, seismic and heat flow studies and distinct, delineated deep crustal features. The resulting high conductivity is justified with the presence of fluids at mid-lower crustal depths. The migration of these fluids from mantle to mid-lower crustal depths through pre-existing brittle fracture/fault zones were obviously caused by the plume related to the Deccan volcanism. Migration of the fluids generated a higher fluid pressure along the faults and resulted in earthquakes.
Based on the geo-electric sections derived along the four traverses of the Narmada-Son Lineament Zone, the present study gives important clues on the subduction/collision history in this important tectonic zone.

This book presents an overview of the current state of research on ultrashort electric field pulses of high intensity and their use in biology and medicine. It examines in detail the most recent and exciting advances in how nanosecond and picosecond electric pulse research has grown and expanded into new areas of biology and medicine. Further, the book specifically focuses on electric pulses in the time domain, on intracellular effects as opposed to plasma membrane electroporation, and highlights the biological and medical applications of these unique pulse effects. Since the authors were initial innovators exploring nanosecond and picosecond pulses, their unique perspectives foreshadowed directions the research took, expanding into new areas that they continue to investigate today.

Key features: Organised and centred around analysis techniques, not traditional Mechanics and E&M. Presents a unified approach, in a different order, meaning that the same laboratories, equipment, and demonstrations can be used when teaching the course. Demonstrates to students that the analysis and concepts they are learning are critical to the understanding of biological systems.

This book addresses the subject of gravity theories in two and three spacetime dimensions. The prevailing philosophy is that lower dimensional models of gravity provide a useful arena for developing new ideas and insights, which are applicable to four dimensional gravity. The first chapter consists of a comprehensive introduction to both two and three dimensional gravity, including a discussion of their basic structures. In the second chapter, the asymptotic structure of three dimensional Einstein gravity with a negative cosmological constant is analyzed. The third chapter contains a treatment of the effects of matter sources in classical two dimensional gravity. The fourth chapter gives a complete analysis of particle pair creation by electric and gravitational fields in two dimensions, and the resulting effect on the cosmological constant. Lower dimensional gravity may have never been reviewed in its entirety anywhere in the literature.

This IAU Symposium brought together researchers who use CCDs and arrays, designers and manufacturers of CCDs and array mosaics, and those who write the software to control these devices and to reduce the large amounts of data contained in each frame. At the meeting such topics as plans for applying the new technology to the new large telescopes that have been built recently and those planned in the near future, new developments in infra-red arrays, advances and concerns with the use of CCDs in photometry and spectroscopy and the creation of large mosaics in photometry and spectroscopy, and the creation of large mosaics of chips which allow larger areas of the sky to be covered in a single frame were discussed. There were sessions devoted to the following topics: new developments in CCD technology; new developments in IR detector arrays; direct imaging with CCDs and other arrays; spectroscopy with CCDs and other arrays; and large field imaging with array mosaics. Scientific results of studies made with this technology were covered in the poster sessions. CCD and array detectors have become the detectors of choice at all the world's optical observatories. Such instruments on small university and college telescopes have turned these telescopes into instruments that can now do observations which in the past were done only on the largest telescopes. CCDs and arrays are known as "the people's detector" because of their ability to turn small telescopes into true research instruments. On large telescopes observations can be made of extremely faint and crowded objects that were impossible to observe before the advent of CCD and Array technology. The proceedings of this meeting should be useful to all those who are interested in the design, manufacture and use of CCDs and arrays for astronomical observations.

Insightful, good-humored essays on the possibilities of alien life and the uses of space exploration, based on an astrobiologist's everyday conversations with his fellow humans-taxi drivers, to be precise. If you've ever sat in the back seat of a taxi, you know that cabbies like to talk. Sports or politics, your job or theirs, taxi drivers are fine conversationalists on just about any topic. And when the passenger is astrobiologist Charles Cockell, that topic is usually space and what, if anything, lives out there. Inspired by conversations with drivers all over the world, Taxi from Another Planet tackles the questions that everyday people have about the cosmos and our place in it. Will we understand aliens? What if there isn't life out in the universe? Is Mars our Plan B? And why is the government spending tax dollars on space programs anyway? Each essay in this genial collection takes questions like these as a starting point on the way to a range of insightful, even poignant, observations. Cockell delves into debates over the inevitability of life and looks to both human history and scientific knowledge to consider what first contact will be like and what we can expect from spacefaring societies. He also offers a forceful argument for the sympathies between space exploration and environmentalism. A shrewd and entertaining foray into the most fundamental mysteries, Taxi from Another Planet brings together the wisdom of scientific experts and their fellow citizens of Earth, the better to understand how life might unfold elsewhere.

This textbook on plate tectonics is designed for students in geology and geophysics to acquire in-depth knowledge of quantitative methods in plate kinematics and dynamics. Quantitative Plate Tectonics can also be used as a reference book by geoscientists who desire to expand their knowledge beyond their own specialization, or by oil-and-gas professionals and ore deposit specialists that need to investigate the geodynamic context of formation of geologic resources. Finally, this book can be considered as a comprehensive monograph on plate tectonics, which addresses the different quantitative aspects of this broad discipline, which has been traditionally partitioned into separate or quasi-separate branches. Additional material, available at http://extras.springer.com, includes two computer programs for the analysis of marine magnetic anomalies and for plate kinematic modelling, as well as some important geophysical data sets and models. Solutions to the exercises are also included. A unified quantitative description of plate tectonics, combining geological and geophysical perspectives Professional software, manual verification examples and applications are available as additional material Includes detailed calculations, examples, and problem sets per chapter Well illustrated "Dr. Schettino has produced a book covering in a rigorous way the kinematics and dynamics of plate tectonics. The fundamental physics governing geodynamic processes is discussed quantitatively, the relevant equations are clearly derived, and the implications of results are illustrated with examples and problems. The book will repay careful reading not only by postgraduate students in geophysics and geology, but also by any Earth scientist who wishes to acquire a quantitative understanding of plate tectonics."Giorgio Ranalli, Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton university, Ottawa, Canada (author of "Rheology of the Earth", two editions, 1987 and 1995) "This text gives an excellent quantitative presentation of the kinematics and the dynamics of plate tectonics that integrates many aspects of the Earth sciences and provides a powerful model of the dynamic behaviour of the Earth. The geological and geophysical processes involved in elucidating the theory are clearly illustrated through a perfectly balanced level of mathematical and physical concepts including derivation of the relevant equations, examples and problems. The book is intended for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and professional earth scientists requiring an overview of the essential processes of plate tectonics." Marco Ligi, Senior Researcher, National Research Council of Italy, Istituto di Scienze Marine, Bologna, Italy.

Mechanics plays a central role in determining form and function in biology. This holds at the cellular, molecular and tissue scales. At the cellular scale, mechanics in?uences cell adhesion, cytoskeletal dynamics and the traction that the cell can generate on a given substrate. All of these in turn - fect the cellular functions of migration, mitosis, phagocytosis, endocytosis and stem cell differentiation among others. Indeed, if cells do not develop the appropriate stresses, they are unviable and die. These aspects of cell mechanics are frequently used by mainstream biologists, as traditional mechanicians may be surprised to learn. There is a growing view that many functions of the cell are mechanical in nature even though chemical signals play crucial roles in the processes. Free energy barriers control transitions between different conformations of vir- ally every macromolecule including DNA, RNA, the adhesion protein integrin, the motor protein myosin, and the proteins vinculin and talin that link the cytoskeleton to focal adhesions. The strain energy can be a signi?cant component of the total free energy barrier. For binding to take place, the macromolecules need to be in conf- mational states that expose chemical groups without steric hinderance. The kinetics of chemical reactions are therefore strongly in?uenced by the conformational strain energy.

Extreme Weather Forecasting reviews current knowledge about extreme weather events, including key elements and less well-known variables to accurately forecast them. The book covers multiple temporal scales as well as components of current weather forecasting systems. Sections cover case studies on successful forecasting as well as the impacts of extreme weather predictability, presenting a comprehensive and model agnostic review of best practices for atmospheric scientists and others who utilize extreme weather forecasts.

If standard gravitational theory is correct, then most of the matter in the universe is in an unidentified form which does not emit enough light to have been detected by current instrumentation. This proceedings was devoted to a discussion of the so-called "missing matter" problem in the universe. The goal of the School was to make current research work on unseen matter accessible to students of faculties without prior experience in this area. Due to the pedagogical nature of the School and the strong interactions between students and the lectures, the written lectures included in this volume often contain techniques and explanations not found in more formal journal publications.

If standard gravitational theory is correct, then most of the matter in the universe is in an unidentified form which does not emit enough light to have been detected by current instrumentation. This proceedings was devoted to a discussion of the so-called "missing matter" problem in the universe. The goal of the School was to make current research work on unseen matter accessible to students of faculties without prior experience in this area. Due to the pedagogical nature of the School and the strong interactions between students and the lectures, the written lectures included in this volume often contain techniques and explanations not found in more formal journal publications.

The papers in this volume aim to represent the most up-to-date research contributions on the observations, theoretical interpretations, and empirical and physical models of variations observed in solar and stellar irradiances, as well as on Sun-climate connections. Both theoretical studies and irradiance observations show that the energy output of the Sun and solar-type stars varies, changing on time scales related to the short-term surface manifestations of solar/stellar magnetic activity as well as long-term modulations driven by processes in the interiors of the stars. Papers presented in this book point out that at the Earth these variations influence the terrestrial climate, radiative environment and upper atmospheric chemistry.

This book provides an overview of recent research highlights in the main areas of application of magnetic reconnection (MR), including planetary, solar and magnetospheric physics and astrophysics. It describes how research on magnetic reconnection, especially concerning the Earth's magnetosphere, has grown extensively due to dedicated observations from major satellite missions such as Cluster, Double Star and Themis. The accumulated observations from these missions are being supplemented by many theoretical and modelling efforts, for which large scale computer facilities are successfully being used, and the theoretical advances are also covered in detail. Opening with an introductory discussion of some fundamental issues related to magnetic reconnection, subsequent chapters address topics including collisionless magnetic reconnection, MHD structures in 3D reconnection, energy conversion processes, fast reconnection mediated by plasmoids, rapid reconnection and magnetic field topology. Further chapters consider specific areas of application such as magnetospheric dayside and tail reconnection, comparative reconnection in planetary systems and reconnection in astrophysical systems. The book offers insight into discussions about fundamental concepts and key aspects of MR, access to the full set of applications of MR as presently known in space physics and in astrophysics, and an introduction to a new related area of study dealing with the annihilation of quantum magnetic fluxes and its implications in the study on neutron star activity. The book is aimed primarily at students entering the field, but will also serve as a useful reference text for established scientists and senior researchers.

This volume focuses on latest research in therapeutic devices for cardiovascular, i.e. vascular and valvular and cardiac diseases. In the area of vascular therapies, aspects covered relate to latest research in small-diameter tissue-regenerative vascular grafts, one of the greatest persisting challenges in cardiovascular therapies, stent grafts and endovascular stents for percutaneous arterial interventions. Contributions on valvular therapies focus on tissue engineered and tissue regenerative prosthetic heart valves and valvular prostheses for trans-apical implantation including the challenges posed on the prosthesis design. The section on cardiac diseases aims at covering therapeutic advances for myocardial infarction and prevention of heart failure and on in vivo biomechanics of implantable cardiac pacemaker devices. A further section complements these three areas by presenting constitutive modelling of soft biological tissues of the cardiovascular system, an area imperative for advanced numerical and computational modelling in the development and optimisation of cardiovascular devices and therapies.

The present 15th volume of the ISSI Space Science Series is devoted to Auroral Plasma Physics. The aurora is arguably the most intriguing phenomenon in space plasma physics. Not only is it the most spectacular manifestation of the Sun-Earth connection chain, but the underlying plasma processes are expected to be ubiqui- tous in the plasma universe. Recognizing the enormous progress made over the last decade in the understanding of the physics of the auroral acceleration processes, it seemed timely to write a comprehensive and integrated book on the subject. Re- cent advances concern the clarification of the nature of the acceleration process of the electrons that are responsible for the visible aurora, the recognition of the fundamental role of the large-scale current systems in organizing the auroral mor- phology, and of the interplay between particles and electromagnetic fields. The project began in March 1999, as a natural follow-up of the project on Magnetospheric Plasma Sources and Losses that resulted in volume 6 of this se- ries, with a planning meeting by a core-group that coordinated the project. The group consisted of J. E. Borovsky, Los Alamos National Laboratory; C. W. Carl- son, University of California, Berkeley; G. Haerendel, Max-Planck-Institut fur ex- traterrestrische Physik, Garching; B. Hultqvist, Swedish Intitute ofSpace Physics, H. E. J. Koskinen, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki; W. Lotko, Kiruna; Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; K. A. Lynch, University of New Hampshire, Durham and G. Marklund, Royal Institute ofTechnology, Stockholm. G. Paschmann, ISSI, Bern, was the project leader.

This book introduces the basic theoretical concepts required for the analysis of the optical response of semiconductor systems in the coherent regime. It is the most instructive textbook on the theory and optical effects of semiconductors. The entire presentation is based on a one-dimensional tight-binding model. Starting with discrete-level systems, increasing complexity is added gradually to the model by including band-structure and many-particle interaction. Various linear and nonlinear optical spectra and temporal phenomena are studied. The analysis of many-body effects in nonlinear optical phenomena covers a major part of the book.

A reissue of a classic book, intended for undergraduate courses in biophysics, biological physics, physiology, medical physics, and biomedical engineering. This is an introduction to mechanics, with examples and problems from the medical and biological sciences, covering standard topics of kinematics, dynamics, statics, momentum, and feedback, control and stability but with the emphasis on physical and biological systems. The book can be used as a supplement to standard introductory physics courses, as well as for medical schools, medical physics courses, and biology departments. The three volumes combined present all the major topics in physics. Originally published in 1974 from the authors typescript, this reissue will be edited, corrected, typeset, the art redrawn, and an index added, plus a solutions manual will also be available.

Advances in Quantum Chemistry publishes articles and invited reviews by leading international researchers in quantum chemistry. Quantum chemistry deals particularly with the electronic structure of atoms, molecules, and crystalline matter and describes it in terms of electron wave patterns. It uses physical and chemical insight, sophisticated mathematics and high-speed computers to solve the wave equations and achieve its results. Advances highlights these important, interdisciplinary developments.

This book brings together an emerging consensus on our understanding of the complex functional materials including ferroics, perovskites, multiferroics, CMR and high-temperature superconductors. The common theme is the existence of many competing ground states and frustration as a collusion of spin, charge, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom in the presence of disorder and (both dipolar and elastic) long-range forces. An important consequence of the complex unit cell and the competing interactions is that the emergent materials properties are very sensitive to external fields thus rendering these materials with highly desirable, technologically important applications enabled by cross-response.

The study of orbits in dynamical systems and the theory of order and chaos has progressed enormously over the last few decades. It thus became an essential tool in dynamical astronomy. The book is the first to provide a general overview of order and chaos in dynamical astronomy. The progress of the theory of chaos has a profound impact on galactic dynamics. It has even invaded celestial mechanics, since chaos was found in the solar system which in the past was considered as a prototype of order. The book provides a unifying approach to these topics from an author who has spent more than 50 years of research in the field. The first part treats order and chaos in general. The other two parts deal with order and chaos in galaxies and with other applications in dynamical astronomy, ranging from celestial mechanics to general relativity and cosmology. This book, addressing especially the astrophysics, is also written as a textbook on dynamical systems for students in physics.

The workshop "From Dust to Terrestrial Planets" was initiated by a working group of planetary scientists invited to ISSI by Johannes Geiss in November 1997. The group split to focus on three topics, one of which was the history of the early solar system, including the formation of the terrestrial planets in the inner solar system. Willy Benz, Gunter Lugmair, and Frank Podosek were invited to convene planetary scientists, astrophysicists, and cosmochemists to synthesize the current knowledge on the origin and evolution of our inner planetary system. The convenors raised the interest of scientists from all over the world in the detailed assessment of the available astronomical, chronological, geochemical and dynamical constraints of the first period of inner solar system evolution. In partic ular, this included appraisal of the newest results from astronomical observations by the Hubble Space Telescope, the Infrared Space Observatory, and other space and ground-based facilities of solar-like systems and nebular disks, possibly repre senting early stages of the solar accretion disk and planet formation. At the same time, the current models of the origin, evolution, transport, and accretion processes of circum stellar disks were presented. This included the new insights provided by the recent discovery of extrasolar giant planets, which were considered insofar as they are relevant to the overall dynamics of the inner part of the solar system.

An up-to-date account on the advancement in science and technology and the most recent developments on materials used for solar energy devices is presented with detailed description in the following areas: selective coating for heating and cooling; photovoltaic conversion and comparison among single crystalline silicon, concentrating cells and amorphous silicon and advance tendum coating for selective spectrum which can be used for greenhouse, homes and in energy conservation.