Cosmology has dramatically evolved during the last decade and there has been vast development of, e.g., theories of galaxy formation in connection with the early universe or gravitational lensing. These new developments motivated the editors to organize a school covering all of these ideas and observations in a pedagogical way. The topics covered in the 26 lectures of this summer school include: QSO absorption systems, identification of objects at high redshift, radiogalaxies, galaxy formation and evolution, galaxy number counts, clustering, theories of structure formation, large-scale structure and streaming motions, gravitational lensing, and spectrum and anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation. Observational developments, data analysis, and theoretical aspects are equally treated.

In this volume the full range of astrophysical maser research is covered, with contributions from many of the foremost researchers in the field. The topics include masers in star-forming, circumstellar and extragalactic environments, solar system masers, newly discovered masing transitions, variability, proper-motion studies, and theory. Since this was the first ever conference devoted exclusively to astrophysical masers, these proceedings provide a reference for this field which has not previously been available. "Astrophysical Masers" will be useful both to those who wish to study the physics of masers, and to those who wish to better understand the astrophysically important regions with which they are associated.

Nanodust and nanometer-sized structures are important components of many objects in space. Nanodust is observed in evolved stars, young stellar objects, protoplanetary disks, and dust debris disks. Within the solar system, nanodust is observed with in-situ experiments from spacecraft. Nanometer-sized substructures are found in the collected cometary and interplanetary dust particles and in meteorites. Understanding the growth and destruction of dust, its internal evolution, as well as the optical properties and the detection of nanoparticles is of fundamental importance for astrophysical research. This book provides a focused description of the current state of research and experimental results concerning nanodust in the solar system. It addresses three major questions: What is nanodust? How was it discovered in the solar system? And how do we interpret the observations? The book serves as a self-contained reference work for space researchers and provides solid information on nanodust in cosmic environments for researchers working in astrophysics or in other fields of physics.

For nearly sixty years, radio observations have provided a unique insight into the physics of the active and quiescent solar atmosphere. Thanks to the variety of emission mechanisms and to the large altitude range available to observations, fundamental plasma parameters have been measured from the low chromosphere to the upper corona and interplanetary medium. This book presents current research in solar radio astronomy and shows how well it fits in the exceptional scientific context brought by the current space solar observatories. It essentially contains contributed research and review papers presented during the 2010 Community of European Solar Radio Astronomers (CESRA) meeting, which took place in Belgium in June 2010. This book is aimed at graduate students and researchers working in solar physics and space science. Previously published in Solar Physics journal, Vol. 273/2, 2011.

A short, graduate-level synthesis of recent developments in theoretical physics, from a pioneer in the field Lectures on the Infrared Structure of Gravity and Gauge Theory presents an accessible, graduate-level synthesis of a frontier research area in theoretical physics. Based on a popular Harvard University course taught by the author, this book gives a concise introduction to recent discoveries concerning the structure of gravity and gauge theory at very long distances. These discoveries unite three disparate but well-developed subjects in physics. The first subject is the soft theorems, which were found by particle physicists in the 1950s to control the behavior of low-energy photons and are essential for all collider predictions. The second subject is asymptotic symmetries, found by general relativists in the 1960s to provide a surprising, infinite number of exact relations between distinct physical phenomena. The third subject is the memory effect, the measurement of which is sought in upcoming gravitational wave observations. An exploration of the physical and mathematical equivalence of these three subjects has provided a powerful new perspective on old results and led to a plethora of new results, involving symmetries of QED, gluon scattering amplitudes, flat-space holography in quantum gravity, black hole information, and beyond. Uniquely connective and cutting-edge, Lectures on the Infrared Structure of Gravity and Gauge Theory takes students and scholars to the forefront of new developments in the discipline. Materials are presented in a "lecture notes" style with problem sets included Concise and accessible pedagogical approach Topics include soft theorems, the memory effect, asymptotic symmetries with applications to QED, Yang-Mills theory, quantum gravity, and black holes

Astronomy isthemostancientsciencehumanshavepracticedonEarth. Itisascienceofextremesandoflargenumbers:extremesoftime-fromthe big bang to in?nity -, of distances, of temperatures, of density and masses, ofmagnetic?eld,etc.Itisasciencewhichishighlyvisible,notonlybecause stars and planets are accessible in the sky to the multitude, but also - cause the telescopes themselves are easily distinguishable, usually on top of scenic mountains, and also because their cost usually represent a subst- tialproportionofthenation'sbudgetandofthetaxpayerscontributionsto that budget. As such, astronomy cannot pass unnoticed. It touches on the origins of matter, of the Universe where we live, on life and on our destiny. It touches on philosophy as well as on religion. Astronomy is the direct c- tactofhumankindwithitsoriginsandtheimmensityofuniversalnature.It is indeed a science of observation where experimentation is practically - possible and which is ruled by mathematics, physics, chemistry, statistical analysis and modelling, while o?ering the largest number of veri?cations of the most advanced theories of fundamental physics such as general r- st ativity and gravitation. At the beginning of the 21 century astronomy is clearly a multidisciplinary activity touching on all aspects of science. It is therefore logical that in the past and still now, astronomy has attracted the most famous scientists, be they pure observers, mathematicians, physicists, biologists, experimentalists, and even politicians.

This book is aimed at theoretical and mathematical physicists and mathematicians interested in modern gravitational physics. I have thus tried to use language familiar to readers working on classical and quantum gravity, paying attention both to difficult calculations and to existence theorems, and discussing in detail the current literature. The first aim of the book is to describe recent work on the problem of boundary conditions in one-loop quantum cosmology. The motivation of this research was to under stand whether supersymmetric theories are one-loop finite in the presence of boundaries, with application to the boundary-value problemsoccurring in quantum cosmology. Indeed, higher-loop calculations in the absence of boundaries are already available in the litera ture, showing that supergravity is not finite. I believe, however, that one-loop calculations in the presence of boundaries are more fundamental, in that they provide a more direct check of the inconsistency of supersymmetric quantum cosmology from the perturbative point of view. It therefore appears that higher-order calculations are not strictly needed, if the one-loop test already yields negative results. Even though the question is not yet settled, this research has led to many interesting, new applications of areas of theoretical and mathematical physics such as twistor theory in flat space, self-adjointness theory, the generalized Riemann zeta-function, and the theory of boundary counterterms in super gravity. I have also compared in detail my work with results by other authors, explaining, whenever possible, the origin of different results, the limits of my work and the unsolved problems."

This volume, together with its two companion volumes, originated in a study commis sioned by the United States National Academy of Sciences on behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A committee composed of Tom Holzer, Dimitri Mihalas, Roger Ulrich and myself was asked to prepare a comprehensive review of current knowledge concerning the physics of the sun. We were fortunate in being able to persuade many distinguished scientists to gather their forces for the preparation of 21 separate chapters covering not only. solar physics but also relevant areas of astrophysics and solar-terrestrial relations. In proved necessary to divide the chapters into three separate volumes that cover three different aspects of solar physics. Volumes I and III are concerned with "The Solar Interior" and with "Astrophysics and Solar-Terrestrial Relations." This volume, devoted to "The Solar Atmosphere," covers not only the chromosphere and corona but also the principal phenomena usually referred to as "solar activity." The emphasis is on identifying and analyzing the relevant physical processes, but each chapter also contains a great deal of descriptive material."

Investigation of the interplanetary dust cloud is characterized by contributions from quite different methods and fields, such as research on zodiacal light, meteors, micrometeoroids, asteroids, and comets. Since the earth's environment and interplanetary space became accessible to space vehicles these interrelations are clearly evident and extremely useful. Space measurements by micrometeoroid detectors, for example, provide individual and eventually detailed information on impact events, which however are limited in number and therefore restricted in statistical significance. On the other hand, zodiacal light measurements involve scattered light from many particles and therefore provide global information about the average values of physical properties and spatial distribution of interplanetary grains. Additional knowledge stems from lunar samples and from dust collections in the atmosphere and in deep sea sediments. All these sources of complementary information must be put together into a synoptical synthesis. This also has to take into account dynamical aspects and the results of laboratory investigations concerning physical properties of small grains. Such considerable effort is not merely an academic exercise for a few specialists interested in the solar dust cloud. Since this same cloud exclusively allows direct in-situ acess to investigate extraterrestrial dust particles over a wide range of sizes and materials, it provides valuable information for realistic treatment of dust phenomena in other remote cosmic regions such as in dense molecular clouds, circumstellar dust shells, and even protostellar or protoplanetary systems.

Proceedings of the 83rd Colloquium of the International Astronomical Union held in Rome, Italy, June 11-15, 1984

The next major step in millimetre astronomy, and one of the highest-priority items in radio astronomy today, is a large millimetre array with a collecting area 2 of up to 10 000 m . A project of this scale will almost certainly require inter national collaboration, at least within Europe, and possibly with other major partners elsewhere. In order to establish a focal point for this project within Europe, a study has been undertaken by the Institut de Radio Astronomie Mil Ii met rique (IRAM), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), The Onsala Space Observatory (OSO), and The Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy (NFRA). In the context of this project, a workshop attended by some 100 participants was held at ESO Garching on December 11-13, 1995 to discuss the scientific advances such an array will make possible. Throughout the three days of the workshop the strong enthusiasm for the concept of a large millimetre array in the southern hemisphere (the Large South ern Array, or LSA) was obvious, and it became clear that such a facility would have a profound impact on almost all areas of observational astrophysics. It was particularly clear that, since their main science drivers (cosmology, and the origins of galaxies, stars and planets) are the same, and their angular resolutions and sensitivities similar, the LSA and the VLT would strongly complement each other.

V. DOMINGO Space Science Department, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands The XIVth ESLAB Symposium on 'Physics of Solar Variations' was held in Scheveningen (The Netherlands) on 16-19 September, 1980. The objective of the symposium was to discuss from an interdisciplinary point of view the different types of changing phenomena that occur in the Sun and the effects that such changes may have on the Earth environment with the aim that a global look at the varying phenomena may improve the understanding of the underlying physical processes. Solar physicists of different background, investigators in solar radiometry and atmospheric scientists gathered to review the progress that has been made in the study of the different areas of solar variations. The proceedings of this symposium constitute an up-to-date collection of information on the variations of the Sun. The first and largest section of the proceedings is devoted to the physics of the Sun. An overview of how the observed variations contribute to the development of the theory of the solar structure is followed by several papers on recent results on the study of solar oscillations, a unique probe of Sun's interior. Several papers then summarise the theoretical and experimental efforts in the study of the solar magnetic cycle and its consequences. Finally the expansion of the corona with the formation of the solar wind and some characteristics of solar wind variations are described.

The book contains presentations of recent and ongoing research on inverse problems and its application to engineering and physical sciences. The articles are structured around three closely related topics: Inverse scattering problems, inverse boundary value problems, and inverse spectral problems. The applications range from quantum and electromagnetic scattering to medical imaging, geophysical sounding of the Earth, and non-destructive material evaluation. The book gives an up-to-date presentation of the most recent developments in these rapidlychanging and evolving fields of applied research. The contributors of the volume give extra emphysis to the pedagogical aspects of their presentation to make this collection eysily accessible to graduate students as well as to people working on nearby fields of research.

The enormous amounts of energy radiated from the active nuclei of galaxies vary on short time scales, and the emission regions are difficult to observe. To provide a complete understanding of these phenomena a wide variety of studies is presented in this volume. The contributions are broadly divided between line and continuum variability, with observational results, methodological approaches, and theoretical models accompanying each. The final part is devoted to the important aspect of propagation-induced variability.

The scope of the book is to give an overview of the history of astroparticle physics, starting with the discovery of cosmic rays (Victor Hess, 1912) and its background (X-ray, radioactivity). The book focusses on the ways in which physics changes in the course of this history. The following changes run parallel, overlap, and/or interact: - Discovery of effects like X-rays, radioactivity, cosmic rays, new particles but also progress through non-discoveries (monopoles) etc. - The change of the description of nature in physics, as consequence of new theoretical questions at the beginning of the 20th century, giving rise to quantum physics, relativity, etc. - The change of experimental methods, cooperations, disciplinary divisions. With regard to the latter change, a main topic of the book is to make the specific multi-diciplinary features of astroparticle physics clear.

This unique textbook provides an accessible introduction to Einstein's general theory of relativity, a subject of breathtaking beauty and supreme importance in physics. With his trademark blend of wit and incisiveness, A. Zee guides readers from the fundamentals of Newtonian mechanics to the most exciting frontiers of research today, including de Sitter and anti-de Sitter spacetimes, Kaluza-Klein theory, and brane worlds. Unlike other books on Einstein gravity, this book emphasizes the action principle and group theory as guides in constructing physical theories. Zee treats various topics in a spiral style that is easy on beginners, and includes anecdotes from the history of physics that will appeal to students and experts alike. He takes a friendly approach to the required mathematics, yet does not shy away from more advanced mathematical topics such as differential forms. The extensive discussion of black holes includes rotating and extremal black holes and Hawking radiation. The ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate students, Einstein Gravity in a Nutshell also provides an essential resource for professional physicists and is accessible to anyone familiar with classical mechanics and electromagnetism. It features numerous exercises as well as detailed appendices covering a multitude of topics not readily found elsewhere. * Provides an accessible introduction to Einstein's general theory of relativity * Guides readers from Newtonian mechanics to the frontiers of modern research * Emphasizes symmetry and the Einstein-Hilbert action * Covers topics not found in standard textbooks on Einstein gravity * Includes interesting historical asides * Features numerous exercises and detailed appendices * Ideal for students, physicists, and scientifically minded lay readers * Solutions manual (available only to teachers)

At close inspection every galaxy appears to have its own individuality.A galaxy can be warped, lop-sided, doubly-nucleated, boxy or disky, ... in its own specific, peculiar way. Hence, for a complete description, galaxy taxonomy may ask for finer and finer classification schemes. However, for some applications it may be more fruitful to let details aside and focus on some global properties of galaxies. One is then seeking to measure just a few quantities for each galaxy, a minimum set of globalobservables that yet captures some essential aspect of these objects. One very successful example of this approach is offered by the scaling rela tions of galaxies, the subject of the international workshop held at ESO head quarters in Garching on November 19-21, 1996. Discovered in the late 1970's, the Tully-Fisher relation for the spirals and the Faber-Jackson relation, or its more recent version the Fundamental Plane, for ellipticals have now become flourishing fields of astronomical research in their own right, as well as being widely used tools for a broad range of astronomical investigations. The work shop was designed to address three key issues on galaxy scaling relations, i.e., their Origins, Evolution, and Applications in astronomy. The Origins of galaxy scaling relations still escape our full understanding."

The controversial question of whether the majority of the narrow absorption lines observed in QSO spectra represent cosmological intervening systems or ejecta from the QSO themselves is settled. QSO absorption line spectroscopy, initially a mere technique, has matured into an essential extragalactic research tool for understanding the content of the Universe at redshifts between 0 and 4, and beyond. The only previous important meeting devoted to "QSO Absorption Lines" was held in May 1987 at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Since that time, nearly a decade ago, research has been ex tremely active in this now well-established field of astrophysics. Theoretical stud ies and simulations have taken advantage of the constant progress in computer technology, and during these last few years, the observational results have bene fited largely from the new facillities offered by the Hubble Space Telescope in the UV wavelength range and the Keck Telescope for high-resolution spectroscopy.

The existence of jets emanating from the central sources of radio galaxies and quasars was perhaps the most important discovery for our understanding of the nature of active galactic nuclei. These proceedings present reviews and research papers on extragalactic radio sources. The book begins witha discussion of the phenomenology and models of radio sources. The main partis devoted to detailed studies of jets by VLBI, to the information obtained about the structure of the central source as deduced from variability studies, to production, confinement and velocity of jets as well as to numerical simulations of the jet phenomenon. Reviews of the two best studied jets - those in the radio galaxy M87 and the quasar 3C273 - illustrate our current observational picture of extragalactic radio jets in all accessible wavelength ranges. A section on the influence of the environment on radio galaxies concludes the book. This topical volume addresses researchers and graduate students in astrophysics.

This volume collects contributions to the workshop on "Turbulence Modeling and Vortex Dynamics, Istanbul," where engineers, physicists, and mathematicians discussed the statistical description of turbulence. They cover practical aspects as well as rigorous mathematics. This book will be a source of reference for many years for those working in this most fascinating field of scientific modeling.

Exciting results are blooming, thanks to a convergence between unprecedented asteroseismic data obtained by the satellites CoRoT and KEPLER, and state-of-the-art models of the internal structure of red giants and of galactic evolution. The pulsation properties now available for thousands of red giants promise to add valuable and independent constraints to current models of structure and evolution of our galaxy. Such a close connection between these domains opens a new very promising gate in our understanding of stars and galaxies. In this book international leaders in the field offer a wide perspective of the recent advancements in: Asteroseismology of red giants Models of the atmosphere, internal structure, and evolution of red giants Stellar population synthesis and models of the Milky Way

Recent state-of-the-art technologies in fabricating low-loss optical and mechanical components have significantly motivated the study of quantum-limited measurements with optomechanical devices. Such research is the main subject of this thesis. In the first part, the author considers various approaches for surpassing the standard quantum limit for force measurements. In the second part, the author proposes different experimental protocols for using optomechanical interactions to explore quantum behaviors of macroscopic mechanical objects. Even though this thesis mostly focuses on large-scale laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors and related experiments, the general approaches apply equally well for studying small-scale optomechanical devices.

The author is the winner of the 2010 Thesis prize awarded by the Gravitational Wave International Committee.

This volume covers different aspects of recent theoretical and observational work on magnetic reconnection, a fundamental plasma-physical process by which energy stored in magnetic field is converted, often explosively, into heat and kinetic energy. This collection of papers from the fields of solar and space physics, astrophysics, and laboratory plasma physics is especially timely in view of NASA's upcoming Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, which will use Earth's magetosphere as a laboratory to test, through in-situ measurement of the plasma, energetic particles, and electric and magnetic fields, the various and sometimes competing models and theories of magnetic reconnection. This volume is aimed at researchers in solar physics, magnetospheric physics and plasma physics. Previously published in Space Science Reviews journal, Vol. 160/1-4, 2011.

The principal elements of the theory of polarized light transfer in planetary atmospheres are expounded in a systematic but concise way. Basic concepts and practical methods are emphasized, both for single and multiple scattering of electromagnetic radiation by molecules and particles in the atmospheres of planets in the Solar System, including the Earth, and beyond. A large part of the book is also useful for studies of light scattering by particles in comets, the interplanetary and interstellar medium, circumstellar disks, reflection nebulae, water bodies like oceans and suspensions of particles in a gas or liquid in the laboratory.

Throughout the book symmetry principles, such as the reciprocity principle and the mirror symmetry principle, are employed. In this way the theory is made more transparent and easier to understand than in most papers on the subject. In addition, significant computational reductions, resulting from symmetry principles, are presented. Hundreds of references to relevant literature are given at the end of the book. Appendices contain supplementary information such as a general exposition on properties of matrices transforming Stokes parameters of light beams. Each chapter concludes with a number of problems with answers or hints for solution.

The readers should have some basic knowledge of physics and mathematics. The book is suitable as a textbook for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. It will also be of interest to science professionals in one of the many disciplines in which electromagnetic scattering plays an important role, like astrophysics, atmospheric optics, remote sensing, marine optics, biophysics and biomedicine.

This book overviews the extensive literature on apparent cosmological and black hole horizons. In theoretical gravity, dynamical situations such as gravitational collapse, black hole evaporation, and black holes interacting with non-trivial environments, as well as the attempts to model gravitational waves occurring in highly dynamical astrophysical processes, require that the concept of event horizon be generalized. Inequivalent notions of horizon abound in the technical literature and are discussed in this manuscript. The book begins with a quick review of basic material in the first one and a half chapters, establishing a unified notation. Chapter 2 reminds the reader of the basic tools used in the analysis of horizons and reviews the various definitions of horizons appearing in the literature. Cosmological horizons are the playground in which one should take baby steps in understanding horizon physics. Chapter 3 analyzes cosmological horizons, their proposed thermodynamics, and several coordinate systems. The remaining chapters discuss analytical solutions of the field equations of General Relativity, scalar-tensor, and f(R) gravity which exhibit time-varying apparent horizons and horizons which appear and/or disappear in pairs. An extensive bibliography enriches the volume. The intended audience is master and PhD level students and researchers in theoretical physics with knowledge of standard gravity.