This volume contains papers presented at the 6th International Workshop on Application of Lasers in Atomic Nuclei Research, LASER 2006, held in Poznan, Poland, May 29-June 01, 2006. Researchers and PhD students interested in recent results in the nuclear structure investigation by laser spectroscopy, the progress of the experimental technique and the future developments in the field will find this volume indispensable.

Launching of the Coral Gables Conferences on High Energy Physics and Cosmology: The Launching of the Coral Gables Conferences on High Energy Physics and Cosmology and the Establishment of the Center for Theoretical Studies at the University of Miami; B.N. Kursunoglu. Neutrino Physics: Neutrino Oscillations at Accelerators; F. Vannucci. KARMEN: Present Neutrino Oscillation Limits and Perspectives after the Upgrade; G. Drexlin. Progress on New and Old Ideas: Exotic Hadrons; D.B. Lichtenberg. Orthogonal Mixing and CP Violation; P.H. Frampton. Round Trip Between Cosmology and Elementary Particles: Physics of Mass; B.N. Kursunoglu. Progress and Prospects in the Direct Search for Supersymmetric and Dark Matter Particles; D.B. Cline. Gauge Symmetries, Gravity and Srings: Gauge Symmetry in Fivebrane Conformal Field Theory; L. Dolan. Exact Local Supersymmetry Absence of Superpartners and Noncommutative; F. Mansouri. Light Cone Quantization: Adjoint QCD2 in Large N; S. Pinsky. Nonperturbative Renormalization in Light-Cone Quantization; J.R.Hiller. Current Experiments in High Energy Physics: Search for New Particles with DELPHI at LEP2; W. Adam. W Physics Results from DELPHI; H.T. Phillips. 8 Additional Articles. Index.

The search for examples of proton radioactivity has resulted in the discovery of a large number of proton emitters in the region 50 < Z < 84 [1]. Many of these proton emitters and their daughters are also a-emitters, and in some cases the a-decay chain from the daughter terminates on a nuclide closer to stability whose mass excess is known. This opens up the possibility of using a-and proton-decay Q-values to determine the mass excesses of a large group of nuclei connected by particle decay. The Q-values are derived from the measured kinetic energies of the emitted protons or a-particles. Where the decay chains are not connected to nuclei with known mass excesses, proton separation energies can be measured in some cases and derived in others. For the a-decay ofthe parent nucleus (Z, A) to the daughter (Z - 2, A - 4), the energy and momentum relations used to convert between Q-value, mass (M) and mass excess (ME) are: M(4He)E", (1) M(Z - 2, A - 4)Erecoil, (2) Q", E", + Erecoi\, ME(Z, A) Q", + ME(Z - 2, A - 4) + ME(4He). (3) In practice, one uses M(4He) ~ 4 and M(Z - 2, A - 4) (A - 4), so that Equation (3) becomes ME(Z, A) = E", (_A_) + ME(Z - 2, A - 4) + ME(4He). (4) A -4 Similarly, for protons, we have ME(Z, A) = Ep(_A_) +ME(Z - 1, A-I) +ME(lH).

Powerful new techniques, including heavy ion and exotic beams, are pushing the frontiers of nuclear physics and opening up a wealth of new fields of research. After introductory chapters on theoretical and experimental aspects of nuclear collisions and beams, Exotic Nuclear Physics'' offers articles by experienced lecturers on forefront topics in nuclear physics, such as the conquest of the neutron and the proton drip-lines, nuclear astrophysics, the equation of state of hypernuclear matter, nuclear supersymmetry and chaotic motion in nuclei. This volume continues the successful tradition of published lecture notes from the Hispalensis International Summer School. It will benefit graduate students and lecturers in search of advanced material for self-study and courses as will as researchers in search of a modern and comprehensive source of reference.

Advances in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics publishesreviews ofrecent developments ina field which is in a state of rapid growth, as new experimental and theoretical techniques are used on many old and new problems. Topics covered include related applied areas, such as atmospheric science, astrophysics, surface physics and laser physics. Articles are written by distinguished experts, and contain both relevant review material and detailed descriptions of important recent developments.
International experts
Comprehensive articles
New developments"

Over the years, many leading European graduate schools in the field of astrophysical and space plasmas have operated within the framework of the research network, "Theory, Observations, and Simulations in Turbulence in Space Plasmas." This text is a set of lectures and tutorial reviews culled from the relevant work of all those schools. It emphasizes applications on solar coronae, solar flares, and the solar wind.

In bridging the gap between standard textbook material and state-of-the-art research, this text offers a broad flavor to postgraduate and postdoctoral students just coming to the field. And because of its unique mix, it will also be useful to lecturers looking for advanced teaching material for their seminars and courses.

This book covers the fundamental aspects of fiber lasers and fiber amplifiers, and includes a wide range of material from laser physics fundamentals to state-of-the-art topics in this rapidly growing field of quantum electronics. This expanded and updated new edition includes substantial new material on nonlinear frequency conversion and Raman fiber lasers and amplifiers, as well as an expanded list of references inclusive of the recent literature in the field. Emphasis is placed on the nonlinear processes taking place in fiber lasers and amplifiers, their similarities, differences to, and their advantages over other solid-state lasers. The reader will learn the basic principles of solid-state physics and optical spectroscopy of laser active centers in fibers, the main operational laser regimes, and will receive practical recommendations and suggestions on fiber laser research, laser applications, and laser product development. The book will be useful for students, researchers, and professional physicists and engineers who work with lasers in the optical and telecommunications field, as well as those in the chemical and biological industries.

Overview: Big Bang in the Laboratory; H.H. Gutbrod, J. Rafelski. Physics of Relativistic Nuclear Collisions; I. Otterlund. Towards the LHC; P. Giubellino. Hot Hadronic Matter: Fireball Spectra; U. Heinz, et al. Quark Matter in Equilibrium; F. Karsch. Towards Dynamical Theoretical Description: Cascade Models and Particle Production; J. Cugnon. Relativistic Hydrodynamics and Flavor Flow; L. Csernai, et al. Quark-Gluon Plasma Formation in UltraRelativistic Heavy Ion Collisions; K. Geiger. Diagnostic Methods and Recent Results: A Pedestrian's Guide to Particle Interferometry; W.A. Zajc. Strangeness in Ultrarelativistic NucleusNucleus Collisions; E. Quercigh. On the Trail of Quark-Gluon Plasma; J. Rafelski. Epilogue: The Quark-Gluon Plasma; P.A. Carruthers. 20 additional articles. Index.

Taking an individual approach, this book focuses on the concepts underlying chemical physics. It presents the essence of a connected theory rather than mere explanations of apparently unrelated facts, helping readers to understand chemical phenomena in terms of the most fundamental laws of physics.

In 1954, Charles Townes invented the laser's microwave cousin, the maser. The next logical step was to extend the same physical principles to the shorter wavelengths of light, but the idea did not catch fire until October 1957, when Townes asked Gordon Gould about Gould's research on using light to excite thallium atoms. Each took the idea and ran with it. The independent-minded Gould sought the fortune of an independent inventor; the professorial Townes sought the fame of scientific recognition. Townes enlisted the help of his brother-in-law, Arthur Schawlow, and got Bell Labs into the race. Gould turned his ideas into a patent application and a million-dollar defense contract. They soon had company. Ali Javan, one of Townes's former students, began pulling 90-hour weeks at Bell Labs with colleague Bill Bennett. And far away in California a bright young physicist named Ted Maiman became a very dark horse in the race. While Schawlow proclaimed that ruby could never make a laser, Maiman slowly convinced himself it would. As others struggled with recalcitrant equipment and military secrecy, Maiman built a tiny and elegant device that fit in the palm of his hand. His ruby laser worked the first time he tried it, on May 16, 1960, but afterwards he had to battle for acceptance as the man who made the first laser. Beam is a fascinating tale of a remarkable and powerful invention that has become a symbol of modern technology.

This book offers a modern way of dealing with the problems of equilibrium states of Bose systems. Starting with the variation principle of statistical mechanics and the energy-entropy balance principle as equilibrium criteria, results for general boson systems and models are explicitly derived using simple functional analytic calculus.

Bridging the gap between general theoretical physics and the phenomenological research in the field of Bose systems, this book provides an insight into the fascinating quantum world of bosons. Key topics include the occurrence of BEC and its intimate structural relation with the phenomena of spontaneous symmetry breaking and off-diagonal long range order; the condensate equation; the issue concerning the choice of boundary conditions; solvable versus non-solvable boson models; the set of quasi-free boson states; the role of dissipative perturbations; and the surprising but general relation between general quantum fluctuations and boson systems.

Only some knowledge of quantum mechanics and undergraduate algebra and analysis is assumed. This textbook brings students and researchers smoothly from general concepts to vivid applications.

Researchers, postgraduate and undergraduate students of high energy physics

This book illustrates the significance of various optical spectroscopy and microscopy techniques, including absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy for deciphering the nature of biological molecules. The content of this book chiefly focuses on (1) the principle, theory, and instrumentation used in different optical spectroscopy techniques, and (2) the application of these techniques in exploring the nature of different biomolecules (e.g., proteins, nucleic acids, enzymes, and carbohydrates). It emphasizes the structural, conformational and dynamic, and kinetic including the changes in biomolecules under a range of conditions. In closing, the book summarizes recent advances in the field of optical spectroscopic and microscopic techniques.

Some countries have moved beyond the design and operation of nuclear electricity generating systems to confronting the issue of nuclear waste disposal, whole others are still committed to further nuclear facility construction. Volume 24 chronicles these key developments and examines nuclear reactor accidents at Chernobyl, Bhopal, and TMI. The text also analyzes current international knowledge of neutron interactions; deterministic methods based on mean values for assessing radiation distributions; practical applications of the TIBERE models to explicit computation of leakage terms in realistic reactor geometry; and a technique to deal with the issues of finance, risk assessment, and public perception.

To all four of us, Carsten was the best possible friend and colleague. To Finn, he was a fellow student in the history of science for several years at the Niels Bohr Institute; to Relge, he was a welcome resource for personal and intellectual interac tion in an otherwise less than fertile environment for the history of science; Roger was Carsten's friend and advisor, not least in the development of the dissertation on which the present book is based; and as director of the Niels Bohr Archive, Erik was his main advisor in his historical work. Because he was the person closest to Carsten's work on his Ph. D. dissertation on the history of beta decay, on which the present book is based, it is only fitting that Erik stands as single author of the words in Carsten's memory at the very beginning of this book. Before his untimely death shortly after the completion of the Ph. D. disser tation, Carsten had himself plans to develop the dissertation into a book. Being a true perfectionist, he wanted to rework the manuscript substantively, especially with regard to relating it to the broader discussion among historians of science."

This thesis is a tour-de-force combination of analytic and computational results clarifying and resolving important questions about the nature of quantum phase transitions in one- and two-dimensional magnetic systems. The author presents a comprehensive study of a low-dimensional spin-half quantum antiferromagnet (the J-Q model) in the presence of a magnetic field in both one and two dimensions, demonstrating the causes of metamagnetism in such systems and providing direct evidence of fractionalized excitations near the deconfined quantum critical point. In addition to describing significant new research results, this thesis also provides the non-expert with a clear understanding of the nature and importance of computational physics and its role in condensed matter physics as well as the nature of phase transitions, both classical and quantum. It also contains an elegant and detailed but accessible summary of the methods used in the thesis-exact diagonalization, Monte Carlo, quantum Monte Carlo and the stochastic series expansion-that will serve as a valuable pedagogical introduction to students beginning in this field.

This PhD sought to determine the mechanisms for the reactor explosions by mapping, collecting and analysing samples from across the area of Japan that received radioactive fallout from the explosions. In doing this, the author conducted significant fieldwork in the restricted-access fallout zone using ground and novel UAV-based mapping of radiation to identify hot-spot areas for sample collecting but also using these tools to verify the efficacy of the clean-up operations ongoing in the prefecture. Such fieldwork was both technically pioneering for its use of UAVs (drones) but also selfless in terms of bravely entering a nuclear danger area to collect samples for the greater benefit of the scientific community.

Volume 1 of this three-part series introduces the fundamental concepts of quantum field theory using the formalism of canonical quantization. This volume is intended for use as a text for an introductory quantum field theory course that can include both particle and condensed matter physics students. Dr. Strickland starts with a brief review of classical field theory and uses this as a jumping off point for the quantization of classical field, thereby promoting them to proper quantum fields. He then presents the formalism for real and complex scalar field theories, fermion field quantization, gauge field quantization, toy models of the nuclear interaction, and finally the full Lagrangian for QED and its renormalization. Part of IOP Series in Nuclear Medicine.

This collection of lectures treats the dynamics of open systems with a strong emphasis on dissipation phenomena related to dynamical chaos. This research area is very broad, covering topics such as nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, environment-system coupling (decoherence) and applications of Markov semi-groups to name but a few. The book addresses not only experienced researchers in the field but also nonspecialists from related areas of research, postgraduate students wishing to enter the field and lecturers searching for advanced textbook material.

This thesis makes significant advances in the quantitative understanding of two intrinsically linked yet technically very different phenomena in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Firstly, the thesis investigates the soft probe of strong interaction topological fluctuations in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) which is made possible via the anomalous chiral transport effects induced by such fluctuations. Here, the author makes contributions towards establishing the first comprehensive tool for quantitative prediction of the chiral magnetic effect in the QGP that is produced in heavy ion collision experiments. Secondly, the thesis deals with the hard probe of strongly coupled QGP created in heavy-ion collisions. In particular, this study addresses the basic question related to the nonperturbative color structure in the QGP via jet energy loss observables. The author further develops the CUJET computational model for jet quenching and uses it to analyze the topological degrees of freedom in quark-gluon plasma. The contributions this thesis makes towards these highly-challenging problems have already generated widespread impacts in the field of quark-gluon plasma and high-energy nuclear collisions.

Multiply charged ions have always been in the focus of atomic physics, astrophysics, plasma physics, and theoretical physics. Within the last few years, strong progress has been achieved in the development of ion sources, ion storage rings, ion traps, and methods to cool ions. As a consequence, nowadays, experiments with ensembles of multiply charged ions of brilliant quality are performed in many laboratories. The broad spectrum of the experiments demonstrates that these ions are an extremely versatile tool for investigations in pure and applied physics. It was the aim of this ASI to bring together scientists working in different fields of research with multiply charged ions in order to get an overview of the state of the art, to sound out possibilities for fruitful cooperations, and to discuss perspectives for the future. Accordingly, the programme of the ASI reached from established areas like QED calculations, weak interactions, x-ray astronomy, x-ray lasers, multi photon excitation, heavy-ion induced fusion, and ion-surface interactions up to the very recently opened areas like bound-beta decay, laser and x-ray spectroscopy, and spectrometry of ions in rings and traps, and the interaction of highly charged ions with biological cells. Impressive progress in nearly all of the fields could be reported during the meeting which is documented by the contributions to this volume. The theoretical understand ing of QED and correlation effects in few-electron heavy ions is rapidly developing."

This thesis presents two significant results in the field of precision measurements in low-energy nuclear physics. Firstly, it presents a precise half-life determination of 11C, leading to the most precise ft-value for a beta decay transition between mirror nuclides, an important advance in the testing of the electroweak sector of the Standard Model. Secondly, it describes a high-precision mass measurement of 56Cu, a critical nucleus for determining the path of the astrophysical rapid-proton capture process, performed by the author using the LEBIT Penning trap at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. This new measurement resolves discrepancies in previously-reported calculated mass excesses. In addition, the thesis also presents the construction and testing of a radio-frequency quadrupole cooler and buncher that will be part of the future N = 126 factory at Argonne National Laboratory aimed at producing nuclei of interest for the astrophysical rapid-neutron capture process for the first time.

Theoretical and experimental studies of phase transitions are at the forefront of modern condensed-matter physics. The seminal insight into the role played by fluctuations led to the renormalization group, an approach that has proved extremely useful in many other fields as well. This text considers a wide variety of problems in the theory of phase transitions, revealing their common features as well as their distinctions. Formal aspects are developed as required in discussions of particular systems, and theory is compared to experiment wherever possible. This book begins with a review of the classical approach, including the main aspects of a self-consistent treatment of systems with broken symmetry and a discussion of the Ginzburg-Landau functional. It then turns to a treatment of the renormalization group, discussing both Wilson's formulation based on Kadanoff's scale invariance as well as the approach using field theory. The authors then turn to a generalized approach using scale equations, which eliminates many of the problems of the other formulations. Subsequent chapters discuss applications of this approach: first to simple models; then to more realistic systems such as complex Heisenberg magnets, antiferromagnets, ferroelectrics, impure systems, and high-T(subscript c) superconductors. Finally, in the last two chapters many of these systems are analyzed within the framework of exactly solvable models. Suitable for advanced undergraduates as well as graduate students in physics, the text assumes some knowledge of statistical mechanics, but is otherwise self-contained.

My aim in this book has been to give an account of the theoretical methods of analysis of multiphoton processes in atomic physics. In this account I have emphasized systematic methods as opposed to ad hoc approaches. Both perturbative and nonperturbative methods are presented with il- lustrative results of concrete applications. The perturbation theory is the primary tool of analysis of nonresonant multiphoton processes. It is developed here in conjunction with a diagrammatic language and is also renormalized to free it from the unwanted divergences which accompany the ordinary treatment when higher-order corrections are considered. The nonperturbative methods (i.e., methods other than that of power series ex- pansion in the field strength) become particularly important for consistent treatments of problems involving, for example, intermediate resonances, high field strengths, and finite pulse duration. The specifically nonpertur- bative methods for multiphoton transitions are presented in Chapters 6-11. The methods of resolvent equations and of effective Hamiltonians are developed for both the stationary and the time-dependent fields. The densi- ty matrix method is presented in conjunction with the problems of relaxa- tion and of fluctuating fields. The Floquet theory is presented both in the energy domain and in the time domain. Also treated are the methods of continued fractions, recursive iterative equations, and chain Hamiltonians.