At extremely low temperatures, clouds of bosonic atoms form what is known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. Recently, it has become clear that many different types of condensates -- so called fragmented condensates -- exist. In order to tell whether fragmentation occurs or not, it is necessary to solve the full many-body Schrodinger equation, a task that remained elusive for experimentally relevant conditions for many years. In this thesis the first numerically exact solutions of the time-dependent many-body Schrodinger equation for a bosonic Josephson junction are provided and compared to the approximate Gross-Pitaevskii and Bose-Hubbard theories. It is thereby shown that the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates is far more intricate than one would anticipate based on these approximations. A special conceptual innovation in this thesis are optimal lattice models. It is shown how all quantum lattice models of condensed matter physics that are based on Wannier functions, e.g. the Bose/Fermi Hubbard model, can be optimized variationally. This leads to exciting new physics."

It is perhaps surprising that a process which was one of the first to be studied on an atomic scale, and a process which first received attention over seven decades ago, continues to be the object of diverse and intense research efforts. Such is the case with the (seemingly) conceptually simple and familiar mechanism of electron impact ionization of atoms, molecules, and ions. Not only has the multi-body nature of the collision given ground to theoretical effort only grudgingly, but also the variety and subtlety of processes contributing to ionization have helped insure that progress has come only with commensurate work: no pain - no gain. Modern experimental methods have made it possible to effectively measure and explore threshold laws, differential cross sections, partial cross sections, inner-shell ionization, and the ionization of unstable species such as radicals and ions. In most instances the availability of experimental data has provided impetus and guidance for further theoretical progress."

The book aims to give an overview of the previous Sitges Conferences, which have been held during the last 25 years, with special emphasis on topics related to non-equilibrium phenomena. It includes review articles and articles dealing with new trends in the subject, written by scientists who have played an important role in the development of this area. The book is intended as a commemorative edition of the Sitges Conferences. Graduate students of physics and researchers will find this a stimulating account of the development of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics in the last years, covering a wide scope of topics: kinetic theory, hydrodynamics, fluctuation phenomena and stochastic processes, relaxation phenomena, kinetics of phase transitions, growth kinetics, and so on.

This volume brings together theoretical ideas on the plasma physics of both hot and dense plasmas in the solar atmosphere and similar physics applied to the tenuous and cooler plasmas found in the heliosphere. It is complemented by recent observations. Helioseismology covers the solar interior and the neutrino problem. Solar and stellar activity cycles are addressed. The dynamics of magnetic flux tubes in the solar atmosphere and material flows through the chromosphere into the upper atmosphere are comprehensively reviewed. Energy release processes and the production of energetic particles are important to understanding events in the solar atmosphere and to the dynamics of the tenuous heliosphere. A glimpse of the future is offered by concluding chapters on new ground-based and space instrumentation.

Few-body resonances are in the frontiers of resonance studies. Very similar problems occur in atomic and molecular physics, nuclear physics and high-energy physics. This collection presents the state of the art of the studies of resonance states in these fields and demonstrates their common methodological aspects. Most of the contributions are theoretical, but quite a few are closely linked with experiments through the data they are dealing with.

This book addresses graduate students in astronomy and astrophysics. The first part is devoted to galactic high-energy astrophysics. It treats particle accelerations (including shocks), the interstellar medium and supernovae remnants, high-energy emissions from normal stars and accretion in close binaries. The second part deals with observationslike pulsar timing, and its measurement with radioastronomical tools, and astrometry, as performed in the HIPPARCOS satellite program.

The book presents an overview on important aspects of ion irradiation of surfaces, emphasizing low impact energies. Specifically, ion penetration and implantation into solids, defect creation and amorphization of semiconductors, sputtering of elemental and multicomponent targets, and ionization processes of emitted species are discussed. It provides a synoptic view of these phenomena which are strongly interrelated by the same basic processes, but are often described separately and in diverging terminology. The book tries to bridge this gap, summarizing results from experiments, computer simulations and theoretical approaches.

These lectures review the recently developed vector coherent state method. The book is an excellent introduction to the field because of the many examples treated in detail, in particular those from nuclear and particle physics. These calculations will be welcomed by researchers and graduate students. The author reviews the concepts of coherent states of the Heisenberg algebra and shows then that the vector coherent state method maps the higher symmetry algebra into an n-dimensional harmonic oscillator algebra coupled with a simple intrinsic symmetry algebra. The formulation involves some vector (or analogous higher symmetry) coupling of the intrinsic algebra with the n-dimensional oscillator algebra, leading to matrix representations and Wigner coefficients of the higher symmetry algebra expressed in terms of simple calculable functions and recoupling coefficients for the simpler intrinsic algebra.

The recent discovery of a type II supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud provides a rare chance to compare models of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis directly with observations. This workshop covers thermonuclear reaction rates in chaos (experimental and theoretical), stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis and isotopic anomalies in meteorites and, in a final section, the supernovae, in particular SN 1987A. It brings the most interesting news in the rapidly developing field of nuclear astrophysics to researchers and also to graduate students. Recent and future developments are discussed. Special emphasis is placed on experimental and theoretical approaches to obtaining nuclear reaction rates, models of stellar evolution and explosions, and theories of nucleosynthesis. Various aspects of stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis, and thermonuclear reactions of astrophysical interest are reviewed. Several contributions deal with supernova explosions of massive stars, and in particular with Supernova 1987A and its impact on current models of the evolution of massive stars, the gravitational collapse of stellar cores, and neutrino physics and astronomy.

The volume consists of up-to-date reviews and a selection of contributed papers on subjects including the structure and physical properties of molecular clouds, their role in the star formation process, their dust and chemical properties, molecular cloud surveys of the Milky Way, cloud evolution, problems in cloud mass determinations (a panel discussion and review), the CO properties of external galaxies, nuclei of galaxies as revealed by molecular observations, and galactic spiral structure as reflected by molecular cloud distributions. The abstracts of poster papers on these topics presented at the conference are also included. This book is both a valuable reference and a compendium of current knowledge in this field. It should be of special interest to all students and researchers who work on the physics of star formation, the interstellar medium, molecular clouds and galactic structure.

This book begins with a very readable survey "The Sun Today" by J.-C. Pecker. It is followed by thorough reviews from leading experts covering theory and observations. The focus shifts from the solar core, studied via neutrino emissions and helioseismology, through the interface regions where it is believed the large-scale magnetic fields are generated, to the corona, where most of the high temperature phenomena characteristic of this region may be studied directly. As energetic particles play such a vigorous role in this part of the sun, a separate session was devoted to their transport and storage in the corona.

This set of survey talks presented to graduate students serves as a thorough exposition of the subject. The study of complex fluids (with internal structure) is important for theoretical purposes but also, and maybe even more so, for applied research. The reader will find papers on colloid mixtures, the structure of DNA mesophases, ferrofluids, chain dynamics, liquid crystals, computer simulations of macromolecules, fluidization, emulsions, relaxations and many other related topics.

The manuscript tackles one of the most interesting branches of plasma phys ics, the electrodynamics of the plasma. 99% of matter in the universe occur in the plasma state, - e. g., stars, gaseous nebulae, interstellar gas. The plasma also widely occurs on earth. Thus, the ionosphere protects human beings from the destroying effects of the solar radiation and provides the long distance radio communication. Plasmas also show up in metals and semicon ductors, and it is difficult to overestimate their importance in our everyday life. But even more important is that the power engineering of the future is connected with plasmas since the plasma is the fuel for thermonuclear reca tions and a practically unlimited source of energy harmless to the environ ment. For the description of a hot plasma a unique logically complete and consistent theoretical model has been developed on the basis of the Maxwell Vlasov equations. We tried to carry this idea through the entire text, which aims to present an orderly exposition of electromagnetic properties of the plasma within the Maxwell-Vlasov model. Both linear and nonlinear elec trodynamics of the plasma are presented. The first part (Chap. 1-5) deals with the linear electromagnetic properties of the plasma in thermodynamic equilibrium. The basic equations of the Maxwell-Vlasov model are introduced and the properties of the plasma in equilibrium are studied in the linear approximation of the electromagnetic field. The second part (Chaps."

The ENAM2001 Conference was held on July 2-7, 2001 at the Rantasipi Aulanko Hotel in Hameenlinna in southern Finland. The conference was organized by the Department of Physics and the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyvaskyla with support from the Physics Departments of the Universities of Helsinki and Turku. This conference, Exotic Nuclei and Atomic Masses has now gained the status of a major nuclear physics serial conference. The previous conference was held in Bellaire, Michigan, USA. The conference was first held in 1967 in Lysekil, Sweden, then entitled Conference on Nuclei Far from Stability. ENAM2001 welcomed 270 participants from 34 countries, including 17 accompanying per sons. The content of the program was selected based on the advice of the International Advisory Committee. The Committee members read and considered 253 submitted abstracts in selecting oral contributions. During the conference week 76 invited and oral talks were given. The rest of the contributions were presented in dedicated poster sessions. Many thanks go to the speakers of oral and poster presentations for their enthusiasm and for the high quality of their work which demonstrated the liveliness of the field. Participation in the lectures was high and contributions from the audience were important towards the success of this conference. The organizers would like to especially thank Cary Davids of Argonne National Laboratory for his comprehensive summary talk, which is also included in these Proceedings.

The study of the magnetic fields of the Earth and Sun, as well as those of other planets, stars, and galaxies, has a long history and a rich and varied literature, including in recent years a number of review articles and books dedicated to the dynamo theories of these fields. Against this background of work, some explanation of the scope and purpose of the present monograph, and of the presentation and organization of the material, is therefore needed. Dynamo theory offers an explanation of natural magnetism as a phenomenon of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), the dynamics governing the evolution and interaction of motions of an electrically conducting fluid and electromagnetic fields. A natural starting point for a dynamo theory assumes the fluid motion to be a given vector field, without regard for the origin of the forces which drive it. The resulting kinematic dynamo theory is, in the non-relativistic case, a linear advection-diffusion problem for the magnetic field. This kinematic theory, while far simpler than its magnetohydrodynamic counterpart, remains a formidable analytical problem since the interesting solutions lack the easiest symmetries. Much ofthe research has focused on the simplest acceptable flows and especially on cases where the smoothing effect of diffusion can be exploited. A close analog is the advection and diffusion of a scalar field by laminar flows, the diffusion being measured by an appropriate Peclet number. This work has succeeded in establishing dynamo action as an attractive candidate for astrophysical magnetism.

The fifteenth European Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics has taken place during the week of June 5th to 9th, in the lovely village of Peniscola, approximately midway between Barcelona and Valencia on the Mediterranean coast. This conference continues the tradition initiated in 1972 at Budapest, where the first conference took place, and followed in Graz (1973), Tiibingen (1975), Vlieland (1976), Uppsala (1977), Dubna (1979), Sesimbra (1980), Fer- rara (1981), Tbilisi (1984), Fontevraud (1987), Uzhgorod (1990), Elba (1991) and Amsterdam (1993). During this week, a total of one hundred and fifty one scientist were exchang- ing their knowledge and initiatives in this broad field of Few-Body Physics. Even if the name of the conference restricts its domain to Europe, there has been an important participation of scientists from non-European countries. A conference with more than twenty years of tradition is already an au- tonomous being, with a noticeable inertia. Nevertheless, it is a reasonable thought to bend this inertia trying to introduce some innovation, of course, without any damage to the basic structure and objectives of the conference.

A Nobel Foundation Symposium on the subject: "Nonlinear Effects 1n Plasmas," was held at Aspenasgarden, Lerum, in the G6teborg area of Sweden from June 11-17, 1976. The Symposium was the 36th in the series of Nobel Foundation Symposia, which have been held mainly within the areas of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace prizes. Some 30 leading experts from the United States, Soviet Union, Japan and Western Europe attended the Symposium. The purpose of the Symposium was to discuss various topics in the field of modern plasma physics. We had to select from this vast area of active research a suitable common theme with a great number of new and interesting contributions. We decided to devote our Sym posium in particular to nonlinear effects in plasmas and to emphasize some areas where important developments seemed to be taking place. In recent years basic theory and experiments in nonlinear plasma physics have been stimulated largely by the need for an energy source based on fusion of light nuclei. In many laboratories all over the world attempts are being made to come closer to the final goal by studying magnetically confined plasmas and systems of inertial con finement. Heating of plasmas to fusion temperatures remains a key problem. There are good reasons to believe that the nonlinear effects in plasmas will play an important role for fusion, a long-range program which is still largely in its basic research phase."

This volume reports recent development in nuclear structure physics and closely related topics. Particularly, it centers on new methodologies and recent applications of the nuclear shell model such as quantum Monte Carlo methods, large-scale shell model calculations and microscopic theories of effective interactions. Each review focuses on one fundamental topic closely related to the nuclear shell model. Each topic is covered in sufficient depth and detail to be accessible to a wide audience including nuclear engineers and astrophysicists and those working in various fields of scientific computing and modelling.

This is the first volume of a series on a regular up-to-date coverage of important developments in astronomy and astrophysics jointly published by ESO and Springer-Verlag. Here the reader finds a thorough review of the abundances of the elements up to Boron. Special emphasis is laid on primordial abundances of interest to cosmologists in particular, and on stellar production or destruction respectively. The articles written for researchers and graduate students cover theory and most recent data from telescope observations.

In this book, a number of the world's leading researchers in quantum, classical and atomic physics cooperate to present an up-to-date account of the recent progress in the field. The first part highlights the latest advances in semiclassical theory, whilst the second one is devoted to applications to atomic systems. The authors present the material in pedagogical form to make it easy reading for non-specialists, too. Among the topics treated, the reader will find a new quasiclassical quantization scheme for Hamiltonian dynamics, an application of the semiclassical formalism to photodissociation of small molecules and to the Lorentz gas and discussions of tunneling corrections. Furthermore, one finds papers on chaotic ionization, on the behaviour of hydrogen atoms in external fields, e.g. magnetic or microwave fields.