This volume continues the tradition of the Advances series. It contains contributions from experts in the field of atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics. The articles contain some review material, but are intended to provide a comprehensive picture of recent important developments in AMO physics. Both theoretical and experimental articles are included in the volume.
- International experts
- Comprehensive articles
- New developments

In the50years since the first volume of "Progress in Optics" was published, optics has become one of the most dynamic fields of science. The volumes in this series that have appeared up to now contain more than 300 review articles by distinguished research workers, which have become permanent records for many important developments, helping optical scientists and optical engineers stay abreast of their fields.
Comprehensive, in-depth reviewsEdited by the leading authority in the fieldQ1 in Thomson JCR ranking"

Ray, wave and quantum concepts are central to diverse and seemingly incompatible models of light. Each model particularizes a specific ''manifestation'' of light, and then corresponds to adequate physical assumptions and formal approximations, whose domains of applicability are well-established. Accordingly each model comprises its own set of geometric and dynamic postulates with the pertinent mathematical means.
At a basic level, the book is a complete introduction to the Wigner optics, which bridges between ray and wave optics, offering the optical phase space as the ambience and the Wigner function based technique as the mathematical machinery to accommodate between the two opposite extremes of light representation: the localized ray of geometrical optics and the unlocalized wave function of wave optics.
At a parallel level, the analogies with other branches of both classical and quantum physics, like classical and quantum mechanics, quantum optics, signal theory as well as magnetic optics, are evidenced by pertinent comments and/or rigorous mathematics. So, the Lie algebra and group methods are introduced and explained through the elementary optical systems within both the ray and wave optics contexts, the former being related to the symplectic group and the latter to the metaplectic group. In a like manner, the Wigner function is introduced by following the original issue to individualize a phase space representation of quantum mechanics, which is mirrored by the issue to individualize a local frequency spectrum within the signal theory context.
The basic analogy with the optics of charged particles inherently underlying the ray-optics picture in phase space is also evidenced within the wave-optics picture in the Wigner phase space.
. amalgamation of a great deal of contributions having witnessed the phase space picture of optics over the past 30 years
. introduces abstract concepts through concrete systems
. hosts of figures and logical diagrams to favour intuition and to introduce mathematics
. emphasis on the interrelations with quantum optics, signal theory and magnetic optics
. feeds a feeling for genuine issues in higher mathematics and theoretical physics"

Quantum Mechanics of Non-Hamiltonian and Dissipative Systems is self-contained and can be used by students without a previous course in modern mathematics and physics. The book describes the modern structure of the theory, and covers the fundamental results of last 15 years. The book has been recommended by Russian Ministry of Education as the textbook for graduate students and has been used for graduate student lectures from 1998 to 2006.
Requires no preliminary knowledge of graduate and advanced mathematics
Discusses the fundamental results of last 15 years in this theory
Suitable for courses for undergraduate students as well as graduate students and specialists in physics mathematics and other sciences

Bacon and Osetsky present an atomistic model of dislocation-particle interactions in metal systems, including irradiated materials. This work is important in simulating actual behavior, removing earlier reliance on assumed mechanisms for dislocation motion. New mechanisms for dislocation generation under shock loading are presented by Meyers et al. These models provide a basis for understanding the constitutive behavior of shocked material. Saada and Dirras provide a new perspective on the Hall-Petch relation, with particular emphasis on nanocrystals. Of particular significance, deviations from the traditional stress proportional to the square-root of grain size relation are explained. Robertson et al consider a number of effects of hydrogen on plastic flow and provide a model that provides an explanation of the broad range of properties. .
Flow stress of metal systems with particle hardening, including radiation effects
New model for dislocation kinetics under shock loading
Explanation of effects of nanoscale grain size on strength
Mechanism of hydrogen embrittlement in metal alloys

Conducting polymers were discovered in 1970s in Japan. Since this discovery, there has been a steady flow of new ideas, new understanding, new conducing polymer (organics) structures and devices with enhanced performance. Several breakthroughs have been made in the design and fabrication technology of the organic devices. Almost all properties, mechanical, electrical, and optical, are important in organics. This book describes the recent advances in these organic materials and devices.

This book is devoted to an important branch of the dynamical systems theory: the study of the fine (fractal) structure of Poincare recurrences -instants of time when the system almost repeats its initial state. The authors were able to write an entirely self-contained text including many insights and examples, as well as providing complete details of proofs. The only prerequisites are a basic knowledge of analysis and topology. Thus this book can serve as a graduate text or self-study guide for courses in applied mathematics or nonlinear dynamics (in the natural sciences). Moreover, the book can be used by specialists in applied nonlinear dynamics following the way in the book. The authors applied the mathematical theory developed in the book to two important problems: distribution of Poincare recurrences for nonpurely chaotic Hamiltonian systems and indication of synchronization regimes in coupled chaotic individual systems.

* Portions of the book were published in an article that won the title "month's new hot paper in the field of Mathematics" in May 2004
* Rigorous mathematical theory is combined with important physical applications
* Presents rules for immediate action to study mathematical models of real systems
* Contains standard theorems of dynamical systems theory

"Semiconductors and Semimetals" has distinguished itself through the careful selection of well-known authors, editors, and contributors. Originally widely known as the "Willardson and Beer" Series, it has succeeded in publishing numerous landmark volumes and chapters. The series publishes timely, highly relevant volumes intended for long-term impact and reflecting the truly interdisciplinary nature of the field. The volumes in "Semiconductors and Semimetals" have been and will continue to be of great interest to physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and device engineers in academia, scientific laboratories and modern industry.
The series publishes timely, highly relevant volumes intended for long-term impact and reflecting the truly interdisciplinary nature of the field.

Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics merges two long-running serials-Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics and Advances in Optical and Electron Microscopy. This series features extended articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.

Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics/B> merges two long-running serials-Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics and Advances in Optical and Electron Microscopy. This series features extended articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.

The sixteen papers collected in this volume are expanded and revised versions of talks delivered at the Second International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime, organized by the International Society for the Advanced Study of Spacetime (John Earman, President) at Concordia University (Montreal) from 9 to 11 June 2006.
Most chapters are devoted to subjects directly relating to the ontology of spacetime.
The book starts with four papers that discuss the ontological status of spacetime and the processes occurring in it from a point of view that is first of all conceptual and philosophical. The focus then slightly shifts in the five papers that follow, to considerations more directly involving technical considerations from relativity theory. After this, Time, Becoming and Change take centre stage in the next five papers. The book ends with two excursions into relatively uncharted territory: a consideration of the status of Kaluza-Klein theory, and an investigation of possible relations between the nature of spacetime and condensed matter physics, respectively.
- Space and time in present-day physics and philosophy
- Relatively low level of technicality, easily accessible
- Introduction from scratch of the debates surrounding time
- Broad spectrum of approaches, coherently represented

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) has become the technique of choice for many areas of radiation dosimetry. The technique is finding widespread application in a variety of radiation dosimetry fields, including personal monitoring, environmental monitoring, retrospective dosimetry (including geological dating and accident dosimetry), space dosimetry, and many more. In this book we have attempted to synthesize the major advances in the field, covering both fundamental understanding and the many applications. The latter serve to demonstrate the success and popularity of OSL as a dosimetry method.

The book is designed for researchers and radiation dosimetry practitioners alike. It delves into the detailed theory of the process from the point of view of stimulated relaxation phenomena, describing the energy storage and release processes phenomenologically and developing detailed mathematical descriptions to enable a quantitative understanding of the observed phenomena. The various stimulation modes (continuous wave, pulsed, or linear modulation) are introduced and compared. The properties of the most important synthetic OSL materials beginning with the dominant carbon-doped Al2O3, and moving through discussions of other, less-well studied but nevertheless important, or potentially important, materials. The OSL properties of the two most important natural OSL dosimetry material types, namely quartz and feldspars are discussed in depth. The applications chapters deal with the use of OSL in personal, environmental, medical and UV dosimetry, geological dating and retrospective dosimetry (accident dosimetry and dating). Finally the developments in instrumentation that have occurred over the past decade or more are described.

The book will find use in those laboratories within academia, national institutes and the private sector where research and applications in radiation dosimetry using luminescence are being conducted. Potential readers include personnel involved in radiation protection practice and research, hospitals, nuclear power stations, radiation clean-up and remediation, food irradiation and materials processing, security monitoring, geological and archaeological dating, luminescence studies of minerals, etc.

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics " merges two long-running serials--"Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics" and "Advances in Optical and Electron Microscopy."
This series features extended articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
* Contributions from leading international scholars and industry experts
* Discusses hot topic areas and presents current and future research trends
* Invaluable reference and guide for physicists, engineers and mathematicians

The scientific program of these important proceedings was arranged to cover most of the field of neutrino physics. In light of the rapid growth of interest stimulated by new interesting results from the field, more than half of the papers presented here are related to the neutrino mass and oscillations, including atmospheric and solar neutrino studies. Neutrino mass and oscillations could imply the existence of a mass scale many orders of magnitudes higher than presented in current physics and will probably guide scientists beyond the standard model of particle physics.

Since its inception in 1966, the series of numbered volumes known as "Semiconductors and Semimetals" has distinguished itself through the careful selection of well-known authors, editors, and contributors. The "Willardson and Beer" Series, as it is widely known, has succeeded in publishing numerous landmark volumes and chapters. Not only did many of these volumes make an impact at the time of their publication, but they continue to be well-cited years after their original release. Recently, Professor Eicke R. Weber of the University of California at Berkeley joined as a co-editor of the series. Professor Weber, a well-known expert in the field of semiconductor materials, will further contribute to continuing the series' tradition of publishing timely, highly relevant, and long-impacting volumes. Some of the recent volumes, such as "Hydrogen in Semiconductors, Imperfections in III/V Materials, Epitaxial Microstructures, High-Speed Heterostructure Devices, Oxygen in Silicon, " and others promise that this tradition will be maintained and even expanded. Reflecting the truly interdisciplinary nature of the field that the series covers, the volumes in "Semiconductors and Semimetals" have been and will continue to be of great interest to physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and device engineers in modern industry.
Written and edited by internationally renowned expertsRelevant to a wide readership: physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and device engineers in academia, scientific laboratories and modern industry

Intelligent systems are required to enhance the capacities being made available to us by the internet and other computer based technologies. The theory necessary to help providing solutions to difficult problems in the construction of intelligent systems are discussed. In particular, attention is paid to situations in which the available information and data may be imprecise, uncertain, incomplete or of a linguistic nature. Various methodologies to manage such information are discussed. Among these are the probabilistic, possibilistic, fuzzy, logical, evidential and network-based frameworks.

One purpose of the book is not to consider these methodologies separately, but rather to consider how they can be used cooperatively to better represent the multiplicity of modes of information. Topics in the book include representation of imperfect knowledge, fundamental issues in uncertainty, reasoning, information retrieval, learning and mining, as well as various applications.

Key Features:

Tools for construction of intelligent systems
Contributions by world leading experts
Fundamental issues and applications
New technologies for web searching
Methods for modeling uncertain information
Future directions in web technologies
Transversal to methods and domains

"

This is a practical textbook written for use by engineers, scientists and technicians. It is not intended to be a rigorous scientific treatment of the subject material, as this would fill several volumes. Rather, it introduces the reader to the fundamentals of the subject material, and provides sufficient references for an in-depth study of the subject by the interested technologist. The author has a lifetime teaching credential in the California Community College System. Also, he has taught technical courses with the American Vacuum Society for about 35 years. Students attending many of these classes have backgrounds varying from high-school graduates to Ph.D.s in technical disciplines. This is an extremely difficult class profile to teach. This book still endeavors to reach this same audience. Basic algebra is required to master most of the material. But, the calculus is used in derivation of some of the equations. The author risks use of the first person "I," instead of "the author," and "you" instead of "the reader." Both are thought to be in poor taste when writing for publication in the scientific community. However, "I" am writing this book for "you" because the subject is exciting, and I enjoy teaching you, perhaps, something new. The book is written more in the vein of a "one-on-one" discussion with you, rather than the author lecturing to the reader. There are anecdotes, and examples of some failures and successes I have had over the last forty-five years in vacuum related activities, I'll try not to understate either.
Lastly, there are a few equations which if memorised will help you as a vacuum technician. There are less than a dozen equations and half that many "rules of thumb" to memorize, which will be drawn on time an again in designing, operating and trouble-shooting any vacuum system.

New models for dislocation structure and motion are presented for nanocrystals, nucleation at grain boundaries, shocked crystals, interphase interfaces, quasicrystals, complex structures with non-planar dislocation cores, and colloidal crystals. A review of experimentally established main features of the magnetoplastic effect with their physical interpretation explains many diverse results of this type. The model has many potential applications for forming processes influenced by magnetic fields.
Dislocation model for the magnetoplastic effect
New mechanism for dislocation nucleation and motion in nanocrystals
New models for the dislocation structure of interfaces between crystals with differing crystallographic structure
A unified view of dislocations in quasicrystals, with a new model for dislocation motion
A general model of dislocation behavior in crystals with non-planar dislocation cores
Dislocation properties at high velocities
Dislocations in colloidal crystals"

This book contains selected papers from the First International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime. Its fourteen chapters address two main questions: first, what is the current status of the substantivalism/relationalism debate, and second, what about the prospects of presentism and becoming within present-day physics and its philosophy? The overall tenor of the four chapters of the book's first part is that the prospects of spacetime substantivalism are bleak, although different possible positions remain with respect to the ontological status of spacetime. Part II and Part III of the book are devoted to presentism, eternalism, and becoming, from two different perspectives. In the six chapters of Part II it is argued, in different ways, that relativity theory does not have essential consequences for these issues. It certainly is true that the structure of time is different, according to relativity theory, from the one in classical theory. But that does not mean that a decision is forced between presentism and eternalism, or that becoming has proved to be an impossible concept. It may even be asked whether presentism and eternalism really offer different ontological perspectives at all. The writers of the last four chapters, in Part III, disagree. They argue that relativity theory is incompatible with becoming and presentism. Several of them come up with proposals to go beyond relativity, in order to restore the prospects of presentism.
- Space and time in present-day physics and philosophy
- Introduction from scratch of the debates surrounding time
- Broad spectrum of approaches, coherently represented

In the forty-eight years that have gone by since the first volume of Progress in Optics was published, optics has become one of the most dynamic fields of science. The volumes in this series which have appeared up to now contain more than 300 review articles by distinguished research workers, which have become permanent records for many important developments.
- 3D optical microscopy
- Transformation optics and geometry of light
- Photorefractive solitons
- Stimulated scattering effects
- Optical vortices and polarization singularities
- Quantum feedforward control of light

This book discussed fundamental problems in dynamics, which extensively exist in engineering, natural and social sciences. The book presented a basic theory for the interactions among many dynamical systems and for a system whose motions are constrained naturally or artificially. The methodology and techniques presented in this book are applicable to discontinuous dynamical systems in physics, engineering and control. In addition, they may provide useful tools to solve non-traditional dynamics in biology, stock market and internet network et al, which cannot be easily solved by the traditional Newton mechanics. The new ideas and concepts will stimulate ones' thought and creativities in corresponding subjects. The author also used the simple, mathematical language to write this book. Therefore, this book is very readable, which can be either a textbook for senior undergraduate and graduate students or a reference book for researches in dynamics.
- Challenging continuous Newton's dynamics
- Original theory and seeds of new researches in the field
- Wide spectrum of applications in science and engineering
- Systematic presentation and clear illustrations

Optics has become one of the most dynamic fields of science since the first volume of Progress in Optics was published, forty years ago. At the time of inception of this series, the first lasers were only just becoming operational, holography was in its infancy, subjects such as fiber optics, integrated optics and optoelectronics did not exist and quantum optics was the domain of only a few physicists. The term photonics had not yet been coined. Today these fields are flourishing and have become areas of specialisation for many science and engineering students and numerous research workers and engineers throughout the world. Some of the advances in these fields have been recognized by awarding Nobel prizes to seven physicists in the last twenty years. The volumes in this series which have appeared up to now contain 240 review articles by distinguished research workers, which have become permanent records for many important developments. They have helped optical scientists and optical engineers to stay abreast of their fields. There is no sign that developments in optics are slowing down or becoming less interesting. We confidently expect that, just like their predecessors, future volumes of Progress in Optics will faithfully record the most important advances that are being made in optics and related fields.

Hardbound. It is a pleasure to record that Progress in Optics is commencing the fifth decade of its existence. The first volume was published in 1961, only a few months after the invention of the laser. This event triggered a wealth of new and exciting developments, many of which were reported in the 240 review articles which were published in this series since its inception. The present volume contains seven articles covering a wide range of subjects. The first article, by M.H. Fields, J. Popp, and R.K. Chang, presents a review of various optical effects in spherical and circular micro-cavities capable of supporting high-Q resonant modes (commonly referred to as morphology-dependent resonances (MDRs) or whispering gallery modes (WGMs)). The article treats the theory of symmetrical and deformed micro-cavities and describes recent research and development in the areas of quantum electrodynamics, lasers, optical spectroscopy, and filters for

In the fourty-seven years that have gone by since the first volume of Progress in Optics was published, optics has become one of the most dynamic fields of science. The volumes in this series which have appeared up to now contain more than 300 review articles by distinguished research workers, which have become permanent records for many important developments.
- Backscattering and Anderson localization of light
- Advances in oliton manipulation in optical lattices
- Fundamental quantum noise in optical amplification
- Invisibility cloaks

Volume 54 of the Advances Series contains ten contributions, covering a diversity of subject areas in atomic, molecular and optical physics. The article by Regal and Jin reviews the properties of a Fermi degenerate gas of cold potassium atoms in the crossover regime between the Bose-Einstein condensation of molecules and the condensation of fermionic atom pairs. The transition between the two regions can be probed by varying an external magnetic field. Sherson, Julsgaard and Polzik explore the manner in which light and atoms can be entangled, with applications to quantum information processing and communication. They report on the result of recent experiments involving the entanglement of distant objects and quantum memory of light. Recent developments in cold Rydberg atom physics are reviewed in the article by Choi, Kaufmann, Cubel-Liebisch, Reinhard, and Raithel. Fascinating experiments are described in which cold, highly excited atoms (???Rydberg??? atoms) and cold plasmas are generated. Evidence for a collective excitation of Rydberg matter is also presented. Griffiin and Pindzola offer an account of non-perturbative quantal methods for electron-atom scattering processes. Included in the discussion are the R-matrix with pseudo-states method and the time-dependent close-coupling method. An extensive review of the R-matrix theory of atomic, molecular, and optical processes is given by Burke, Noble, and Burke. They present a systematic development of the R-matrix method and its applications to various processes such as electron-atom scattering, atomic photoionization, electron-molecule scattering, positron-atom scattering, and atomic/molecular multiphoton processes. Electron impactexcitation of rare-gas atoms from both their ground and metastable states is discussed in the article by Boffard, Jung, Anderson, and Lin. Excitation cross sections measured by the optical method are reviewed with emphasis on the physical interpretation in terms of electronic structure of the target atoms. Ozier and Moazzen-Ahmadi explore internal rotation of symmetric top molecules. Developments of new experimental methods based on high-resolution torsional, vibrational, and molecular beam spectroscopy allow accurate determination of internal barriers for these symmetric molecules. The subject of attosecond and angstrom science is reviewed by Niikura and Corkum. The underlying physical mechanisms allowing one to generate attosecond radiation pulses are described and the technology needed for the preparation of such pulses is discussed. LeGou??t, Bretenaker, and Lorger?? describe how rare earth ions embedded in crystals can be used for processing optically carried broadband radio-frequency signals. Methods for reaching tens of gigahertz instantaneous bandwidth with submegahertz resolution using such devices are analyzed in detail and demonstrated experimentally. Finally, in the article by Illing, Gauthier, and Roy, it is shown that small perturbations applied to optical systems can be used to suppress or control optical chaos, spatio-temporal dynamics, and patterns. Applications of these techniques to communications, laser stabilization, and improving the sensitivity of low-light optical switches are explored.
?? International experts
?? Comprehensive articles
?? New developments