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.

"Spreadsheets in Science and Engineering" shows scientists and engineers at all levels how to analyze, validate and calculate data and how the analytical and graphic capabilities of spreadsheet programs (ExcelR) can solve these tasks in their daily work. The examples on the CD-ROM accompanying the book include material of undergraduate to current research level in disciplines ranging from chemistry and chemical engineering to molecular biology and geology.

Increasing possibilities of computer-aided data processing have caused a new revival of optical techniques in many areas of mechanical and chemical engi neering. Optical methods have a long tradition in heat and mass transfer and in fluid dynamics. Global experimental information is not sufficient for de veloping constitution equations to describe complicated phenomena in fluid dynamics or in transfer processes by a computer program. Furthermore, a detailed insight with high local and temporal resolution into the thermo and fluiddynamic situations is necessary. Sets of equations for computer program in thermo dynamics and fluid dynamics usually consist of two types of formulations: a first one derived from the conservation laws for mass, energy and momentum, and a second one mathematically modelling transport processes like laminar or turbulent diffusion. For reliably predicting the heat transfer, for example, the velocity and temperature field in the boundary layer must be known, or a physically realistic and widely valid correlation describing the turbulence must be avail able. For a better understanding of combustion processes it is necessary to know the local concentration and temperature just ahead of the flame and in the ignition zone."

Fabrication technologies for nanostructured devices have been developed recently, and the electrical and optical properties of such nanostructures are a subject of advanced research.
This book describes the different approaches to spectroscopic microscopy, i.e., Electron Beam Probe Spectroscopy, Spectroscopic Photoelectron Microscopy, and Scanning Probe Spectroscopy. It will be useful as a compact source of reference for the experienced reseracher, taking into account at the same time the needs of postgraduate students and nonspecialist researchers by using a tutorial approach throughout.

Recent rapid advances in femtosecond technology have had a great impact on their industrial applications such as: ultrafast optoelectronic devices and optical telecommunication systems, ultrashort-pulse lasers and measurement systems, and the development of novel materials for ultrafast functions. In this book, a wealth of knowledge covering requirements in applications details of recent achievements in important technical areas is presented by world-prominent authors in a concise, systematic form. As a whole, this is the first comprehensive book on the emerging field of femtosecond technology.

A broad class of accelerators rests on the induction principle whereby the accelerating electrical fields are generated by time-varying magnetic fluxes. Particularly suitable for the transport of bright and high-intensity beams of electrons, protons or heavy ions in any geometry (linear or circular) the research and development of induction accelerators is a thriving subfield of accelerator physics. This text is the first comprehensive account of both the fundamentals and the state of the art about the modern conceptual design and implementation of such devices. Accordingly, the first part of the book is devoted to the essential features of and key technologies used for induction accelerators at a level suitable for postgraduate students and newcomers to the field. Subsequent chapters deal with more specialized and advanced topics.

Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation in Electrical Engineering includes select presentations on measuring technology and mechatronics automation related to electrical engineering, originally presented during the International Conference on Measuring Technology and Mechanatronics Automation (ICMTMA2012). This Fourth ICMTMA, held at Sanya, China, offered a prestigious, international forum for scientists, engineers, and educators to present the state of the art of measuring technology and mechatronics automation research.

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.

Optical Measurements, Modeling, and Metrology represents one of eight volumes of technical papers presented at the Society for Experimental Mechanics Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, held at Uncasville, Connecticut, June 13-16, 2011. The full set of proceedings also includes volumes on Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Mechanics of Biological Systems and Materials, Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials and Processes in Conventional and Multifunctional Materials; MEMS and Nanotechnology; Experimental and Applied Mechanics, Thermomechanics and Infra-Red Imaging, and Engineering Applications of Residual Stress.

This volume is the outcome of a community-wide review of the field of dynamics and thermodynamics with nuclear degrees of freedom. It presents the achievements and the outstanding open questions in 26 articles collected in six topical sections and written by more than 60 authors. All authors are internationally recognized experts in their fields.

Interferometry, the most precise measurement technique known today, exploits the wave-like nature of the atoms or photons in the interferometer. As expected from the laws of quantum mechanics, the granular, particle-like features of the individually independent atoms or photons are responsible for the precision limit, the shot noise limit. However this "classical" bound is not fundamental and it is the aim of quantum metrology to overcome it by employing entanglement among the particles. This work reports on the realization of spin-squeezed states suitable for atom interferometry. Spin squeezing was generated on the basis of motional and spin degrees of freedom, whereby the latter allowed the implementation of a full interferometer with quantum-enhanced precision.

The purpose of the proceedings of the Accelerator Schools is to introduce CERN- and US-students to advanced ideas and concepts from the frontiers of the rapidly developing field of accelerator physics and technology. Considerable emphasis is put on understanding the rich variety of mechanisms at work in a charged particle beam determining its behaviour. The subjects range from the very topical problem of dynamic aperture, which is of interest for predicting the stability of particles in the new machines such as SSC and LEP, through some better known subjects such as coherent and incoherent radiation, which is of increasing importance as a tool for industry and basic research in other disciplines, to the very latest and most exotic discovery of crystal beams, which is as yet in the totally academic phase of its development. This central theme of the internal physics of beams has been supplemented by lectures on the coming generation of linear colliders, the status of the superconducting project CEBAF, and on other topics.

The joint NASA-ESA Cassini-Huygens mission promises to return four (and possibly more) years of unparalleled scientific data from the solar system's most exotic planet, the ringed, gas giant, Saturn. Larger than Galileo with a much greater communication bandwidth, Cassini can accomplish in a single flyby what Galileo returned in a series of passes. Cassini explores the Saturn environment in three dimensions, using gravity assists to climb out of the equatorial plane to look down on the rings from above, to image the aurora and to study polar magnetospheric processes such as field-aligned currents. Since the radiation belt particle fluxes are much more benign than those at Jupiter, Cassini can more safely explore the inner regions of the magnetosphere. The spacecraft approaches the planet closer than Galileo could, and explores the inner moons and the rings much more thoroughly than was possible at Jupiter. This book is the second volume, in a three volume set, that describes the Cassini/Huygens mission. This volume describes the in situ investigations on the Cassini orbiter: plasma spectrometer, ion and neutral mass spectrometer, energetic charged and neutral particle spectrometer, magnetometer, radio and plasma wave spectrometer and the cosmic dust analyzer. This book is of interest to all potential users of the Cassini-Huygens data, to those who wish to learn about the planned scientific return from the Cassini-Huygens mission and those curious about the processes occurring on this most fascinating planet. A third volume describes the remote sensing investigations on the orbiter.

This book brings together reviews from leading international authorities on the developments in the study of dark matter and dark energy, as seen from both their cosmological and particle physics side. Studying the physical and astrophysical properties of the dark components of our Universe is a crucial step towards the ultimate goal of unveiling their nature. The work developed from a doctoral school sponsored by the Italian Society of General Relativity and Gravitation. The book starts with a concise introduction to the standard cosmological model, as well as with a presentation of the theory of linear perturbations around a homogeneous and isotropic background. It covers the particle physics and cosmological aspects of dark matter and (dynamical) dark energy, including a discussion of how modified theories of gravity could provide a possible candidate for dark energy. A detailed presentation is also given of the possible ways of testing the theory in terms of cosmic microwave background, galaxy redshift surveys and weak gravitational lensing observations. Included is a chapter reviewing extensively the direct and indirect methods of detection of the hypothetical dark matter particles. Also included is a self-contained introduction to the techniques and most important results of numerical (e.g. N-body) simulations in cosmology. " This volume will be useful to researchers, PhD and graduate students in Astrophysics, Cosmology Physics and Mathematics, who are interested in cosmology, dark matter and dark energy.

This book will bring together experts in the field of astronomical photometry to discuss how their subfields provide the precision and accuracy in astronomical energy flux measurements that are needed to permit tests of astrophysical theories. Differential photometers and photometry, improvements in infrared precision, theimprovements in precision and accuracy of CCD photometry, the absolute calibration of flux, the development of the Johnson UBVRI photometric system and other passband systems to measure and precisely classify specific types of stars and astrophysical quantities, and the current capabilities of spectrophotometry, and polarimetry to provide precise and accurate data, will all be discussed in this volume. The discussion of differential or two-star photometers will include those developed for planetary as well as stellar photometry and will range from the Princeton polarizing photometer through the pioneering work of Walraven to the differential photometers designed to measure the ashen light of Venus and to counter the effects of aurorae at high latitude sites; the last to be discussed will be the Rapid Alternate Detection System (RADS) developed at the University of Calgary in the 1980s."

This book is dedicated to the adoption of broadband microwave reflectometry (BMR)-based methods for diagnostics and monitoring applications. This electromagnetic technique has established as a powerful tool for monitoring purposes; in fact, it can balance several contrasting requirements, such as the versatility of the system, low implementation cost, real-time response, possibility of remote control, reliability, and adequate measurement accuracy. Starting from an extensive survey of the state of the art and from a clear and concise overview of the theoretical background, throughout the book, the different approaches of BMR are considered (i.e., time domain reflectometry - TDR, frequency domain reflectometry - FDR, and the TDR/FDR combined approach) and several applications are thoroughly investigated. The applications considered herein are very diverse from each other and cover different fields. In all the described procedures and methods, the ultimate goal is to endow them with a significant performance enhancement in terms of measurement accuracy, low cost, versatility, and practical implementation possibility, so as to unlock the strong potential of BMR.

This volume presents the latest ideas and developments in the world of beam diagnostics in particle accelerators and storage rings. It brings together papers by internationally recognized experts and by the younger scientists in the field. The lectures treat three main themes: - Phenomena used in beam observation - Single particle parameters - Collective parameters Each theme is introduced by one or more general lectures followed by detailed lectures on specific topics such as Schottky noise, closed orbits and impedance measurements. The overall aim was to show how to observe the diverse behavior of a beam, how to interpret and classify the observations and then how to control or correct the relevant parameters. The resulting volume contains much of the information needed to operate or commission a machine. The lecture program was supplemented by three seminars that looked at monitoring in e+e- colliders and at the special problems of nonplanar machines and experimental particle tracking. This unique and comprehensive collection of papers is the most up-to-date presently available.

Volume 15 follows the format of earlier volumes in the series. The contents give the next installment in the varied aspects of acoustical imaging research. On this occasion, some emphasis was placed on the rela tionship of l1nderwater acoustics to acoustical imaging and a volume of papers under the title "Underwater Acoustics Proceedings from the 12th ICA Symposium held in Halifax," will appear at roughly the same time as this volume. There is no duplication in these volumes but they are in terlinked, at least to the extent that papers from common conference sessions appear in one or another volume. An innovation is the review paper presented at the beginning of the volume "A History of Acoustical Imaging," by G Wade. This fairly detailed review comes at a point in time when so much has been achieved and in some cases passed by, that a record of some of the earlier work might help to keep a balance with the large collections of research papers which have appeared in the many volumes."

Nuclear reactions at energies near and below the Coulomb barrier have found much interest since unexpectedly large cross sections of fusion for heavy ions were discovered around 1980. This book covers the more important experimental and theoretical aspects such as sub-barrier fusion, sub- and near-barrier transfer, couplings of various reaction channels, neck-formation, the threshold anomaly, spin distributions and fusion of polarized ions. The symposium also included a session devoted to mass spectrometry for fast reaction products.

This monograph and translation from the Russian describes in detail and comments on the fundamentals of metrology. The basic concepts of metrology, the principles of the International System of Units SI, the theory of measurement uncertainty, the new methodology of estimation of measurement accuracy on the basis of the uncertainty concept, as well as the methods for processing measurement results and estimating their uncertainty are discussed from the modern position. It is shown that the uncertainty concept is compatible with the classical theory of accuracy. The theory of random uncertainties is supplemented with their most general description on the basis of generalized normal distribution; the instrumental systematic errors are presented in connection with the methodology of normalization of the metrological characteristics of measuring instruments. The information about modern systems of traceability is given. All discussed theoretical principles and calculation methods are illustrated with examples.

This book presents the recent advances and developments in control, automation, robotics and measuring techniques. It presents contributions of top experts in the fields, focused on both theory and industrial practice. The particular chapters present a deep analysis of a specific technical problem which is in general followed by a numerical analysis and simulation and results of an implementation for the solution of a real world problem. The book presents the results of the International Conference AUTOMATION 2014 held 26 - 28 March, 2014 in Warsaw, Poland on Automation Innovations and Future Prospectives The presented theoretical results, practical solutions and guidelines will be useful for both researchers working in the area of engineering sciences and for practitioners solving industrial problems."

The main theme of this book is the interaction of electrons with electromagnetic waves in the presence of periodic and quasi-periodic structures in vacuum, in view of applications in the design and operation of particle accelerators. The first part of the book is concerned with the textbook-like presentation of the basic material, in particular reviewing elementary electromagnetic phenomena and electron dynamics. The second part of the book describes the current models for beam-wave interactions with periodic and quasi-periodic structures. This is the basis for introducing, in the last part of the book, a number of particle and radiation sources that rest on these principles, in particular the free-electron laser, wake-field acceleration schemes and a number of other advanced particle accelerator concepts. This second edition brings this fundamental text up-to-date in view of the enormous advances that have been made over the last decade since the first edition was published. All chapters, as well as the bibliography, have been significantly revised and extended, and the number of end-of-chapter exercises has been further increased to enhance this book's usefulness for teaching specialized graduate courses.

This volume provides an overview of our current understanding of the physics related to: coronal structures and coronal heating; large-scale coronal shock waves and coronal mass ejections; particle beams in the solar corona and in the interplanetary medium; and explosive energy-release phenomena and particle acceleration. The different articles give a well-balanced presentation of relevant observations based upon various techniques, models and theories, providing a global view of these phenomena and of the underlying physics. In-situ measurements of particles and waves with ULYSSES and WIND and spectral and imaging data from SOHO and YOHKOH provide an unprecedented richness of relevant data. For their better understanding, radio observations - also included in this book - play a key role.

Sloshing causes liquid to fluctuate, making accurate level readings difficult to obtain in dynamic environments. The measurement system described uses a single-tube capacitive sensor to obtain an instantaneous level reading of the fluid surface, thereby accurately determining the fluid quantity in the presence of slosh. A neural network based classification technique has been applied to predict the actual quantity of the fluid contained in a tank under sloshing conditions.

In "A neural network approach to fluid quantity measurement in dynamic environments," effects of temperature variations and contamination on the capacitive sensor are discussed, and the authors propose that these effects can also be eliminated with the proposed neural network based classification system. To examine the performance of the classification system, many field trials were carried out on a running vehicle at various tank volume levels that range from 5 L to 50 L. The effectiveness of signal enhancement on the neural network based signal classification system is also investigated. Results obtained from the investigation are compared with traditionally used statistical averaging methods, and proves that the neural network based measurement system can produce highly accurate fluid quantity measurements in a dynamic environment. Although in this case a capacitive sensor was used to demonstrate measurement system this methodology is valid for all types of electronic sensors.

The approach demonstrated in "A neural network approach to fluid quantity measurement in dynamic environments "can be applied to a wide range of fluid quantity measurement applications in the automotive, naval and aviation industries to produce accurate fluid level readings. Students, lecturers, and experts will find the description of current research about accurate fluid level measurement in dynamic environments using neural network approach useful."