This book is a collection of the lectures and talks presented in the Tohoku Forum for Creativity in the thematic year 2015 'Fundamental Problems in Quantum Physics: Strings, Black Holes and Quantum Information', and related events in the period 2014-2016.This volume especially contains an overview of recent developments in the theory of strings and membranes, as well as topological field theory.

In recent years the narrative surrounding China's "peaceful rise" has given way to a more ominous story of friction, ambition, and great-power rivalry. As Chinese foreign policy has grown more nationalist and assertive, its intensifying competition with the U.S. has assumed center stage. The impact on China's neighbors, by contrast, and their evolving responses, have received comparatively less attention. The Realist theory of international relations suggests the rapid accumulation of power by one nation-state will prompt its neighbors and peers to adopt Balancing strategies. They will strive enhance their internal defense capabilities and forge new external security partnerships to hedge against this potential new threat. Have these predictions rung true? Are key Indo-Pacific capitals Balancing, and drawing closer to the U.S. as insurance against Chinese aggression? Or is China a new breed of rising power, challenging traditional theories of international relations in a newly-globalized, economically interdependent world? In Asia's Quest for Balance: China's Rise and Balancing in the Indo-Pacific leading author-experts from Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam explore these questions and more, decoding China's complex and evolving relationships with its neighbors and exploring how their responses are altering the security landscape of the region. Contributions by Jay L. Batongbacal, Elliot Brennan, Tetsuo Kotani, Evan A. Laksmana, Joseph Chinyong Liow, Hunter Marston, Rory Medcalf, Sylvia Mishra, C. Raja Mohan, Prashanth Parameswaran, Jeff M. Smith, Tran Truong Thuy, and Ha Anh Tuan

Core level spectroscopy has become a powerful tool in the study of electronic states in solids. From fundamental aspects to the most recent developments, Core Level Spectroscopy of Solids presents the theoretical calculations, experimental data, and underlying physics of x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), and resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES). Starting with the basic aspects of core level spectroscopy, the book explains the many-body effects in XPS and XAS as well as several theories. After forming this foundation, the authors explore more advanced features of XPS, XAS, XMCD, and RXES. Topics discussed include hard XPS, resonant photoemission, spin polarization, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). The authors also use the charge transfer multiplet theory to interpret core level spectroscopy for transition metal and rare earth metal systems. Pioneers in the theoretical and experimental developments of this field, Frank de Groot and Akio Kotani provide an invaluable treatise on the numerous aspects of core level spectroscopy that involve solids.

Core-level Spectroscopy in Condensed Systems describes how recent improvement of various experimental methods, together with new light and x-ray sources, have provided fresh information about the electronic states and atomic structures of a wide variety of materials. The topics coveredrange from the high-energy spectroscopy of bulk electronic states of rare-earth and transition metals and compounds, including high T superconductors, to recent developments in photoelectron diffraction and other surface problems, all with emphasis on theoretical aspects.

The sixth Taniguchi Symposium on the Theory of Condensed Matter was held between 14-18 November 1983 at Kashikojima. Japan. During the Symposium, about twenty participants lived together and discussed the magnetic super conductors and related problems in an active and friendly atmosphere. This volume contains the papers presented at this Symposium. A strong impetus for organizing a Symposium of this subject is afforded by recent intense interest and accumulated information on magnetic and other novel superconductors newly discovered, and indeed the Symposium has pro duced many excellent contributions to this very exciting field of condensed matter theory, as reported in this volume. In order to give the readers a general outline of the subject, a brief sketch of the problem is made in the Introduction. Then the remainder of this volume is divided into four Parts and an Appendix. Part I is devoted to di scuss ions on several aspects of ferromagnetic superconductors includ ing superconductivity in heavy fermion systems. Part II treats problems on anti ferromagnetic superconductors. In Part III three papers on organic supercon ductors are presented. Part IV includes discussions on the exotic supercon ductors. The Appendix is concerned with the new research project towards high Tc superconductors in Japan. The last but not least remark is to mention the activity of the Taniguchi Foundation whose support makes this Symposium possible. For many years Mr."

Synchrotron radiation as a spectroscopic research tool has undergone a most inter esting and astonishing historical development and has now come to the stage of an exciting boom. The machines which produce synchrotron radiation were built and de veloped exclusively for other purposes in the past, namely high-energy physics. At the same time, however, they involuntarily became better and better light sources for the spectral range from the visible to the hard x-ray region. Now we are at the point that the first few storage rings have gone into operation as machines dedicated to synchrotron radiation and several more are in the stage of construction and planning. All this was brought about by the successful research performed during the past fifteen years in which several groups allover the world haVe participated at dif ferent accelerator centers mostly symbiotic with high-energy physics. As it happens with a young and rapidly developing field, the number of reviews and monographs is still minute. The objective of this book is to fill an apparent gap and to provide a sound basis for those who are interested in synchrotron radiation and its applica tions."

Dr. Apostol Kotani tells the story of Jews in Albania from ancient times to the present. But most importantly, he documents what happened in Albania during World War II when no Jews were given up to the holocaust even though Albania was occupied by Nazi Germany. Following the ancient Albanian code of Besa, Albanians from all walks of life sheltered Jews in their homes, always treating them as honored guests. Dr. Kotani served as a guide to Norman H. Gershman as he photographed Albanian rescuers for his book, Besa - Muslims Who Saved Jews In World War II. Dr. Kotani's research was instrumental to the movie about Mr. Gershman's project, Besa - The Promise. Here is the story of those who were rescued and the Albanians who sheltered them.

The first Seasonal Institute of the Mathematical Society of Japan (MSJ-SI) "Probabilistic Approach to Geometry" was held at Kyoto University, Japan, on 28th July 2008 - 8th August, 2008. The conference aimed to make interactions between Geometry and Probability Theory and seek for new directions of those research areas. This volume contains the proceedings, selected research articles based on the talks, including survey articles on random groups, rough paths, and heat kernels by the survey lecturers in the conference. The readers will benefit of exploring in this developing research area.Published by Mathematical Society of Japan and distributed by World Scientific Publishing Co. for all markets except North America