The current state of the art of various aspects of micro emulsion systems is reflected in this volume. Major topics discussed include: general background on solubilized systems, phase diagrams and phase equi- libria, bicontinuous microemulsions, Winsor's phases, theories and models of complex self association structures, cry tical behaviour, phase tran- sitions in lyotropic liquid crystals. I hope that this book will serve its intended objective of reflecting our current understanding of microemulsions both in theory and practice, and that it will be useful to researchers, both novices as well as experts, as a valuable reference source. I feel indebted to the people of the Ettore Majorana Centre: the friendly atmosphere of the Erice centre provided a very effective environ- ment to enjoy the company of colleagues and friends during breaks and after sessions, and to discuss problems of mutual interest. The courtesy, efficiency and devotion of the secretarial and technical staff was also appreciated, and greatly contributed to make the Workshop a smoothly run- ning one. The Scientific Secretary Donatella Senatra Department of Physics University of Florence (Italy) v INTRODUCTION The decision to publish. in a more permanent form than heretofore. the Proceedings of the Workshop on "Progress in Microemulsion" of the Inter- national School of Quantum Electronics. which was held in Erice (Italy) from October 26 to November 1st. 1985. under the auspices of the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture. will prove to be a sound one.

The conference "Nonlinear Optics and Optical Computing" was held May 11-19, 1988 in Erice, Sicily. This was the 13th conference organized by the International School of Quantum Electronics, under the auspices of the "Ettore Majorana" Center for Scientific Culture. This volume contains both the invited and contributed papers presented at the conference, providing tutorial background, the latest research results, and future directions for the devices, structures and architectures of optical computing. The invention of the transistor and the integrated circuit were followed by an explosion of application as ever faster and more complex microelectronics chips became available. The information revolution occa sioned by digital computers and optical communications is now reaching the limits of silicon semiconductor technology, but the demand for faster com putation is still accelerating. The fundamental limitations of information processing today derive from the performance and cost of three technical factors: speed, density, and software. Optical computation offers the potential for improvements in all three of these critical areas: Speed is provided by the transmission of impulses at optical veloc ities, without the delays caused by parasitic capacitance in the case of conventional electrical interconnects. Speed can also be achieved through the massive parallelism characteristic of many optical computing architec tures; Density can be provided in optical computers in two ways: by high spatial resolution, on the order of wavelengths of light, and by computa tion or interconnection in three dimensions."

This volume contains the Proceedings of a two-week course on "Laser Applications to Biology and Medicine" held from September 4 to 16, 1983 in Erice, Italy. This is the 10th annual course of the International School of Quantum Electronics organized under the auspices of the "E. Majorana" Center for Scientific Culture., Among the possible approaches to a course on Laser Applications to Biology and Medicine, the one which emphasizes the scientific and technological aspects of the advanced laser techniques when applied to laboratory and clinical tests has been chosen. In fact, it reflects the new policy of the School to stress the advanced scien tific and technological achievements in the field of Quantum Elec tronics. Accordingly, the Course has given the broadest information on the ultimate performances already achieved and the perspectives of their applications. Because of the great variety of applications of laser in biology, medicine, chemistry, engineering and related branches of science, this school addressed a subject of interdisciplinary interest. The formal sessions have been balanced between tutorial presentations and lectures focusing on unsolved problems and future directions. In addition, wide time has been provided for the par ticipants to meet together informally for additional discussions on the forefront of current work. Therefore the character of the Course was a blend of current research and tutorial reviews."

The conference "Laser Science and Technology" was held May 11-19, 1987 in Erice, Sicily. This was the 12th conference organized by the Internatio nal School of Quantum Electronics, under the auspices of the "Ettore Majorana" Center for Scientific Culture. This volume contains both the in vited and contributed papers presented at the conference, covering current research work in two areas: new laser sources, and laser applications. The operation of the first laser by Dr. Theodore Maiman in 1960 initia ted a decade of scientific exploration of new laser sources. This was fol lowed by the decade of the 1970s, which was characterized by "technology push" in which the discoveries of the 1960s were seeking practical applica tion. In the 1980s we are instead seeking "applications pull," in which the success and rapid maturing of laser applications provides both inspiration and financial resources to stimulate additional work both on laser sources and applications. The papers presented in these Proceedings attest to the great vitali ty of research in both these areas: New Laser Sources. The papers describe current developments in ultra violet excimer lasers, X-ray lasers, and free electron lasers. These new lasers share several characteristics: each is a potentially important coher ent source; each is at a relatively short wavelength (below 1 micrometer); and each is receiving significant development attention today."

The volume contains the proceedings of the 7th Course on Physics and Technology of Free Electron Lasers of the International School of Quantum Electronics, which was held in Erice (Italy) from 17 to 29 August 1980, under the auspices of the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture. The level of this Course was much closer to a workshop than to a school, and "Advances in Free Electron Lasers" might have been an appropriate title. Many of the world's leading scientists in the field (among them, the inventor of FEL, J. M. J. Madey) were brought together to review the accomplishments of FEL experiments, as well various trends in FEL theory. In editing this material we did not modify the original manu scripts except to assist in uniformity of style. The papers. are presented without reference to the chronology of the Course but in the following topical arrangement: A. "Fundamentals of free electron lasers," a group of tutorial papers; B. "Free electron lasers operating in the Compton regime," where theories and experiments of FELs based on Compton scattering are reviewed; C. "Free electron lasers operating in the Raman regime," a dis cussion of FELs based on Raman scattering; D. "Optical klystrons," where the possibility of this class of FEL is discussed from a theoretical viewpoint; E."

This volume contains the proceedings of a two-week NATO A.S.I. on Integrated Optics: Physics and Applications, held from August 17 to August 30, 1981 in Erice, Italy. This is the 8th annual Course of the "International School of Quantum Electronics" presented under the auspices of the "E. Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture. The subject was chosen in order to satisfy the demand for a course on integrated optics which is relevant to the expanding use of fiber optics for communication and signal processing. Integrated Optics, encompassing all of the optical waveguide circuits which are the optical analog of integrated circuits, is finding its way into a variety of applications involving communi cations, high speed signal-processing, and sensors of many kinds. However, because the technology is still changing very rapidly, the development of these exciting applications relies heavily upon the physics of the integrated optical circuits themselves and the pro cessing techniques used to fabricate them. This NATO A.S.I. provided not only a thorough tutorial treatment of the field, but also through panel discussions and additional lectures treated topics at the forefront of present work. Therefore the character of the Course was a blend of current research and tutorial reviews. "The Physics and Applications of Integrated Optics" could hardly be a more appropriate title to be chosen for this volume. Many of the worlds' acknowledged leaders in the field have been brought together to review and speculate on the accomplishments of integrated optics."

The book is the output of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Optical Chemical Sensors and is 40th Course of the International School of Quantum Electronics and covers all the aspects related to optical chemical sensing by means of optical waveguides, from the fundamentals to the most recent applications. The book also provides a view through the history of the development of these sensors, from the first laboratory prototypes up to the first commercial instrumentations, and contains also the lecture given by the Nobel Prize Charles Townes on the birth of maser and laser, which is to be considered a very important illustration on how new science and new technology develop.

The book is the output of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Optical Chemical Sensors and is 40th Course of the International School of Quantum Electronics and covers all the aspects related to optical chemical sensing by means of optical waveguides, from the fundamentals to the most recent applications. The book also provides a view through the history of the development of these sensors, from the first laboratory prototypes up to the first commercial instrumentations, and contains also the lecture given by the Nobel Prize Charles Townes on the birth of maser and laser, which is to be considered a very important illustration on how new science and new technology develop.

The current state of the art of various aspects of micro emulsion systems is reflected in this volume. Major topics discussed include: general background on solubilized systems, phase diagrams and phase equi- libria, bicontinuous microemulsions, Winsor's phases, theories and models of complex self association structures, cry tical behaviour, phase tran- sitions in lyotropic liquid crystals. I hope that this book will serve its intended objective of reflecting our current understanding of microemulsions both in theory and practice, and that it will be useful to researchers, both novices as well as experts, as a valuable reference source. I feel indebted to the people of the Ettore Majorana Centre: the friendly atmosphere of the Erice centre provided a very effective environ- ment to enjoy the company of colleagues and friends during breaks and after sessions, and to discuss problems of mutual interest. The courtesy, efficiency and devotion of the secretarial and technical staff was also appreciated, and greatly contributed to make the Workshop a smoothly run- ning one. The Scientific Secretary Donatella Senatra Department of Physics University of Florence (Italy) v INTRODUCTION The decision to publish. in a more permanent form than heretofore. the Proceedings of the Workshop on "Progress in Microemulsion" of the Inter- national School of Quantum Electronics. which was held in Erice (Italy) from October 26 to November 1st. 1985. under the auspices of the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture. will prove to be a sound one.