This volume contains the proceedings of the International Workshop on Operator Theory and Applications held at the University of Algarve in Faro, Portugal, September 12-15, in the year 2000. The main topics of the conference were !> Factorization Theory; !> Factorization and Integrable Systems; !> Operator Theoretical Methods in Diffraction Theory; !> Algebraic Techniques in Operator Theory; !> Applications to Mathematical Physics and Related Topics. A total of 94 colleagues from 21 countries participated in the conference. The major part of participants came from Portugal (32), Germany (17), Israel (6), Mexico (6), the Netherlands (5), USA (4) and Austria (4). The others were from Ukraine, Venezuela (3 each), Spain, Sweden (2 each), Algeria, Australia, Belorussia, France, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Russia and Turkey (one of each country). It was the 12th meeting in the framework of the IWOTA conferences which started in 1981 on an initiative of Professors 1. Gohberg (Tel Aviv) and J. W. Helton (San Diego). Up to now, it was the largest conference in the field of Operator Theory in Portugal.

In September 2000 a Summer School on "Factorization and Integrable Systems" was held at the University of Algarve in Portugal. The main aim of the school was to review the modern factorization theory and its application to classical and quantum integrable systems. The program consisted of a number of short courses given by leading experts in the field. The lecture notes of the courses have been specially prepared for publication in this volume.
The book consists of four contributions. I. Gohberg, M.A. Kaashoek and I.M. Spitkovsky present an extensive review of the factorization theory of matrix functions relative to a curve, with emphasis on the developments of the last 20-25 years. The group-theoretical approach to classical integrable systems is reviewed by M.A. Semenov-Tian-Shansky. P.P. Kulish surveyed the quantum inverse scattering method using the isotropic Heisenberg spin chain as the main example.

This volume is devoted to the life and work of the applied mathematician Professor Erhard Meister (1930-2001). He was a member of the editorial boards of this book series Operator The ory: Advances and Applications as well as of the journal Integral Equations and Operator Theory, both published by Birkhauser (now part of Springer-Verlag). Moreover he played a decisive role in the foundation of these two series by helping to establish contacts between Birkhauser and the founder and present chief editor of this book series after his emigration from Moldavia in 1974. The volume is divided into two parts. Part A contains reminiscences about the life of E. Meister including a short biography and an exposition of his professional work. Part B displays the wide range of his scientific interests through eighteen original papers contributed by authors with close scientific and personal relations to E. Meister. We hope that a great part of the numerous features of his life and work can be re-discovered from this book."

These proceedings comprise a large part of the papers presented at the In ternational Conference Factorization, Singular Operators and related problems, which was held from January 28 to February 1, 2002, at the University of th Madeira, Funchal, Portugal, to mark Professor Georgii Litvinchuk's 70 birth day. Experts in a variety of fields came to this conference to pay tribute to the great achievements of Professor Georgii Litvinchuk in the development of vari ous areas of operator theory. The main themes of the conference were focussed around the theory of singular type operators and factorization problems, but other topics such as potential theory and fractional calculus, to name but a couple, were also presented. The goal of the conference was to bring together mathematicians from var ious fields within operator theory and function theory in order to highlight recent advances in problems many of which were originally studied by Profes sor Litvinchuk and his scientific school. A second aim was to stimulate in ternational collaboration even further and promote the interaction of different approaches in current research in these areas. The Proceedings will be of great interest to researchers in Operator The ory, Real and Complex Analysis, Functional and Harmonic Analysis, Potential Theory, Fractional Calculus and other areas, as well as to graduate students looking for the latest results."

This volume contains the proceedings of the International Workshop on Operator Theory and Applications held at the University of Algarve in Faro, Portugal, September 12-15, in the year 2000. The main topics of the conference were !> Factorization Theory; !> Factorization and Integrable Systems; !> Operator Theoretical Methods in Diffraction Theory; !> Algebraic Techniques in Operator Theory; !> Applications to Mathematical Physics and Related Topics. A total of 94 colleagues from 21 countries participated in the conference. The major part of participants came from Portugal (32), Germany (17), Israel (6), Mexico (6), the Netherlands (5), USA (4) and Austria (4). The others were from Ukraine, Venezuela (3 each), Spain, Sweden (2 each), Algeria, Australia, Belorussia, France, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Russia and Turkey (one of each country). It was the 12th meeting in the framework of the IWOTA conferences which started in 1981 on an initiative of Professors 1. Gohberg (Tel Aviv) and J. W. Helton (San Diego). Up to now, it was the largest conference in the field of Operator Theory in Portugal.

In September 2000 a Summer School on "Factorization and Integrable Systems" was held at the University of Algarve in Portugal. The main aim of the school was to review the modern factorization theory and its application to classical and quantum integrable systems. The program consisted of a number of short courses given by leading experts in the field. The lecture notes of the courses have been specially prepared for publication in this volume.
The book consists of four contributions. I. Gohberg, M.A. Kaashoek and I.M. Spitkovsky present an extensive review of the factorization theory of matrix functions relative to a curve, with emphasis on the developments of the last 20-25 years. The group-theoretical approach to classical integrable systems is reviewed by M.A. Semenov-Tian-Shansky. P.P. Kulish surveyed the quantum inverse scattering method using the isotropic Heisenberg spin chain as the main example.

This volume is devoted to the life and work of the applied mathematician Professor Erhard Meister (1930-2001). He was a member of the editorial boards of this book series Operator The ory: Advances and Applications as well as of the journal Integral Equations and Operator Theory, both published by Birkhauser (now part of Springer-Verlag). Moreover he played a decisive role in the foundation of these two series by helping to establish contacts between Birkhauser and the founder and present chief editor of this book series after his emigration from Moldavia in 1974. The volume is divided into two parts. Part A contains reminiscences about the life of E. Meister including a short biography and an exposition of his professional work. Part B displays the wide range of his scientific interests through eighteen original papers contributed by authors with close scientific and personal relations to E. Meister. We hope that a great part of the numerous features of his life and work can be re-discovered from this book."

These proceedings comprise a large part of the papers presented at the In ternational Conference Factorization, Singular Operators and related problems, which was held from January 28 to February 1, 2002, at the University of th Madeira, Funchal, Portugal, to mark Professor Georgii Litvinchuk's 70 birth day. Experts in a variety of fields came to this conference to pay tribute to the great achievements of Professor Georgii Litvinchuk in the development of vari ous areas of operator theory. The main themes of the conference were focussed around the theory of singular type operators and factorization problems, but other topics such as potential theory and fractional calculus, to name but a couple, were also presented. The goal of the conference was to bring together mathematicians from var ious fields within operator theory and function theory in order to highlight recent advances in problems many of which were originally studied by Profes sor Litvinchuk and his scientific school. A second aim was to stimulate in ternational collaboration even further and promote the interaction of different approaches in current research in these areas. The Proceedings will be of great interest to researchers in Operator The ory, Real and Complex Analysis, Functional and Harmonic Analysis, Potential Theory, Fractional Calculus and other areas, as well as to graduate students looking for the latest results."