A collection of articles emphasizing modern interpolation theory, a topic which has seen much progress in recent years. These ideas and problems in operator theory, often arising from systems and control theories, bring the reader to the forefront of current research in this area.

((keine o-Punkte, sondern 2 accents aigus auf dem o in Szokefalvi, s. auch Titel ))

In August 1999, an international conference was held in Szeged, Hungary, in honor of Bela Szokefalvi-Nagy, one of the founders and main contributors of modern operator theory. This volume contains some of the papers presented at the meeting, complemented by several papers of experts who were unable to attend. These 35 refereed articles report on recent and original results in various areas of operator theory and connected fields, many of them strongly related to contributions of Sz.-Nagy. The scientific part of the book is preceeded by fifty pages of biographical material, including several photos."

Systems and control theories use sophisticated operator theoretical methods. They also provide new ideas and problems in operator theory. As a consequence, the biannual MTNS (Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems) conference is attended by many operator theorists. At the initiative of J.W. Helton and I. Gohberg, an International Workshop on Operator Theory and Applications (IWOTA) has been organized since the early 80s, as a satellite of MTNS. The articles in this volume originated from the IWOTA conference held at Indiana University, Bloomington, in June 1996. They represent most of the areas that were discussed at the workshop with some emphasis on modern interpolation theory, a topic which has seen much progress in recent years. The contributions were, as usual, subject to a thorough refereeing process and will bring the reader to the forefront of current research in this area.

th This volume is dedicated to Carl Pearcy on his 60 birthday. It collects recent contributions to operator theory, nonselfadjoint operator algebras, measure the- ory, and the theory of moments by several of the lead- ing specialists in those areas. Many of the contributors are collaborators or former students of Carl Pearcy, and the variety of the topics bears witness to the wide range of his work and interests. The editors were helped by many in the compi- lation of this volume. Srdjan Petrovic helped com- pile Carl's list of publications, while Arlen Brown and George Exner helped in writing the biographical and mathematical sketch. The work of many referees, who must remain anonymous, was very valuable. Israel Gohberg suggested that we publish this volume in the distinguished series Operator Theory: Advances and Applications. The whole volume was expertly typeset by Elena Fraboschi. We wish to extend to all of these people our heartfelt thanks. CARL M. PEARCY Carl M. Pearcy: A Biographical Sketch H. BERCOVICI fj C. FOIAS Carl Mark Pearcy, Jr. was born on August 23, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas. He was the eldest of two sons of Carl Mark Pearcy, Sr., and Carrie Edith (Tilbury) Pearcy.

((keine o-Punkte, sondern 2 accents aigus auf dem o in Szokefalvi, s. auch Titel ))

In August 1999, an international conference was held in Szeged, Hungary, in honor of Bela Szokefalvi-Nagy, one of the founders and main contributors of modern operator theory. This volume contains some of the papers presented at the meeting, complemented by several papers of experts who were unable to attend. These 35 refereed articles report on recent and original results in various areas of operator theory and connected fields, many of them strongly related to contributions of Sz.-Nagy. The scientific part of the book is preceeded by fifty pages of biographical material, including several photos."