The field of optics has been accelerating at an unprecedented rate, due both to the tremendous growth of the field of fiber-optic communications, and to the improvement of optical materials and devices. Throughput capabilities of fiber systems are accelerating faster than Moore's law, the famous growth rate of silicon chip capability, which has propelled that industry relentlessly over decades. In addition, new optical storage techniques push the limits of information density, with an ever decreasing cost per bit of storage. Economic investment in photonics is at an all-time high. At the same time, other fields of optics, adaptive optics for instance, are bringing new capabilities to more classical applications such as astronomical imaging. New lasers continue to be developed, with applications in display, sensing, and biomedicine following at ever-shorter intervals after the initial discoveries. Given this background, the NATO Mediterranean Dialog Advanced Research Workshop on Unconventional Optical Elements for Information Storage, Processing and Communications, held in Israel on October 19-21, 1998, came at an opportune moment in the history of optics. Its aim was to overview the current state-of-the-art and encourage cooperation in the Mediterranean region, with a view to highlighting and enhancing the existing potential for further development and innovation. The workshop included participants from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA.

The Fourier transform is one of the most important mathematical tools in a wide variety of science and engineering fields. Its application - as Fourier analysis or harmonic analysis - provides useful decompositions of signals into fundamental (primitive') components, giving shortcuts in the computation of complicated sums and integrals, and often revealing hidden structure in the data. Fourier Transforms: An Introduction for Engineers develops the basic definitions, properties and applications of Fourier analysis, the emphasis being on techniques for its application to linear systems, although other applications are also considered. The book will serve as both a reference text and a teaching text for a one-quarter or one-semester course covering the application of Fourier analysis to a wide variety of signals, including discrete time (or parameter), continuous time (or parameter), finite duration, and infinite duration. It highlights the common aspects in all cases considered, thereby building an intuition from simple examples that will be useful in the more complicated examples where careful proofs are not included. Fourier Analysis: An Introduction for Engineers is written by two scholars who are recognized throughout the world as leaders in this area, and provides a fresh look at one of the most important mathematical and directly applicable concepts in nearly all fields of science and engineering. Audience: Engineers, especially electrical engineers. The careful treatment of the fundamental mathematical ideas makes the book suitable in all areas where Fourier analysis finds applications.

The Fourier transform is one of the most important mathematical tools in a wide variety of science and engineering fields. Its application - as Fourier analysis or harmonic analysis - provides useful decompositions of signals into fundamental ('primitive') components, giving shortcuts in the computation of complicated sums and integrals, and often revealing hidden structure in the data. Fourier Transforms: An Introduction for Engineers develops the basic definitions, properties and applications of Fourier analysis, the emphasis being on techniques for its application to linear systems, although other applications are also considered. The book will serve as both a reference text and a teaching text for a one-quarter or one-semester course covering the application of Fourier analysis to a wide variety of signals, including discrete time (or parameter), continuous time (or parameter), finite duration, and infinite duration. It highlights the common aspects in all cases considered, thereby building an intuition from simple examples that will be useful in the more complicated examples where careful proofs are not included.Fourier Analysis: An Introduction for Engineers is written by two scholars who are recognized throughout the world as leaders in this area, and provides a fresh look at one of the most important mathematical and directly applicable concepts in nearly all fields of science and engineering. Audience: Engineers, especially electrical engineers. The careful treatment of the fundamental mathematical ideas makes the book suitable in all areas where Fourier analysis finds applications.

The field of optics has been accelerating at an unprecedented rate, due both to the tremendous growth of the field of fiber-optic communications, and to the improvement of optical materials and devices. Throughput capabilities of fiber systems are accelerating faster than Moore's law, the famous growth rate of silicon chip capability, which has propelled that industry relentlessly over decades. In addition, new optical storage techniques push the limits of information density, with an ever decreasing cost per bit of storage. Economic investment in photonics is at an all-time high. At the same time, other fields of optics, adaptive optics for instance, are bringing new capabilities to more classical applications such as astronomical imaging. New lasers continue to be developed, with applications in display, sensing, and biomedicine following at ever-shorter intervals after the initial discoveries. Given this background, the NATO Mediterranean Dialog Advanced Research Workshop on Unconventional Optical Elements for Information Storage, Processing and Communications, held in Israel on October 19-21, 1998, came at an opportune moment in the history of optics. Its aim was to overview the current state-of-the-art and encourage cooperation in the Mediterranean region, with a view to highlighting and enhancing the existing potential for further development and innovation. The workshop included participants from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA.