Written by an international team of experts, this set of tutorial reviews provides a coherent and accessible summary of the current state of supernova research in all of its facets. The newly detected gamma-ray bursts are discussed in this context. While primarily addressing astrophysicists and astronomers, this book will also be of interest to cosmologists and nuclear physicists working on supernova-related issues.

Supernovae are among the most energetic phenomena in the Universe and - lated to almost all aspects of modern astrophysics including starburst gal- ies, cosmic ray acceleration, neutron star and black hole formation, nuc- osynthesis and ISM chemical enrichment, energy input to the ISM, cosmic distance scale determination, dark energy related cosmological acceleration, gamma-ray bursts, extra-solar system neutrino burst detection, gravity wave generation, and many more. Additionally, the past 15 years have been p- ticularly productive with many new results and new understanding due in particular to the closest SN in 400 years in SN 1987A in the Large M- ellanic Cloud, and the unusually bright and close SN 1993J and SN 1994I in the nearby galaxies M81 and M51, respectively. In addition, the disc- ery of the ?-ray burst GRB 980425 and its related supernova SN 1998bw, and the con?rmation of GRB 030329/SN 2003dh, tied the study of SNe and GRBs inextricably together. With the many developments since the last - jor supernova meeting in La Serena, Chile in 1997, we felt that it was an appropriate time to bring together experts and students interested in the subject for a meeting where SN and GRB properties and interrelationships could be discussed. The tenth anniversary of SN 1993J provided such an - portunity and, appropriately, the meeting was held in Spain where SN 1993J was discovered on the early morning of 28 March 1993 by a Spanish amateur astronomer, Francisco Garc ?a.

Supernovae are among the most energetic phenomena in the Universe and - lated to almost all aspects of modern astrophysics including starburst gal- ies, cosmic ray acceleration, neutron star and black hole formation, nuc- osynthesis and ISM chemical enrichment, energy input to the ISM, cosmic distance scale determination, dark energy related cosmological acceleration, gamma-ray bursts, extra-solar system neutrino burst detection, gravity wave generation, and many more. Additionally, the past 15 years have been p- ticularly productive with many new results and new understanding due in particular to the closest SN in 400 years in SN 1987A in the Large M- ellanic Cloud, and the unusually bright and close SN 1993J and SN 1994I in the nearby galaxies M81 and M51, respectively. In addition, the disc- ery of the ?-ray burst GRB 980425 and its related supernova SN 1998bw, and the con?rmation of GRB 030329/SN 2003dh, tied the study of SNe and GRBs inextricably together. With the many developments since the last - jor supernova meeting in La Serena, Chile in 1997, we felt that it was an appropriate time to bring together experts and students interested in the subject for a meeting where SN and GRB properties and interrelationships could be discussed. The tenth anniversary of SN 1993J provided such an - portunity and, appropriately, the meeting was held in Spain where SN 1993J was discovered on the early morning of 28 March 1993 by a Spanish amateur astronomer, Francisco Garc ?a.

Since the dawn of mankind, observers of the sky have wondered at the sudden appearance of new stars on the seemingly unchanging heavens and, for at least 2000 years, have recorded these phenomena in their annals and archives. Even in more modern times, since the discovery of SN1885A in S Andromeda which ?gured in the important "island universe" discussions of the 1920's, the puzzle of supernovae (SNe) has played an important role in astrophysics. Only with the seminal work of Fritz Zwicky and Walter Baade in the 1930's did we begin to understand the di?erences between novae and SNe and the importance of SNe as the fonts of energy for the interstellar medium and as drivers of chemical evolution in galaxies. As recently as the 1940's and 1950's the early days of radio astronomy were heavily in?uenced by the familiar names of Cassiopeia A and Taurus A, two young supernova remnants, and two Nobel prizes have been awarded for discovery and study of a related phenomenon, pulsars. In spite of the great age of the study of SNe, since at least the Chinese records of SN185and probably earlier, the ?eld is, in fact, very young having only attracted a large devoted following since the spectacular Type II SN1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the ?rst naked-eye SN in more than 400 years.