When an area of research is in fast growth, it often happens that no one single journal is to be found where most of the relevant publications are contained. Such is the case of the physics of intercalation compounds, a field which, by sitting at a corner point between materials science, solid state physics, and chemistry, finds its contributions largely scattered about in the literature. Given these circumstances it is of crucial interest to find a place where the most recent contributions and up-to-date referen ces can be found at once. For intercalated graphite and other similar com pounds this role has been played so far by proceedings of international con ferences, such as La Napoule (1977), Nijmegen (1979), Provincetown (1980), and Sendai (1980). The present book is an ideal continuation of this series, as it contains most of the invited and contributed papers of the Trieste International Con ference on the Physics of Intercalation Compounds, held in Trieste, Italy during the week 6-10 July 1981. The main emphasis is on intercalated graphite, though several interesting contributions deal with other materials, such as polyacetylene and transition metal compounds, or with general problems, such as two-dimensional melting. The book is divided into six sections-Structure and General Properties, Electronic Porperties, Stability and Phonons, Ordering and Phase Transitions, Magnetic Resonance, and Transport Properties-reflecting the main areas of interest, and also broadly the main discussion sessions of the Conference."

The first volume of this treatment, Phonons: Theory and Experiments I, was devoted to the basic concepts of the physics of phonons and to a study of models for interatomic forces. The second volume, Phonons: Theory and Experiments II, contains a study of experimental techniques and the inter pretation of experimental results. In the present third volume we treat a number of phenomena which are directly related to phonons. The aim of this book is to bridge the gap between theory and experi ment. An attempt has been made to present the descriptive as well as the analytical aspects of the topics. Although emphasis is placed on the role of phonons in the different topics, most chapters also contain a general intro duction into the specific subject. The book is addressed to experimentalists and to theoreticians working in the vast field of dynamical properties of solids. It will also prove useful to graduate students starting research in this or related fields. The choice of the topics treated was partly determined by the author's own activity in these areas. This is particularly the case for the chapters dealing with phonons in one-dimensional metals, disordered systems, super ionic conductors and certain newer aspects of ferroelectricity and melting. I am very grateful to my colleagues J. Bernasconi, V.T. Hochli and 1."