Providing a timely description of the present state of the art of moduli spaces of curves and their geometry, this volume is written in a way which will make it extremely useful both for young people who want to approach this important field, and also for established researchers, who will find references, problems, original expositions, new viewpoints, etc. The book collects the lecture notes of a number of leading algebraic geometers and in particular specialists in the field of moduli spaces of curves and their geometry. This is an important subject in algebraic geometry and complex analysis which has seen spectacular developments in recent decades, with important applications to other parts of mathematics such as birational geometry and enumerative geometry, and to other sciences, including physics. The themes treated are classical but with a constant look to modern developments (see Cascini, Debarre, Farkas, and Sernesi's contributions), and include very new material, such as Bridgeland stability (see Macri's lecture notes) and tropical geometry (see Chan's lecture notes).

Moduli theory is the study of how objects, typically in algebraic geometry but sometimes in other areas of mathematics, vary in families and is fundamental to an understanding of the objects themselves. First formalised in the 1960s, it represents a significant topic of modern mathematical research with strong connections to many areas of mathematics (including geometry, topology and number theory) and other disciplines such as theoretical physics. This book, which arose from a programme at the Isaac Newton Institute in Cambridge, is an ideal way for graduate students and more experienced researchers to become acquainted with the wealth of ideas and problems in moduli theory and related areas. The reader will find articles on both fundamental material and cutting-edge research topics, such as: algebraic stacks; BPS states and the P = W conjecture; stability conditions; derived differential geometry; and counting curves in algebraic varieties, all written by leading experts.

Vector bundles and their associated moduli spaces are of fundamental importance in algebraic geometry. In recent decades this subject has been greatly enhanced by its relationships with other areas of mathematics, including differential geometry, topology and even theoretical physics, specifically gauge theory, quantum field theory and string theory. Peter E. Newstead has been a leading figure in this field almost from its inception and has made many seminal contributions to our understanding of moduli spaces of stable bundles. This volume has been assembled in tribute to Professor Newstead and his contribution to algebraic geometry. Some of the subject s leading experts cover foundational material, while the survey and research papers focus on topics at the forefront of the field. This volume is suitable for both graduate students and more experienced researchers.