Understanding cooperative phenomena far from equilibrium is one of the fascinating challenges of present-day many-body physics. Glassy behaviour and the physical ageing process of such materials are paradigmatic examples. The present volume, primarily intended as introduction and reference, collects six extensive lectures addressing selected experimental and theoretical issues in the field of glassy systems.

This book provides an introduction to conformal field theory and a review of its applications to critical phenomena in condensed-matter systems. After reviewing simple phase transitions and explaining the foundations of conformal invariance and the algebraic methods required, it proceeds to the explicit calculation of four-point correlators. Numerical methods for matrix diagonalization are described as well as finite-size scaling techniques and their conformal extensions. Many exercises are included. Applications treat the Ising, Potts, chiral Potts, Yang-Lee, percolation and XY models, the XXZ chain, linear polymers, tricritical points, conformal turbulence, surface criticality and profiles, defect lines and aperiodically modulated systems, persistent currents and dynamical scaling. The vicinity of the critical point is studied culminating in the exact solution of the two-dimensional Ising model at the critical temperature in a magnetic field. Relevant experimental results are reviewed.

The complete work consists of a two-volume set, describing two main classes of non-equilibrium phase-transitions, and surveys two main aspects of non-equilibrium phase-transitions: (a) transitions in the steady-state and (b) transitions in the relaxation behavior.Volume 1, Absorbing Phase Transitions, published in 2008, covered the statics and dynamics of transitions into an absorbing state. This volume 2 covers dynamical scaling in far-from-equilibrium relaxation behaviour and ageing. Motivated initially by experimental results, dynamical scaling has now been recognised as a cornerstone in the modern understanding of far from equilibrium relaxation. Dynamical scaling is systematically introduced, starting from coarsening phenomena, and existing analytical results and numerical estimates of universal non-equilibrium exponents and scaling functions are reviewed in detail. Ageing phenomena in glasses, as well as in simple magnets, are paradigmatic examples of non-equilibrium dynamical scaling, but may also be found in irreversible systems of chemical reactions. Recent theoretical work sought to understand if dynamical scaling may be just a part of a larger symmetry, called local scale-invariance. Initially, this was motivated by certain analogies with the conformal invariance of equilibrium phase transitions; this work has recently reached a degree of completion and the research is presented, systematically and in detail, in book form for the first time. Numerous worked-out exercises are included. Quite similar ideas apply to the phase transitions of equilibrium systems with competing interactions and interesting physical realisations, for example in Lifshitz points. Aimed at researchers and graduate students in physics, the book is also suitable supplementary reading for advanced undergraduate students.

"The career structure and funding of the universities [...] currently strongly d- courages academics and faculties from putting any investment into teaching - there are no career or ?nancial rewards in it. This is a great pity, because [...] it is the need toengage indialogue,and to makethings logicaland clear,that istheprimary defence against obscurantism and abstraction. " B. Ward-Perkins, The fall of Rome, Oxford (2005) This is the ?rst volume of a planned two-volume treatise on non-equilibrium phase transitions. While such a topic might sound rather special and a- demic, non-equilibrium critical phenomena occur in much wider contexts than their equilibrium counterparts, and without having to ?ne-tune th- modynamic variables to their 'critical' values in each case. As a matter of fact, most systems in Nature are out of equilibrium. Given that the theme of non-equilibrium phase transitions of second order is wide enough to amount essentially to a treatment of almost all theoretical aspects of non-equilibrium many-body physics, a selection of topics is required to keep such a project within a manageable length. Therefore, Vol. 1 discusses a particular kind of non-equilibrium phase transitions, namely those between an active, ?- tuating state and absorbing states. Volume 2 (to be written by one of us (MH) with M. Pleimling) will be devoted to ageing phenomena.

"The career structure and funding of the universities [...] currently strongly d- courages academics and faculties from putting any investment into teaching - there are no career or ?nancial rewards in it. This is a great pity, because [...] it is the need toengage indialogue,and to makethings logicaland clear,that istheprimary defence against obscurantism and abstraction. " B. Ward-Perkins, The fall of Rome, Oxford (2005) This is the ?rst volume of a planned two-volume treatise on non-equilibrium phase transitions. While such a topic might sound rather special and a- demic, non-equilibrium critical phenomena occur in much wider contexts than their equilibrium counterparts, and without having to ?ne-tune th- modynamic variables to their 'critical' values in each case. As a matter of fact, most systems in Nature are out of equilibrium. Given that the theme of non-equilibrium phase transitions of second order is wide enough to amount essentially to a treatment of almost all theoretical aspects of non-equilibrium many-body physics, a selection of topics is required to keep such a project within a manageable length. Therefore, Vol. 1 discusses a particular kind of non-equilibrium phase transitions, namely those between an active, ?- tuating state and absorbing states. Volume 2 (to be written by one of us (MH) with M. Pleimling) will be devoted to ageing phenomena.

"The importance of knowledge consists not only in its direct practical utility but also in the fact the it promotes a widely contemplative habit of mind; on this ground, utility is to be found in much of the knowledge that is nowadays labelled 'useless'. " Bertrand Russel, In Praise of Idleness, London (1935) "Why are scientists in so many cases so deeply interested in their work ? Is it merely because it is useful ? It is only necessary to talk to such scientists to discover that the utilitarian possibilities of their work are generally of secondary interest to them. Something else is primary. " David Bohm, On creativity, Abingdon (1996) In this volume, the dynamical critical behaviour of many-body systems far from equilibrium is discussed. Therefore, the intrinsic properties of the - namics itself, rather than those of the stationary state, are in the focus of 1 interest. Characteristically, far-from-equilibrium systems often display - namical scaling, even if the stationary state is very far from being critical. A 1 As an example of a non-equilibrium phase transition, with striking practical c- sequences, consider the allotropic change of metallic ?-tin to brittle ?-tin. At o equilibrium, the gray ?-Sn becomes more stable than the silvery ?-Sn at 13. 2 C. Kinetically, the transition between these two solid forms of tin is rather slow at higher temperatures. It starts from small islands of ?-Sn, the growth of which proceeds through an auto-catalytic reaction.

Critical phenomena arise in a wide variety of physical systems. Classi cal examples are the liquid-vapour critical point or the paramagnetic ferromagnetic transition. Further examples include multicomponent fluids and alloys, superfluids, superconductors, polymers and fully developed tur bulence and may even extend to the quark-gluon plasma and the early uni verse as a whole. Early theoretical investigators tried to reduce the problem to a very small number of degrees of freedom, such as the van der Waals equation and mean field approximations, culminating in Landau's general theory of critical phenomena. Nowadays, it is understood that the common ground for all these phenomena lies in the presence of strong fluctuations of infinitely many coupled variables. This was made explicit first through the exact solution of the two-dimensional Ising model by Onsager. Systematic subsequent developments have been leading to the scaling theories of critical phenomena and the renormalization group which allow a precise description of the close neighborhood of the critical point, often in good agreement with experiments. In contrast to the general understanding a century ago, the presence of fluctuations on all length scales at a critical point is emphasized today. This can be briefly summarized by saying that at a critical point a system is scale invariant. In addition, conformal invaTiance permits also a non-uniform, local rescal ing, provided only that angles remain unchanged."

Conformal invariance has been a spectacularly successful tool in advancing our understanding of the two-dimensional phase transitions found in classical systems at equilibrium. This volume sharpens our picture of the applications of conformal invariance, introducing non-local observables such as loops and interfaces before explaining how they arise in specific physical contexts. It then shows how to use conformal invariance to determine their properties. Moving on to cover key conceptual developments in conformal invariance, the book devotes much of its space to stochastic Loewner evolution (SLE), detailing SLE's conceptual foundations as well as extensive numerical tests. The chapters then elucidate SLE's use in geometric phase transitions such as percolation or polymer systems, paying particular attention to surface effects. As clear and accessible as it is authoritative, this publication is as suitable for non-specialist readers and graduate students alike.