Since the turn of the 21st century, the field of electron molecule collisions has undergone a renaissance. The importance of such collisions in applications from radiation chemistry to astrochemistry has flowered, and their role in industrial processes such as plasma technology and lighting are vital to the advancement of next generation devices. Furthermore, the development of the scanning tunneling microscope highlights the role of such collisions in the condensed phase, in surface processing, and in the development of nanotechnology. Low-Energy Electron Scattering from Molecules, Biomolecules and Surfaces highlights recent progress in the theory and experiment of electron-molecule collisions, providing a detailed review of the current state of knowledge of electron molecule scattering-theoretical and experimental-for the general physicist and chemist interested in solving practical problems. In few other branches of science is the collaboration between theorists and experimentalists so topical. Covering advancements in practical problems, such as those met in plasma physics, microelectronics, nanolithography, DNA research, atmospheric chemistry, and astrochemistry, this book describes the formal general scattering theory and description of the experimental setup at a level the interested non-expert can appreciate.

Since the turn of the 21st century, the field of electron molecule collisions has undergone a renaissance. The importance of such collisions in applications from radiation chemistry to astrochemistry has flowered, and their role in industrial processes such as plasma technology and lighting are vital to the advancement of next generation devices. Furthermore, the development of the scanning tunneling microscope highlights the role of such collisions in the condensed phase, in surface processing, and in the development of nanotechnology. Low-Energy Electron Scattering from Molecules, Biomolecules and Surfaces highlights recent progress in the theory and experiment of electron-molecule collisions, providing a detailed review of the current state of knowledge of electron molecule scattering-theoretical and experimental-for the general physicist and chemist interested in solving practical problems. In few other branches of science is the collaboration between theorists and experimentalists so topical. Covering advancements in practical problems, such as those met in plasma physics, microelectronics, nanolithography, DNA research, atmospheric chemistry, and astrochemistry, this book describes the formal general scattering theory and description of the experimental setup at a level the interested non-expert can appreciate.

I feel very honored that I have been asked to write a Foreword to this book. The subject of the book - "Coupled cluster theory" - has been around for about half a century. The basic theory and explicit equations for closed-shell ground states were formulated before 1970. At the beginning of the seventies the rst ab initio calcu- tion were carried out. At that time speed and memory of computers were very limited compared to today's standards. Moreover, the size of one-electron bases employed was small, so that it was only possible to achieve an orientation in methodical aspects rather than to generate new signi cant results. Extensive use of the coupled-cluster method started at the beginning of the eighties. With the help of more powerful computers the results of coupled-cluster approaches started to yield more and more interesting results of relevance to the interpretation of experimental data. New ideas in methodology kept appearing and computer codes became more and more ef cient. This exciting situation continues to this very day. Remarkably enough, even the - quired equations can now be generated by a computer with the help of symbolic languages. The size of this monograph and the rich variety of articles it contains attests to the usefulness and viability of the couple-cluster formalism for the h- dling of many-electron correlation effects. This represents a vivid testimony of a tremendous work that has been accomplished in coupled-cluster methodology and its exploitation.

Until recently quantum chemical ab initio calculations were re stricted to atoms and very small molecules. As late as in 1960 Allen l and Karo stated : "Almost all of our ab initio experience derives from diatomic LCAO calculations *** N and we have found in the litera ture "approximately eighty calculations, three-fourths of which are for diatomic molecules *** There are approximately twenty ab initio calculations for molecules with more than two atoms, but there is a decided dividing line between the existing diatomic and polyatomic wave functions. Confidence in the satisfactory evaluation of the many -center two-electron integrals is very much less than for the diatom ic case". Among the noted twenty calculations, SiH was the largest 4 molecule treated. In most cases a minimal basis set was used and the many-center two-electron integrals were calculated in an approximate way. Under these circumstances the ab initio calculations could hard ly provide useful chemical information. It is therefore no wonder that the dominating role in the field of chemical applications was played by semiempirical and empirical methods. The situation changed essentially in the next decade. The problem of many-center integrals was solved, efficient and sophisticated computer programs were devel oped, basis sets suitable for a given type of problem were suggested, and, meanwhile, a considerable amount of results has been accumulated which serve as a valuable comparative material. The progress was of course inseparable from the development and availability of computers.

I feel very honored that I have been asked to write a Foreword to this book. The subject of the book - "Coupled cluster theory" - has been around for about half a century. The basic theory and explicit equations for closed-shell ground states were formulated before 1970. At the beginning of the seventies the rst ab initio calcu- tion were carried out. At that time speed and memory of computers were very limited compared to today's standards. Moreover, the size of one-electron bases employed was small, so that it was only possible to achieve an orientation in methodical aspects rather than to generate new signi cant results. Extensive use of the coupled-cluster method started at the beginning of the eighties. With the help of more powerful computers the results of coupled-cluster approaches started to yield more and more interesting results of relevance to the interpretation of experimental data. New ideas in methodology kept appearing and computer codes became more and more ef cient. This exciting situation continues to this very day. Remarkably enough, even the - quired equations can now be generated by a computer with the help of symbolic languages. The size of this monograph and the rich variety of articles it contains attests to the usefulness and viability of the couple-cluster formalism for the h- dling of many-electron correlation effects. This represents a vivid testimony of a tremendous work that has been accomplished in coupled-cluster methodology and its exploitation.