The second volume of Condensed Matter Theories contains the proceedings of the 10th International Workshop held at Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, U.S.A. during the week of July 21, 1986. The workshop was attended by high-energy, nuclear and condensed-matter physicists as well as materials scientists. This diverse blend of participants was in keeping with the flavor of the previous workshops. This annual series of international workshops was"started in 1977 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Subsequent'workshops were held in Trieste (Italy), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Caracas (Venezuela), Altenberg (West Germany), Granada (Spain), and San Francisco (U.S.A.). What began as a meeting of the physicists from the Western Hemisphere has expanded in the last three years into an international conference of scientists with diverse interests and backgrounds. This diversity has promoted a healthy exchange of ideas from different branches of physics and also fruitful interactions among the participants. The present volume is a continuation of the effort started last year when the invited papers from the 9th International Workshop were published by Plenum Press. Our only trepidation in organizing a book of this kind stemmed from the diversity of the material, which did not lend itself easily to well-defined topics. Still, the articles are loosely divided into eight categories, where the papers in each category have either a common theme or the same underlying technique.

High-temperature materials is a fast-moving research area with numerous practical applications. Materials that can withstand extremely high temperatures and extreme environments are generating considerable attention worldwide; however, designing materials that have low densities, elevated melting temperatures, oxidation resistance, creep resistance, and intrinsic toughness encompass some of the most challenging problems in materials science.
The current search for high-temperature materials is largely based on traditional, trial-and-error experimental methods which are costly and time-consuming. An effective way to accelerate research in this field is to use recent advances in materials simulations and high performance computing and communications (HPCC) to guide experiments. This synergy between experiment and advanced materials modeling will significantly enhance the synthesis of novel high-temperature materials.
This volume collects recent work from experimental and computational scientists on high-temperature materials and emphasizes the potential for collaboration. It features state-of-the-art materials modeling and recent experimental developments in high-temperature materials. Topics include fundamental phenomena and properties; measurements and modeling of interfacial phenomena, stresses, growth of defects, strain, and fracture; and electronic structure and molecular dynamics.