This work is concerned with combinatorial aspects arising in the theory of exactly solvable models and representation theory. Recent developments in integrable models reveal an unexpected link between representation theory and statistical mechanics through combinatorics. For example, Young tableaux, which describe the basis of irreducible representations, appear in the Bethe Ansatz method in quantum spin chains as labels for the eigenstates for Hamiltonians.

Taking into account the various criss-crossing among mathematical subject, Physical Combinatorics presents new results and exciting ideas from three viewpoints; representation theory, integrable models, and combinatorics.

This volume will be of interest to mathematical physicists and graduate students in the the above-mentioned fields.

Contributors to the volume: T.H. Baker, O. Foda, G. Hatayama, Y. Komori, A. Kuniba, T. Nakanishi, M. Okado, A. Schilling, J. Suzuki, T. Takagi, D. Uglov, O. Warnaar, T.A. Welsh, A. Zabrodin

Developments in mathematical physics during the second half of the 20th century influenced a number of mathematical areas, among the more significant being representation theory, differential equations, combinatorics, and algebraic geometry. In all of them, the dynamic role of integrable models has been central, largely due to two essential properties: the fact that integrable models possess infinite degrees of freedom and infinite dimensional symmetries. This volume focuses on the ongoing importance of integrability in covering the following topics: conformal field theory, massive quantum field theory, solvable lattice models, quantum affine algebras, the Painleve equations and combinatorics.

Contributors: H. Au-Yang, R.J. Baxter, H.E. Boos, E. Date, K. Fabricius, V.A. Fateev, B. Feigin, G.Hatayama, A. Its, M. Jimbo, A. Kapaev, A.N. Kirillov, V.E. Korepin, A.Kuniba, J.M. Maillet, B.M. McCoy, C. Mercat, T. Miwa, A. Nakayashiki, M.Okado, C.H.Otto Chui, P.A. Pearce, J.H.H. Perk, V. Petkova, A. Schilling, F.A. Smirnov, T.Takagi, Y. Takeyama, M. Taneda, C.A. Tracy, Z.Tsuboi, H. Widom, J.-B. Zuber 'MathPhys

"Odyssey 2001" will serve as an excellent reference text for mathematical physicists and graduate students in a number of areas."

'MathPhys Odyssey 2001' will serve as an excellent reference text for mathematical physicists and graduate students in a number of areas.; Kashiwara/Miwa have a good track record with both SV and Birkhauser.

Taking into account the various criss-crossing among mathematical subject, Physical Combinatorics presents new results and exciting ideas from three viewpoints; representation theory, integrable models, and combinatorics. This work is concerned with combinatorial aspects arising in the theory of exactly solvable models and representation theory. Recent developments in integrable models reveal an unexpected link between representation theory and statistical mechanics through combinatorics.

The 1990 Hayashibara Forum, "the International Conference on Special Functions," was held at Fujisaki Institute, Hayashibara Biochemical Laboratories, Inc., Okayama, Japan for five days (August 16-20, 1990). This volume is the proceedings for that meeting. On January 14,1985, Heisuke Hironaka and Ken Hayashibara, the president of Chair man, Board of Trustees, Hayashibara Foundation, met and decided to have an international conference on mathematics in the summer of 1990. This was pushed forward by Kiyosi Ito, who proposed "Special functions" as the theme of the conference. He also asked the present editors to join in the organizing committee of the Hayashibara Forum, 1990. On May 13, 1989 the organizing committee sent letters to major Japanese mathemat ical institutions asking their members to give suggestions about whom it should invite. Receiving the replies, the organizing committee decided the invited speakers, and sent invitation letters to them, in which it was written that "Special functions have been created and explored to describe scientific and mathematical phenomena. Trigonometric functions give the relation of angle to length. Riemann's zeta function was invented in order to describe the prime number distribution. Legendre's spherical functions and Bessel's functions were born in connection with the eigenvalue problems for partial differential equations."