In the first half of the 19th century geometry changed radically, and withina century it helped to revolutionize both mathematics and physics. It also put the epistemology and the philosophy of science on a new footing. In this volume a sound overview of this development is given by leading mathematicians, physicists, philosophers, and historians of science. This interdisciplinary approach gives this collection a unique character. It can be used by scientists and students, but it also addresses a general readership.

The proceedings of the Second European Meeting on "New Aspects of MagellanicCloud Research" review the most recent progress in the study of the LMC and SMC. The activities within the ground-based ESO key programme "Coordinated Investigations of Selected Regions in the Magellanic Clouds", as well as new exciting observations from space missions (ROSAT, IUE, ISO, IRAS) result in a more profound insightinto the structure, kinematics, populations (stars, clusters, interstellar medium), and the chemical composition and evolution of the Magellanic Cloud system. The book addresses researchers and...

This is a comprehensive overview of the information yielded by electroweak probes about the nuclear- and subnuclear-scale structure of matter. Lepton-induced processes from low energy through to the highest energies are considered. The first three lectures review electromagneticprocesses in hadrons; others cover the properties of partons, the behaviour of the constituents of the hadron, muon and neutrino scattering etc. An introduction to electroweak theory including the status of precision tests and data analyses is given along with a report on the first results from HERA. The lecturers...

There have been considerable advances in recent times in understanding many common material processes that are of practical importance, such as nonlinear response, fracture, breakdown, earthquakes, packing, and granular flow, that are of immense practical importance. This has been mainly due to new applications of statistical physics, including percolation theory, fractal concepts and self-organized criticality. This collection of articles brings together research in those closely allied fields. It deals with problems in material science involving random geometries and nonlinearity at a...

The articles in this book reflect the omnipresence of diffusion processes in the natural sciences. They describe experimental results as well as theoretical models and computer simulations, and address a wide readership including graduate students. The problems treated stem from physics, astronomy, physical chemistry, biology, and medicine. The papers are presented in a tutorial style and reflect the present-day trends in the field.

The rapid growth in our understanding of how stars form owes a lot to recent developments in techniques for carrying out infrared and millimeter-wave astronomy. Thus Star Formation and Techniques in mm-Wave Astronomy were natural joint themes for the Fifth EADN Predoctoral Astrophysics School held at the Technische Universitat Berlin. The lecture courses by six world-class experts are aimed at postgraduate students and scientists with a non-specialist interest in the field. Topics include molecular clouds, T Tauri stars, OB stars, observation methods in infrared and mm...

The book is an up-to-date, concise presentation of the development of submillimeter-wave and far-infrared astrophysics. The topics range from the large-scale atomic and molecular distribution in the Galaxy and in external galaxies to the frontal properties of molecular clouds and the details of the star-formation process. A chapter on the most recent technical advances in the field illustrates the intimate connection and interplay between scientific advancement and technological capability. The book not only summarizes the advances in the field but also presents important background...

The contributions to the 151st IAU Colloquium cover different fields of recent research, observational as well as theoretical, on solar and stellar flares ranging from radio up to gamma-ray wavelengths. A special chapter is devoted to all-sky monitoring and, finally, the excerpts of a round-table discussion present the reader with an interesting outlook on future developments. This book is therefore a unique source for those who want to get a complete picture of this fascinating part of modern astrophysics.

Presented here for the first time are up-to-date reviews of a new and rapidly developing field of investigation: magnetic solids with polarized photons. The current experimental and theoretical fundamentals of the interplay of spin-orbit interaction and magnetism are described and recent advances in the understanding of the related spectroscopic phenomena are outlined. New aspects on a variety of methods are reported, covering magneto-optical Kerr-effect studies, spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, dichroism in X-ray near- and extended-edge absorption, and X-anomalous...

The book covers the broad field of solid-state physics from the dense phases of hydrogen, through low-dimensional solids, quantum dots and nanostructures to superconductors. It provides a professional overview of solid-state physics as a real bridge between quantum mechanics and the latest technological achievements.