This volume presents detailed discussions of a number of unsolved conceptual and technical issues arising, in particular, in the foundations of quantum theory and the philosophy of science. The 14 contributions capture a wide variety of viewpoints and backgrounds. Some chapters deal primarily with the main experimental issues; others focus on theoretical and philosophical questions. In addition, attempts are made to systematically analyze ways in which quantum physics can be connected to the neurosciences and consciousness research.

This book treats modern aspects of open systems, measurement, and decoherence in relativistic quantum theory. It starts with a comprehensive introduction to the problems related to measuring local and nonlocal observables and the constraints imposed by the causality principle. In the articles that follow, the emphasis lies on new theoretical models. Quantum dynamical semigroups and stochastic processes in Hilbert space are introduced, as are dynamical reduction models. Further topics include relativistic generalizations of the continuous spontaneous localization model and of the quantum state...

This book offers the first comprehensive account of the new method of density matrix renormalization. Recent years have seen enormous progress in the numerical treatment of low-dimensional quantum sytems. With this new technique, which selects a reduced set of basis states via density matrices, it has become possible to treat large systems with amazing accuracy. The method has been applied successfully to a variety of important one-dimensional problems such as spin chains, Kondo models, and correlated electron systems. Extensions to other systems and higher dimensions are currently being...

The workshop "Nonhnear MHD Waves and Turbulence" was held at the - servatoire de Nice, December 1-4, 1998 and brought together an international group of experts in plasma physics, fluid dynamics and applied mathematics. The aim of the meeting was to survey the current knowledge on two main topics: (i) propagation of plasma waves (like Alfven, whistler or ion-acoustic waves), their instabilities and the development of a nonlinear dynamics lea ding to solitonic structures, wave collapse or weak turbulence; (ii) turbulence in magnetohydrodynamic flows and its reduced description in the presence...

In this book the process of decoherence is reviewed from both the theoretical and the experimental physicist's point of view. Implications of this important concept for fundamental problems of quantum theory and for chemistry and biology are also given. This broad review of decoherence addresses researchers and graduate students. It could also be used in seminar work.

The aim of this book is to give graduate students an overview of quantum gravity but it also covers related topics from astrophysics. Some well-written contributions can serve as an introduction into basic conceptual concepts like time in quantum gravity or the emergence of a classical world from quantum cosmology. This makes the volume attractive to philosophers of science, too. Other topics are black holes, gravitational waves and non-commutative extensions of physical theories.

This book serves two purposes. The authors present important aspects of modern research on the mathematical structure of Einstein's field equations and they show how to extract their physical content from them by mathematically exact methods. The essays are devoted to exact solutions and to the Cauchy problem of the field equations as well as to post-Newtonian approximations that have direct physical implications. Further topics concern quantum gravity and optics in gravitational fields.
The book addresses researchers in relativity and differential geometry but can also be used as...

A title aimed at enabling the reader to understand the basic formalisms used in electronic structure determination and particularly the "Muffin Tin Orbitals" methods. Many developments are presented, providing a detailed description of the "Full Potential" schemes amongst others.

Many of the ISO observers who assembled for this workshop at Ringberg c- tle met for the third time in the Bavarian Alps. At two previous meetings in 1989 and 1990 surveys were only a minor topic. At that time we were excited by the discoveries of the IRAS survey mission and wanted to follow it up with pointed observations using an observatory telescope equipped with versatile instruments. With the rapid development of detector arrays and stimulated by ISO's Observing Time Allocation Committee, however, surveys eventually became an issue for the upcoming mission. In a review paper on...

Atomic jets and molecular out?ows from Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) are among the most spectacular of astrophysical phenomena. Approaching this topic, one gets immediately trapped by the breathtaking beauty of the op- calimagestakenfromEarthorSpacewithmoderntelescopes, onlytodiscover soonafterthatthephysicsthatregulatestheirpropertiesisevenmoreintri- ing. Out?ows are believed to play a fundamental role in the formationprocess of a new star and its planets, as they could be the principal agent for the removal of the excess angular momentum from the star-disk system. Their generation mechanism,...