The storage of electroenergy is an essential feature of modem energy technologies. Unfortunately, no economical and technically feasible method for the solution of this severe problem is presently available. But electrochemistry is a favourite candidate from an engineering point of view. It promises the highest energy densities of all possible alternatives. If this is true, there will be a proportionality between the amount of electricity to be stored and the possible voltage, together with the mass of materials which make this storage possible. Insofar it is a matter of material science to...

In the last few years it was seen the emergence of various new quantum phenomena specifically related with electronic or optical confinement on a sub-wavelength-size. Fast developments simultaneously occurred in the field of Atomic Physics, notably through various regimes of Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics, and in Solid State Physics, with advances in Quantum Well technology and Nanooptoelectronics. Simultaneously, breakthroughs in Near-Field Optics provided new tools which should be widely applicable to these domains. However, the key concepts used to describe these new and partly related...

This volume entitled "Protective Coatings and Thin Films: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications" contains the Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) held in Alvor, Portugal from May 30 to June 5, 1996. This NATO-ARW was an expert meeting on the surface protection and modification of solid materials subjected to interactions with the environment. The meeting attracted 10 key speakers, 40 contributing speakers and 3 observers from various countries. The existing knowledge and current status of the science and technology related to protective coatings and thin films were...

This book is concerned with Intelligent Control methods and applications. The field of intelligent control has been expanded very much during the recent years and a solid body of theoretical and practical results are now available. These results have been obtained through the synergetic fusion of concepts and techniques from a variety of fields such as automatic control, systems science, computer science, neurophysiology and operational research. Intelligent control systems have to perform anthropomorphic tasks fully autonomously or interactively with the human under known or unknown and...

Light alkanes tend to be resistant to many forms of activation. The horizontal approach of the present book covers homogeneous, heterogeneous and biological catalysis, thus allowing readers to gain an awareness of progress and ideas in research areas different from their own. The book contains both general chapters, giving an overview of the subject, and specialised contributions that deal with the details and state of the art. A specialist report is also included which gives a critical insight into current progress and discusses future prospects and major challenges.
Audience:...

The theory of integral and integrodifferential equations has ad vanced rapidly over the last twenty years. Of course the question of existence is an age-old problem of major importance. This mono graph is a collection of some of the most advanced results to date in this field. The book is organized as follows. It is divided into twelve chap ters. Each chapter surveys a major area of research. Specifically, some of the areas considered are Fredholm and Volterra integral and integrodifferential equations, resonant and nonresonant problems, in tegral inclusions, stochastic equations and periodic...

This book summarizes the results of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Syntheses, Optical Properties, and Applications of Near-Infrared (NIR) Dyes in High Technology Fields" held at Trest (Czech Republic) from September 24 to 27, 1997. It was attended by 52 scientists from 16 countries, among them 18 participants from 8 Eastern-Europe. The Workshop has been stimulated by the great progress that has been made in utilizing NIR dyes in high technology areas. This has been triggered by the availability of reliable. vel)' small, and inexpensive laser diodes emitting in the NIR region which...

This NATO Advanced Research Workshop was devoted to a specialized topic in molten salt chemistry and was held in an exotic location (as far as Westerners were concerned) well within the Arctic Circle. It nevertheless facilitated a fruitful week, both ofscience and ofhuman contacts. The 42 oral presentations and posters from nine countries enabled the 59 participants to learn a great deal about many areas of recent research in the molten salt chemistry of refractory metals, while making new contacts as well as renewing old friendships. The time ofinformal contact ledto the beginningofa...

This volume is based on the lectures at the NATO Advanced Study Institute, entitled "Advanced Technologies Based on Wave and Beam Generated Plasmas," held at Sozopol, Bulgaria, from May 22 till June 1, 1998. It attracted almost 100 participants from 16 different countries. The meeting combined different types of scientists from advanced experts to aspiring young researchers. It aimed at stimulating future development by providing-across borders- cross-fertilization and exchanges between previously unconnected groups. This is reflected in the contents of the volume which covers the lectures...

A broad introduction to high T_c superconductors, their parent compounds and related novel materials, covering both fundamental questions of modern solid state physics (such as correlation effects, fluctuations, unconventional symmetry of superconducting order parameter) and applied problems related to short coherence length, grain boundaries and thin films. The information that can be derived from electron spectroscopy and optical measurements is illustrated and explained in detail. Descriptions widely employ the clear, relatively simple, phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau model of...