This book emphasizes the experimental aspects of the author's own laboratory. Instead of merely presenting a dry collection of knowledge, the author unfolds to the reader his vivid experiences of enthusiasm, sheer pleasure, and yet frustrations in the course of his own research. In this way, the book aims to arouse the reader's curiosity in the strange behaviours of electrons in the microscopic world, which differ significantly from our common sense and daily experiences of the macroscopic world.

Electron holography, a two-step imaging method taking advantage of light and electrons, has been employed for fundamental experiments in physics as well as for high-precision measurements in microscopy. It continues to be advanced in its applications though the speed of the development is not high but steady together with technical improvements of both the coherent electron beam and the reconstruction system. Progress has been made since the publication of the first edition of this book in 1993, and this second edi- tion with new results integrated is herewith made available. I hope that the...

30 years ago, the Aharonov-Bohm effect was predicted for the first time; since then, this quantum phenomenon which so grossly irritates a physical intuition trained in Maxwellian electrodynamics, has been discussed and studied both experimentally and theoretically. A thorough understanding of the Aharonov-Bohm effect has substantial bearing on the foundations and interpretation of quantum mechanics, on the understanding of gauge theories and on the role of topological methods in mathematical physics. In the meantime, decisive precision measurements have experimentally confirmed the...