Contains 25 surveys in algebra and model theory, all written by leading experts in the field. The surveys are based around talks given at conferences held in Essen, 1994, and Dresden, 1995. Each contribution is written in such a way as to highlight the ideas that were discussed at the conferences, and also to stimulate open research problems in a form accessible to the whole mathematical community.
The topics include field and ring theory as well as groups, ordered algebraic structure and their relationship to model theory. Several papers deal with infinite permutation groups, abelian...

The purpose of this Handbook is to highlight both theory and applications of weighted automata. Weighted ?nite automata are classical nondeterministic ?nite automata in which the transitions carry weights. These weights may model, e. g., the cost involved when executing a transition, the amount of resources or time neededforthis, ortheprobabilityorreliabilityofitssuccessful execution. The behavior of weighted ?nite automata can then be considered as the function (suitably de?ned) associating with each word the weight of its execution. Clearly, weights can also be added to classical automata...