Provides an overview of black-hole physics and mathematics. The text is divided into a general introduction and five contributions by scientists specializing in the field. The subjects covered range from the observational and the experimental to the more theoretical and mathematical issues. The material is written at a level suitable for postgraduate students entering the field.

This book presents, in a unifying perspective, the topics related to N=2 supersymmetry in two dimensions. Beginning with the Kähler structure of D=4 supergravity Lagrangians, through the analysis of string compactifications on Calabi-Yau manifolds, one reaches the heart of the matter with the chiral ring structure of N=2 conformal field theories and its relation to topological field theory models and Landau-Ginzburg models. In addition, mirror symmetry, topological twists and Picard-Fuchs equations are discussed.