This book presents, in the form of reviews by world's leading physicists in wide-ranging fields in theoretical physics, the influence and prescience of Skyrme's daring idea of 1960, originally conceived for nuclear physics, that fermions can arise from bosons via topological solitons, pervasively playing a powerful role in wide-ranging areas of physics, from nuclear/astrophysics, to particle physics, to string theory and to condensed matter physics.The skyrmion description, both from gauge...

Effective field theories have been widely used in nuclear physics. This volume is devoted to exploring the intricate structure of compact-star matter inaccessible directly from QCD. It is principally anchored on hidden symmetries and topology presumed to be encoded in QCD. It differs from standard effective field theory and energy density functional approaches in that it exploits renormalization-group flow in the complex 'vacuum' sliding with density inferred from topology change identifie...

This memorial volume is dedicated to physicist Gerald E Brown (1926-2013) or 'Gerry' as he was known to his many students, postdocs, colleagues and friends. As written by one of the contributors to this book, 'Gerry was an inspiring father figure for generations of theoretical nuclear physicists and a great human being'.This book covers a wide range of topics in nuclear physics, including nuclear structure, two- and three-body nuclear forces, strangeness nuclear physics, chiral symmetry, h...

The two experimental studies reported in this thesis contribute important new knowledge about phase transitions in two-dimensional complex plasmas: in one case a determination of the coupling parameter (ratio of mean potential to mean kinetic energy of the particles in an ensemble), and in the other a detailed characterization of the non-equilibrium recrystallization of a two-dimensional system. The latter results are used to establish the connection between structural order parameters and...

This textbook, now in its third edition, provides a formative introduction to the structure of matter that will serve as a sound basis for students proceeding to more complex courses, thus bridging the gap between elementary physics and topics pertaining to research activities. The focus is deliberately limited to key concepts of atoms, molecules and solids, examining the basic structural aspects without paying detailed attention to the related properties. For many topics the aim has been ...

There are two scientific theories that, taken together, explain the entire universe. The first, which describes the force of gravity, is widely known: Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. But the theory that explains everything else—the Standard Model of Elementary Particles—is virtually unknown among the general public.In The Theory of Almost Everything, Robert Oerter shows how what were once thought to be separate forces of nature were combined into a single ...

Introduction and handbook to high- power laser-matter interaction, laser generated plasma, nonlinear waves, particle acceleration, nonlinear optics, nonlinear dynamics, radiation transport. The book provides a systematic review of the major results and developments of the past 25 years.

Called "one of our best science popularizers" by Publishers Weekly, Amir D. Aczel tackles the cause of one of last century's most destructive events--the scientific discovery of nuclear power.Drawing on his rich storytelling skills, Aczel presents the fascinating and suspenseful story of the scientists who first uncovered the potential of uranium. Uranium Wars takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of 1920s Europe where the scientific elite of the da...

In Nucleation in Condensed Matter, key theoretical models for nucleation are developed and experimental data are used to discuss their range of validity. A central aim of this book is to enable the reader, when faced with a phenomenon in which nucleation appears to play a role, to determine whether nucleation is indeed important and to develop a quantitative and predictive description of the nucleation behavior. The third section of the book examines nucleation processes in practical situa...

Hundreds of books, long and short, have been written about the Chernobyl tragedy. Few people are left indifferent once they understand a little about the biggest technological catastrophe in history. Wladimir Tchertkoff’s book “The Crime of Chernobyl - the Nuclear Gulag” occupies a central place in this library aboutChernobyl.Many journalists, like Wladimir Tchertkoff, a documentary film maker for Swiss television”, were shocked by what they saw in the areas affected by the radioac...

Gauge/gravity duality creates new links between quantum theory and gravity. It has led to new concepts in mathematics and physics, and provides new tools to solve problems in many areas of theoretical physics. This book is the first textbook on this important topic, enabling graduate students and researchers in string theory and particle, nuclear and condensed matter physics to get acquainted with the subject. Focusing on the fundamental aspects as well as on the applications, this textboo...

There is a very large disconnect between the actual dangers of exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation and the fears of such exposure. A tiny leak at a nuclear power plant is front page news, while there has never been a death or even an injury to the public from escaping radiation. Meanwhile 50,000 deaths from auto accidents go almost unnoticed. This fear is particularly ironic since hundreds of studies show that low doses of ionizing radiation result is lower cancer rates and overall...