This thesis represents the first wide-field photometric and spectroscopic survey of star clusters in the nearby late-spiral galaxy M33. This system is the nearest example of a dwarf spiral galaxy, which may have a unique role in the process of galaxy formation and evolution. The cold dark matter paradigm of galaxy formation envisions large spiral galaxies, such as the Milky Way, being formed from the merger and accretion of many smaller dwarf galaxies. The role that dwarf spiral galaxies play in this process is largely unclear. One of the goals of this thesis is to use the star cluster population of M33 to study its formation and evolution from its early stages to the present. The thesis presents a new comprehensive catalog of M33 star clusters, which includes magnitudes, colors, structural parameters, and several preliminary velocity measurements. Based on an analysis of these data, the thesis concludes that, among other things, the evolution of M33 has likely been influenced by its nearby massive neighbor M31.

This book covers a broad range of interdisciplinary topics, focusing on atoms and molecules in intense laser fields, excitation processes in intense laser fields, photonics and materials, high-order harmonics generation, XFEL, high-power lasers and their applications, and quantum computing. This seventeenth volume features contributions from world-renowned researchers on topics such as applications of attosecond and femtosecond laser pulses, coherence and dynamics in quantum systems, and applications of super-intense laser fields.

Dear Friends, It seems like it was only yesterday that we drove the last of you to the airport. The memories and the spirit of the Scientific Detectors for Astronomy Workshop (SDW2002) remain fresh and strong. For us, this was a very special event, a great gathering of what may be one of the friendliest and most cooperative technical communities on our little planet. We have tried to capture the spirit of the Workshop in these Proceedings and we hope you are able to relive your week in Hawaii. For those readers who did not attend, we invite you into this community. As you probably noticed, there is a new name on the cover: Jenna Beletic was the ace up our sleeve for these Proceedings. As a summer intern at Keck, she took up the task of organizing, proofreading, editing and formatting the papers. She also made the graphics (her artistic talents shine on pages xxxiii and xxxv), contacted authors and prepared the mountain of paperwork which goes with producing a book. Jenna’s enthusiasm at learning, her passion for the job and creativity (e. g. find 100 ways to get Paola and Jim to do their jobs) have been a motivating addition to our team of “old workshop foxes”…… and a source for a good deal of paternal pride. We are honoured to have her as a fellow editor.

There is no doubt that we have, during the last decade, moved into a "golden age" of condensed matter science. The sequence of discoveries of novel new states of matter and their rapid assimilation into experimental and theoretical research, as well as devices, has been remarkable. To name but a few: spin glasses; incommensurate, fractal, quasicrystal structures; synthetic metals; quantum well fabrication; fractional quantum Hall effect: solid state chaos; heavy fermions; and most spectacularly high-temperature superconductivity.

This book intended as a guide for scientists and students who have just discovered the field as a new and attractive area of research, and for scientists who have worked in another field and want to join now the subject of laser plasmas. In the first chapter the plasma dynamics is described phenomenologically by a two fluid model and similarity relations from dimensional analysis. Chapter 2 is devoted to plasma optics and collisional absorption in the dielectric and ballistic model. Linear resonance absorption at the plasma frequency and its mild nonlinearities as well as the self-quenching of high amplitude electron plasma waves by wave breaking are discussed in Chapter 3. With increasing laser intensity the plasma dynamics is dominated by radiation pressure, at resonance producing all kinds of parametric instabilities and out of resonance leading to density steps, self-focusing and filamentation, described in Chapters 4 and 5. A self-contained treatment of field ionization of atoms and related phenomena are found in Chapter 6. The extension of laser interaction to the relativistic electron acceleration as well as the physics of collisionless absorption are the subject of Chapter 7. Throughout the book the main emphasis is on the various basic phenomena and on their underlying physics.

This new edition of the well-received introduction to solid-state physics provides a comprehensive overview of the basic theoretical and experimental concepts of materials science. Experimental aspects and laboratory details are highlighted in separate panels that enrich text and emphasize recent developments.

Electron magnetic resonance in the time domain has been greatly facilitated by the introduction of novel resonance structures and better computational tools, such as the increasingly widespread use of density-matrix formalism. This second v- ume in our series, devoted both to instrumentation and computation, addresses - plications and advances in the analysis of spin relaxation time measurements. Chapters 1 deals with the important problem of measuring spin relaxation times over a broad temporal range.

Research in carbon nanotubes has reached a horizon that is impacting a variety of fields, such as nanoelectronics, flat panel display, composite materials, sensors, nanodevices, and novel instrumentation. The unique structures of the nanotubes result in numerous superior physical and chemical properties, such as the strongest mechan­ ical strength, the highest thermal conductivity, room-temperature ballistic quantum conductance, electromechanical coupling, and super surface functionality. Several books are available that introduce the synthesis, physical and chemical properties, and applications of carbon nanotubes. Among the various analytical techniques, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) has played a key role in the discovery and characterization of carbon nanotubes. It may be claimed that carbon nanotubes might not have been discovered without using HRTEM. There is a great need for a book that addresses the theory, techniques, and applications of electron microscopy and associated techniques for nanotube research. The objective of this book is to fill this gap. The potential of HRTEM is now well accepted in wide-ranging communities such as materials science, physics, chemistry, and electrical engineering. TEM is a powerful technique that is indispensable for characterizing nanomaterials and is a tool that each major research institute must have in order to advance its research in nanotechnology.

Single-molecule studies constitute a distinguishable category of focused - search in nanoscience and nanotechnology. This book is dedicated to the - troduction of recent advances on single-molecule studies. It will be illustrated that studying single molecules is both intellectually and technologically ch- lenging, and also o?ers vast potential in opening up new scienti?c frontiers.

This volume is a continuation of two prior books on advanced electron microscope techniques. The purpose of this series has been to provide in­ depth analyses of methods which are considered to be at the leading edge of electron microscopic research procedures with applications in the biological sciences. The mission of the present volume remains that of a source book for the research practitioner or advanced student, especially one already well versed in basic electron optical methods. It is not meant to provide in­ troductory material, nor can this modest volume hope to cover the entire spectrum of advanced technology now available in electron microscopy. In the past decade, computers have found their way into many research laboratories thanks to the enormous increase in computing power and stor­ age available at a modest cost. The ultrastructural area has also benefited from this expansion in a number of ways which will be illustrated in this volume. Half of the contributions discuss technologies that either directly or indirectly make extensive use of computer methods.

The appreciable evolution of the nearly teenaged branch of atomic and molecular physics called beam foil spectroscopy is clearly depicted in the present volumes, which are devoted to publication of presentations at the Fourth International Conference on Beam Foil Spectroscopy and Heavy Ion Atomic Physics Symposium. The transition from childhood to adolescence parallels human experience in that diffusion of interests and interactions beyond the confines of the original family has most certainly occurred. The pre-occupation with techniques and their develop­ ment has been largely replaced by interest in the physics of the widest possible array of atomic and molecular physics experiments, in which spectroscopic study (visible, UV, XUV, X-ray, electron) of collisional interactions of fast beams is the unifying theme. The description "accelerator-based atomic physics" is perhaps more representative of the subject today than is the original, beam-foil spectroscopy," since so many experiments have nothing to do with foils, and furthermore, employ spectroscopy mainly as an incidental tool. What, then distinguishes beam-foil spectro­ scopy from overlapping fields of atomic collisions physics?

Electron microscopy has revolutionized our understanding the extraordinary intellectual demands required of the mi­ of materials by completing the processing-structure-prop­ croscopist in order to do the job properly: crystallography, erties links down to atomistic levels. It now is even possible diffraction, image contrast, inelastic scattering events, and to tailor the microstructure (and meso structure ) of materials spectroscopy. Remember, these used to be fields in them­ to achieve specific sets of properties; the extraordinary abili­ selves.