The book deals with the (elementary and introductory) theory of valuation rings. As explained in the introduction, this represents a useful and important viewpoint in algebraic geometry, especially concerning the theory of algebraic curves and their function fields. The correspondences of this with other viewpoints (e.g. of geometrical or topological nature) are often indicated, also to provide motivations and intuition for many results. Links with arithmetic are also often indicated. There are three appendices, concerning Hilbert’s Nullstellensatz (for which several proofs are provided), Puiseux series and Dedekind domains. There are also several exercises, often accompanied by hints, which sometimes develop further results not included in full for brevity reasons.

​This book collects some surveys on current trends in discrete mathematics and discrete geometry. The areas covered include: graph representations, structural graphs theory, extremal graph theory, Ramsey theory and constrained satisfaction problems.

This book provides an introduction of some of the technology and techniques of modern particle physics. Each chapter is a deep dive into the relevant subject, which includes silicon pixel detectors, plastic scintillator in a high radiation environment, Cerenkov detectors, particle jet identification, noble gas neutrino detectors, and machine learning. The target audience is graduate students and more senior researchers who wish to learn a new technology or technique.The text pedagogical in nature and each chapter is a standalone treatment of a specific topic. The coverage focuses on state-of-the-art techniques, rather than describing the technology's history. Written by acknowledged experts in the subject matter, Instrumentation and Techniques in High Energy Physics, is an important addition to the library of any particle physicist.

Cosmological models are mathematical frameworks designed to describe the evolution and large-scale behavior of the Universe, grounded in observational evidence and primarily based on general relativity. By extending or modifying the gravitational sector, these models lead to different field equations and distinct cosmological implications, playing a central role in modern cosmology and shaping our understanding of fundamental physical phenomena. Among them, inflationary models provide compelling solutions to key problems of standard Big Bang cosmology, such as the flatness and horizon problems, while also offering mechanisms for the generation of primordial density perturbations responsible for the formation of large-scale structure. Measurements of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies and polarization are of particular importance for probing early-Universe physics and testing these scenarios, as well as models involving matter creation and primordial metric fluctuations. At late times, observational evidence for large-scale structure and cosmic acceleration points to the existence of dark matter and a nonzero cosmological constant, motivating the ΛCDM model as the current standard cosmological paradigm. Beyond isotropic descriptions, anisotropic cosmological models and theories based on generalized geometric frameworks, such as Finsler geometry, have also been developed to explore possible extensions of the spacetime structure. This Special Issue provides an overview of these developments on standard cosmological models, inflationary cosmology, the ΛCDM model, anisotropic cosmologies and Finsler cosmology.

Quantum mechanics has brought a gigantic breakthrough to physics since its introduction more than a century ago. It has led to many discoveries at the microscopic level, initiated new pathways to unsuspected properties of matter, and produced new and amazing usable applications. This Special Issue of Symmetry is devoted to recent advances in theoretical developments in quantum mechanics. It is part of the global effort to provide a continuous supply of information to the research community. This volume gathers contributions in various directions and their contents are best described chronologically by their abstracts, which are hereafter listed for the convenience of the reader.

Although Quantum Physics is established part of most high-school curricula, it’s education challenges students and teachers alike. In contrast to other parts of physics the goals of educating quantum physics (and in extension particle physics) at school only marginally and partially include the mastery of the often extensively simplified mathematical formalism. Instead physics education is aiming at establishing conceptual clarity among the students and more often than not even that goal falters where the potential of the topic to address philosophy and nature of science is omitted.

Lo spirito di questo tempo alberga in una tendenza: è la centralizzazione del capitale, un moto inarrestabile che sta concentrando tutto il potere nelle mani di pochi giganti.
L'ecologia, la scienza, la politica internazionale sono ormai catturate dall'esocapitale, la "materia oscura" dell'odierno capitalismo centralizzato. Una forza che sfrutta in modi sempre più sofisticati il lavoro e la natura e, al contempo, genera sprechi e inefficienze, trasforma gli individui in capitali umani isolati, consuma dall'interno le istituzioni della democrazia liberale e prepara il terreno a una nuova minaccia: un oltrefascismo transnazionale, in cui la libertà del capitale è destinata a divorare tutte le altre libertà.