The field of solid state ionics is multidisciplinary in nature. Chemists, physicists, electrochimists, and engineers all are involved in the research and development of materials, techniques, and theoretical approaches. This science is one of the great triumphs of the second part of the 20th century. For nearly a century, development of materials for solid-state ionic technology has been restricted. During the last two decades there have been remarkable advances: more materials were discovered, modem technologies were used for characterization and optimization of ionic conduction in solids, trial and error approaches were deserted for defined predictions. During the same period fundamental theories for ion conduction in solids appeared. The large explosion of solid-state ionic material science may be considered to be due to two other influences. The first aspect is related to economy and connected with energy production, storage, and utilization. There are basic problems in industrialized countries from the economical, environmental, political, and technological points of view. The possibility of storing a large amount of utilizable energy in a comparatively small volume would make a number of non-conventional intermittent energy sources of practical convenience and cost. The second aspect is related to huge increase in international relationships between researchers and exchanges of results make considerable progress between scientists; one find many institutes joined in common search programs such as the material science networks organized by EEC in the European countries.

The fact that magnetite (Fe304) was already known in the Greek era as a peculiar mineral is indicative of the long history of transition metal oxides as useful materials. The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in 1986 has renewed interest in transition metal oxides. High-temperature su­ perconductors are all cuprates. Why is it? To answer to this question, we must understand the electronic states in the cuprates. Transition metal oxides are also familiar as magnets. They might be found stuck on the door of your kitchen refrigerator. Magnetic materials are valuable not only as magnets but as electronics materials. Manganites have received special attention recently because of their extremely large magnetoresistance, an effect so large that it is called colossal magnetoresistance (CMR). What is the difference between high-temperature superconducting cuprates and CMR manganites? Elements with incomplete d shells in the periodic table are called tran­ sition elements. Among them, the following eight elements with the atomic numbers from 22 to 29, i. e. , Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni and Cu are the most im­ portant. These elements make compounds with oxygen and present a variety of properties. High-temperature superconductivity and CMR are examples. Most of the textbooks on magnetism discuss the magnetic properties of transition metal oxides. However, when one studies magnetism using tradi­ tional textbooks, one finds that the transport properties are not introduced in the initial stages.

This book outlines past and new developments in molecular response theory in terms of static and dynamic-induced current densities and showcases an important step forward in the field of molecular density functions and their topological analysis. The book begins with a general perspective on topics such as classical Hamiltonian, quantum mechanical Hamiltonian, and topological analysis of the electron charge density, followed by an in-depth overview of time-dependent and -independent perturbations, and applications.

This fundamental book presents the most comprehensive summary of the current state of the art in the chemistry of cage compounds. It introduces different ways of how ions and molecules can be encapsulated by three-dimensional caging ligands to form molecular and polymeric species: covalent, supramolecular, and coordination capsules.
The authors introduce their classification, reactivity, and selected practical applications. Because encapsulation can isolate caged ions and molecules from external factors, the encapsulated species can exhibit unique physical and chemical properties. The resulting specific reactivity and selectivity can open up a range of applications, including chemical separation, recognition, chiral separation, catalysis, applications as sensors or probes, as molecular or supramolecular devices, or molecular carriers (cargo).

A dominant feature of our ordinary experience of the world is a sense of irreversible change: things lose form, people grow old, energy dissipates. On the other hand, a major conceptual scheme we use to describe the natural world, molecular dynamics, has reversibility at its core. The need to harmonize conceptual schemes and experience leads to several questions, one of which is the focus of this book. How does irreversibility at the macroscopic level emerge from the reversibility that prevails at the molecular level? Attempts to explain the emergence have emphasized probability, and assigned different probabilities to the forward and reversed directions of processes so that one direction is far more probable than the other. The conclu­ sion is promising, but the reasons for it have been obscure. In many cases the aim has been to find an explana­ tion in the nature of probability itself. Reactions to that have been divided: some think the aim is justified while others think it is absurd.

Providing the quantum-mechanical foundations of chemical bonding, this unique textbook emphasizes key concepts such as superposition, degeneracy of states and the role of the electron spin. These quantum mechanical notions are usually oversimplified or meticulously circumvented in other books, to the frustration of serious readers who want to understand, for example, why two protons can be stably bound with only one electron to make the simplest molecule H2+. An initial, concise and compact presentation of the rudiments of quantum mechanics enables readers to progress through the book with a firm grounding. Experimental examples are included to illustrate how the abstract concepts are manifest in real systems.

Written in a clear pedagogic style, this book deals with the application of density matrix theory to atomic and molecular physics. The aim is to precisely characterize sates by a vector and to construct general formulas and proofs of general theorems. The basic concepts and quantum mechanical fundamentals (reduced density matrices, entanglement, quantum correlations) are discussed in a comprehensive way. The discussion leads up to applications like coherence and orientation effects in atoms and molecules, decoherence and relaxation processes. This third edition has been updated and extended throughout and contains a completely new chapter exploring nonseparability and entanglement in two-particle spin-1/2 systems. The text discusses recent studies in atomic and molecular reactions. A new chapter explores nonseparability and entanglement in two-particle spin-1/2 systems.

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.

From the early examples of what was to be called MRI, extending the te- nique to higher fields than those of less than 0. 1 T used in the first large-volume instruments was a goal, but the way there was unclear. The practical success of large superconducting magnets was a surprise, and the astonishment continued as they developed fields from 0. 3 T to 0. 6 T to 1. 5 T, and even more, up to the now common 3T systems, and a few 4T machines, and now to about 100 times the fields used in the first medium- and large-bore devices. In the early machines, low radiofrequencies of 4 MHz or so meant that RF coil designs were simple (even inexperienced undergraduates could design and build such circuits with little knowledge of more than DC electrical circuits), and the forces on gradient coils were small. The effects of magnetic susceptibility in- mogeneity in and around the object being imaged were negligible, and RF penet- tion depths were not a problem for human-scale samples. Everything began to change as higher fields and higher frequencies came into use, and the earlier idyllic simplicities began to seem quaint. The trend continued, however, driven by the increased signal-to-noise ratios and the resultant higher resolutions and speed available, and sophisticated engineering became more and more essential, not only for magnets but for gradient systems and radiofrequency transmitters and receivers, but also for better software for modeling and correcting distortions.

The teaching of solid state physics essentially concerns focusing on crystals and their properties. We study crystals and their properties because of the simple and elegant results obtained from the analysis of a spatially periodic system; this is why the analysis can be made considering a small set of atoms that represent the whole system of many particles. In contrast to the formal neat approach to crystals, the study of str- turally disordered condensed systems is somewhat complicated and often leads to relatively imprecise results, not to mention the experimental and computational e?ort involved. As such, almost all university textbooks, - cluding the advanced course books, only brie?y touch on the physics of am- phous systems. In any case, both the fundamental aspect and the ever wider industrial applications have given structurally disordered matter a role that should not be overlooked.

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.

At the time when increasing numbers of chemists are being attracted by the fascination of supposedly easy computing and associated colourful imaging, this book appears as a counterpoint.

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) was developed in order to char­ acterize the dynamics of molecular processes in systems in thermodynamic equilibrium. FCS determines transport and chemical reaction rates from mea­ surements of spontaneous microscopic thermally driven molecular concentra­ tion fluctuations. Since its inception, and particularly in recent years, techni­ cal and conceptual advances have extended the range of practical applicability and the information obtainable from FCS measurements.

This volume is the outgrowth of a workshop held in October, 2000 at the Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics at the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA. The aim of this book (similar in theme to the workshop) is to present an overview of new directions in antimatter physics and chemistry research. The emphasis is on positron and positronium interactions both with themselves and with ordinary matter. The timeliness of this subject comes from several considerations. New concepts for intense positron sources and the development of positron accumulators and trap-based positron beams provide qualitatively new experimental capabilities. On the theoretical side, the ability to model complex systems and complex processes has increased dramatically in recent years, due in part to progress in computational physics.