This study is devoted to the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (S-Z) effect, and important related topics in cluster and CMB research. S-Z science is about to be significantly enhanced by unique, multi-faceted cluster and cosmological yield, at a level of precision in accord with the high standards of the current era that was heralded by spectacular achievements in cosmological CMB research. The pedagogical reviews and technical seminars included in this volume represent most of the important current topics in S-Z work and in the astrophysics of clusters. The publication touches upon all relevant aspects of the S-Z effect and its use as a precise cluster and cosmological probe. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the detection of the CMB by Penzias and Wilson (in 1964), there is a chapter devoted to the history of this discovery. In his fascinating account of their work, he outlines also some lessons pertinent to current scientific issues. Other chapters discuss very interesting related observational work in Europe and the US.

Presents a detailed analysis of modified theories of gravity, discussing their development, cosmological and astrophysical implications and outstanding challenges.

High energy physics (HEP) has a crucial role in the context of fundamental physics. HEP experiments make use of a massive array of sophisticated detectors to analyze the particles produced in high-energy scattering events. This book contains the papers from the workshop 'Radiation and Particle Detectors', organized by the International School of Physics, and held in Varenna in July 2009. Its subject is the use of detectors for research in fundamental physics, astro-particle physics and applied physics. Subjects covered include the measurement of: the position and length of ionization trails, t.

"The goal of this volume is to discuss the rapidly moving field of atom optics and interferometry with all its intricate aspects ranging from fundamental physics to applications and the theory of relativity. The breathtaking success in manipulating atoms using lasers has encouraged these two so far disjunct communities to move closer together and begin collaborations. After an introduction to atom optics and Bose-Einstein condensation, the theoretical foundations of cold atom interferometers, their use to test gravity, and their implementation in laboratory measurements of the earth rotation and of Newton's gravitational constant are discussed. Several papers discuss the characteristics of gyroscopes and interferometers as sensors for inertial forces, starting from gyroscopes based on light waves and comparing their sensitivity to those based on matter waves. The final topic is the variation of fundamental constants, a subject that during the last years has attracted a lot of --

The surprising connections which have developed between physics and various fields as diverse as biology and economics now constitute the fascinating research area known as complex materials and systems. The study of complex materials and processes is rapidly expanding, and many important experimental and theoretical discoveries have been made in recent years. Statistical physics is key to exploring this new and expanding field, enabling an understanding of real-world phenomena compromised of complex materials or exhibiting complex processes. This book includes lectures presented at the CLXXVI International School of Physics oEnrico Fermio, held in Varenna, Italy, in July 2010. The school focused on recent advances and developing perspectives in the study of complex materials and processes, as related to physics and biology. The book provides both an introduction and a complete presentation of recent theoretical and experimental developments for each topic.Topics addressed include: scaling and universality, supra-molecular systems and solutions, polymer systems, static and dynamics of liquid water, arrested dynamics and jamming, dynamics of out of equilibrium systems, physics of confined liquids, granular matter, physics of biological and medical systems, networks in physical and social sciences, turbulence in physics, biology and economics and finally, switching phenomena in biology and economics. The book provides reviews of these cutting edge topics by leading authorities and will be a reference work useful to both advanced research professionals and beginning graduate students.

The three-dimensional nucleon structure is central to many theoretical and experimental activities, and research in this field has seen many advances in the last two decades, addressing fundamental questions such as the orbital motion of quarks and gluons inside the nucleons, their spatial distribution, and the correlation between spin and intrinsic motion. A real three-dimensional imaging of the nucleon as a composite object, both in momentum and coordinate space, is slowly emerging.This book presents lectures and seminars from the Enrico Fermi School Three-Dimensional Partonic Structure of the Nucleon, held in Varenna,

The field of cold atomic gases faced a revolution in 1995 when Bose-Einstein condensation was achieved. The quest for ultra-cold Fermi gases started shortly after the 1995 discovery, and quantum degeneracy in a gas of fermionic atoms was obtained in 1999. This work covers experimental techniques for the creation and study of Fermi quantum gases.

Gives an account of advances and various perspectives in the study of nuclei far from stability. This book deals with book nuclear structure models and their derivation from the basic nucleon-nucleon interaction. It discusses: the shell model, the interacting boson model and the cluster model."

One of the great unsolved problems of science and also physics is the prediction of the three dimensional structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence: the folding problem. It may be stated that the deep connection existing between physics and protein folding is not so much, or in any case not only, through physical methods (experimental: X–rays, NMR, etc, or theoretical: statistical mechanics, spin glasses, etc), but through physical concepts. In fact, protein folding can be viewed as an emergent property not contained neither in the atoms forming the protein nor in the forces acting among them, in a similar way as superconductivity emerges as an unexpected coherent phenomenon taking place on a sea of electrons at low temperature. Already much is known about the protein folding problem, thanks, among other things, to protein engineering experiments as well as from a variety of theoretical inputs: inverse folding problem, funnel–like energy landscapes (Peter Wolynes), helix–coil transitions, etc. Although quite different in appearance, the fact that the variety of models can account for much of the experimental ?ndings is likely due to the fact that they contain much of the same (right) physics. A physics which is related to the important role played by selected highly conserved, “hot”, amino acids which participate to the stability of independent folding units which, upon docking, give rise to a (post–critical) folding nucleus lying beyond the highest maximum of the free energy associated to the process.