The elastic and inelastic scattering of intermediate energy (less than or equal to 1 GeV) protons by nuclei is considered first. The discussion focuses on the determination of the proton-nucleus optical potential in terms of the elementary nucleon-nucleon scattering amplitudes and the properties of the target and residual nucleus. The result is a series of terms for the optical potential. Then the interaction of pions with nuclei for energies in the neighborhood of the .delta.-resonance is discussed. In this energy domain an incident pion will with high probability be absorbed by a nucleon to produce the .delta.-resonance and thus form a .delta.-particle hole state in the nucleus. Next, the subject of hypernuclei is taken up. The .lambda. hypernuclei and a recently observed .sigma. hypernuclei comprise situations in which the core nucleus can be probed by a baryon of roughly the same mass as a nucleon, with similar albeit not identical interactions with nucleons. But the .lambda. (or .sigma.) does not need to satisfy the Pauli exclusion principle with respect to the nucleons, and therefore can be in orbits forbidden to it if it were a nucleon. As the energy of the projectile increases, it becomes correspondingly more important to take relativistic effects into account. The importance of these effects is strikingly revealed by experiments involving the collision of ultrarelativistic hadrons, protons, pions, kaons (up to Fermilab energies) with nuclei. This phenomenon forms part of the final topic, which includes as well as the collision of relativistic heavy ion projectiles with nuclei. A nuclear Weiszaecker-Williams method developed for dealing with peripheral collisions is described. 32 figures, 10 tables. (RWR).

Intended for graduate students, advanced undergraduates and research staff in particle physics and related disciplines and will also be of interest to physicists not working in this field who want an overview of the present development of the subject.

While electromagnetic interactions were first used to probe the structure of elementary particles more than 20 years ago, their importance has only become fully evident in the last 10 years. In the resonance region, photo production experiments have provided clear evidence for simple quark model ideas, and confirmed the Melosh-transformed SU(6)w as a relevant symmetry classification. At higher energies, their most striking feature is their similarity to hadron-induced reactions, and they have provided fresh insight into the ideas developed to explain strong-interaction physics. New dimensions are added by taking the photon off mass shell, both in the spacelike region, where the development of high-energy electron and muon beams has led to the discovery and study of scaling and the intro duction of "partons," and even more dramatically in the timelike region, where the development of high-energy electron-positron storage rings has led to the exciting discoveries of the last four years. In view of the immense interest stimulated by these developments, an extensive review of our present state of knowledge is both timely and useful. Because of the very wide range of the subject, a cooperative venture presents itself as the most suitable format and is the one we have adopted here. The emphasis throughout is primarily, but not entirely, on phenomenology, concentrating on describing the main features of the experimental data and on the theoretical ideas used directly in their inter pretation.

Dramatic progress has been made in all branches of physics since the National Research Council's 1986 decadal survey of the field. The Physics in a New Era series explores these advances and looks ahead to future goals. The series includes assessments of the major subfields and reports on several smaller subfields, and preparation has begun on an overview volume on the unity of physics, its relationships to other fields, and its contributions to national needs. Nuclear Physics is the latest volume of the series. The book describes current activity in understanding nuclear structure and symmetries, the behavior of matter at extreme densities, the role of nuclear physics in astrophysics and cosmology, and the instrumentation and facilities used by the field. It makes recommendations on the resources needed for experimental and theoretical advances in the coming decade.