Electrons and ions have been used for over 40 years as probes to investigate the fascinating properties of helium liquids. The study of the transport properties of microscopic charge carriers sheds light on superfluidity, on quantum hydrodynamics, and on the interactions with collective excitations in quantum liquids. The structure of the probes themselves depends on their coupling with the liquid environment in a way that gives further insight into the microscopic behavior of the liquid in different thermodynamic conditions, such as in the superfluid phase, in the normal phase, or near the liquid-vapor critical point. This book provides a comprehensive review of the experiments and theories of transport properties of charge carriers in liquid helium. It is a subject about which no other monograph exists to date. The book is intended for graduate and postgraduate students and for condensed matter physicists who will benefit from its completeness and accuracy.

This coherent monograph describes and explains quantum phenomena in two-dimensional (2D) electron systems with extremely strong internal interactions, which cannot be described by the conventional Fermi-liquid approach. The central physical objects considered are the 2D Coulomb liquid, of which the average Coulomb interaction energy per electron is much higher than the mean kinetic energy, and the Wigner solid. The text provides a new and comprehensive review of the remarkable properties of Coulomb liquids and solids formed on the free surface of liquid helium and other interfaces. This book is intended for graduate students and researchers in the fields of quantum liquids, electronic properties of 2D systems, and solid-state physics. It includes different levels of sophistication so as to be useful for both theorists and experimentalists. The presentation is largely self-contained, and also describes some instructive examples that will be of general interest to solid-state physicists.

The Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on "Linking the Gaseous and Condensed Phases of Matter: The Behavior of Slow Electrons" was held at Patras, Greece, September 5-18, 1993. The organizers of the Patras ASI felt that the study of the electronic properties of matter in various states of aggregation has advanced to a point where further progress required the interfacing of the phases of matter in order to find out and to understand how the microscopic and macroscopic properties of materials and processes change as we go from low pressure gas to the condensed phase. This approach is of foremost significance both from the point of view of basic research and of applications. Linking the electronic properties of the gaseous and condensed phases of matter is a fascinating new frontier of science embracing scientists not only from physics and chemistry but also from the life sciences and engineering. The Patras ASI brought together some of the world's foremost experts who work in the field of electronic properties of molecular gases, clusters, liquids, and solids. The thirty five lectures given at the meeting as well as the twenty nine poster papers presented and the formal and informal discussions that took place focused largely on the behavior of slow electrons in matter.

Recent studies on two-dimensional systems have led to new insights into the fascinating interplay between physical properties and dimensionality. Many of these ideas have emerged from work on electrons bound to the surface of a weakly polarizable substrate such as liquid helium or solid hydrogen. The research on this subject continues to be at the forefront of modern condensed matter physics because of its fundamental simplicity as well as its connection to technologically useful devices. This book is the first comprehensive overview of experimental and theoretical research in this exciting field. It is intended to provide a coherent introduction for graduate students and non-experts, while at the same time serving as a reference source for active researchers in the field. The chapters are written by individuals who made significant contributions and cover a variety of specialized topics. These include the origin of the surface states, tunneling and magneto-tunneling out of these states, the phase diagram, collective excitations, transport and magneto-transport.

After decades of research and development, emission detectors have recently become the most successful instrumentation used in modern fundamental experiments searching for cold dark matter, and are also considered for neutrino coherent scattering and magnetic momentum neutrino measurement. This book is the first monograph exclusively dedicated to emission detectors. Properties of two-phase working media based on noble gases, saturated hydrocarbon, ion crystals and semiconductors are reviewed.