The recent developement of high power lasers, delivering femtosecond pulses of 20 2 intensities up to 10 W/cm , has led to the discovery of new phenomena in laser interactions with matter. At these enormous laser intensities, atoms, and molecules are exposed to extreme conditions and new phenomena occur, such as the very rapid multi photon ionization of atomic systems, the emission by these systems of very high order harmonics of the exciting laser light, the Coulomb explosion of molecules, and the acceleration of electrons close to the velocity of light. These phenomena generate new behaviour of bulk matter in intense laser fields, with great potential for wide ranging applications which include the study of ultra-fast processes, the development of high-frequency lasers, and the investigation of the properties of plasmas and condensed matter under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure. In particular, the concept of the "fast ignitor" approach to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) has been proposed, which is based on the separation of the compression and the ignition phases in laser-driven ICF. The aim of this course on "Atom, Solids and Plasmas in Super-Intense Laser fields" was to bring together senior researchers and students in atomic and molecular physics, laser physics, condensed matter and plasma physics, in order to review recent developments in high-intensity laser-matter interactions. The course was held at the Ettore Majorana International Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice from July 8 to July 14,2000.

These proceedings report the lectures and seminars of a course entitled "Luminescence of Inorganic Solids," held at Erice, Italy, June 15-30, 1977. This course \'7aS an activity of the International School of Atomic and No1ecu1ar Spectroscopy of the "Ettore Hajorana" Centre for Scientific Culture. The course opened with an overvievl of the present status of luminescence research and with an assessment of its future trends. The following lectures introduced the basic formalism behind the interaction of matter with the radiation field and the lattice phonons. The luminescence properties of various classes of in­ organic materials were treated next, for the specific cases of unfilled-shell activators (transition metal, lanthanide and actinide ions) and filled-s~e11 activators (s2 and d10 ions). Different models suitable for the description of the luminescence properties of semiconductors vlere examined next. The dynamics of energy transfer and relaxation in the excited state of t;1e activators were treated in lectures devoted to the luminescence phenomena of sensitization, concentration quenching and thermal quenching. Finally, the relevance of luminescence studies to the field of phosphor technology and to the laser field Has examined. Each lecturer began the treatment of this topic(s) at a fundamental level and finally reached the current level of research.

This book focuses on original theories and approaches in the field of mechanics. It reports on both theoretical and applied researches, with a special emphasis on problems and solutions at the interfaces of mechanics and other research areas. The respective chapters highlight cutting-edge works fostering development in fields such as micro- and nanomechanics, material science, physics of solid states, molecular physics, astrophysics, and many others.

This textbook provides an exposition of equilibrium thermodynamics and its applications to several areas of physics with particular attention to phase transitions and critical phenomena. The applications include several areas of condensed matter physics and include also a chapter on thermochemistry. Phase transitions and critical phenomena are treated according to the modern development of the field, based on the ideas of universality and on the Widom scaling theory. For each topic, a mean-field or Landau theory is presented to describe qualitatively the phase transitions.

This book presents new ideas in the framework of novel, finite element discretization schemes for solids and structure, focusing on the mechanical as well as the mathematical background. It also explores the implementation and automation aspects of these technologies. Furthermore, the authors highlight recent developments in mixed finite element formulations in solid mechanics as well as novel techniques for flexible structures at finite deformations.