The first Europhysics Study Conference on Electroweak Effects at High Energies was held at the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily from February 1 -12, 1983. The conference was attended by 61 physicists from 11 countries. The conference was sponsored by the European Physical Society, the Italian Ministry of Public Education, the Italian Ministry of Technological Research, the Sicilian Regional Government and the California Institute of Technology. CONFERENCE FORMAT The Study Conference followed a new intensive format in which the state of our knowledge of the electroweak interaction, and the relation of the electroweak sector to Grand Unified and Superunified Theories was reviewed in some depth. During the two week conference, 54 experimental and theoretical talks were presented, and four evening discussion sessions were held. The Erice surroundings, the wide-ranging conference program, and the fact that nearly all of the participants were directly involved in recent major experimental or theoretical developments, led to animated and very friendly discussions. Participants had the rare opportunity to view most of the major trends in high energy physics in a short interval of time, and to discuss and contemplate the trends in the uniquely peaceful yet stimulating atmosphere which is an Erice tradition.

A graduate-level description of how the theory of electroweak interactions, or so-called "Standard Model" unifies the weak and electromagnetic forces of nature in high energy physics.

This volume deals with the electroweak interactions at low and high energies. The results of the collider experiments are discussed, and the low energy experiments with complications for astrophysics are considered. Also, theoretical developments are presented to highlight the impact of forthcoming experiments and to find new directions of study.