In recent years the physics of electromagnetic surface phenomena has developed rapidly, evolving into technologies for communications and industry, such as fiber and integrated optics. The variety of phenomena based on electromagnetism at surfaces is rich and this book was written with the aim of summarizing the available knowledge in selected areas of the field. The book contains reviews written by solid state and optical physicists on the nonlinear interaction of electromagnetic waves at and with surfaces and films. Both the physical phenomena and some potential applications are dealt with. Included are discussions of nonlinear wave mixing on films and surfaces, second harmonic generation in waveguides and at surfaces, nonlinear waves guided by dielectric and semiconductor surfaces and films, surface gratings formed by high energy laser beams, and reflection and transmission switching of strong beams onto nonlinear surfaces. Chapters on light scattering from surface excitations and magnetic order-disorder and orientational phase transitions complete this essential contribution to the modern optics literature.

Modern electrodynamics in different media is a wide branch of electrodynamics which combines the exact theory of electromagnetic fields in the presence of electric charges and currents with statistical description of these fields in gases, plasmas, liquids and solids; dielectrics, conductors and superconductors. It is widely used in physics and in other natural sciences (such as astrophysics and geophysics, biophysics, ecology and evolution of terrestrial climate), and in various technological applications (radio electronics, technology of artificial materials, laser-based technological processes, propagation of bunches of charges particles, linear and nonlinear electromagnetic waves, etc.). Electrodynamics of matter is based on the exact fundamental (microscopic) electrodynamics but is supplemented with specific descriptions of electromagnetic fields in various media using the methods of statistical physics, quantum mechanics, physics of condensed matter (including theory of superconductivity), physical kinetics and plasma physics. This book presents in one unique volume a systematic description of the main electrodynamic phenomena in matter: - A large variety of theoretical approaches used in describing various media - Numerous important manifestations of electrodynamics in matter (magnetic materials, superconductivity, magnetic hydrodynamics, holography, radiation in crystals, solitons, etc.) - A description of the applications used in different branches of physics and many other fields of natural sciences - Describes the whole complexity of electrodynamics in matter including material at different levels. - Oriented towards 3-4 year bachelors, masters, and PhD students, as well as lectures, and engineers and scientists working in the field. - The reader will need a basic knowledge of general physics, higher mathematics, classical mechanics and microscopic (fundamental) electrodynamics at the standard university level - All examples and problems are described in detail in the text to help the reader learn how to solve problems - Advanced problems are marked with one asterisk, and the most advanced ones with two asterisks. Some problems are recommended to be solved first, and are are marked by filled dots; they are more general and important or contain results used in other problems.

The general theory of magnetism and the vast range of individual phe nomena it embraces have already been examined in many volumes. Spe cialists hardly need help in charting their way through the maze of pub lished information. At the same time, a nonspecialist might easily be discouraged by this abundance. Most texts are restricted in their coverage, and their concepts may well appear to be disorganized when the uninitiated attempt to consider them in their totality. Since the subject is already thoroughly researched with very little new information added year by year, this is hardly a satisfactory state of affairs. By now, it should be possible for anyone with even a minimum of technical competence to feel com pletely at home with all of the basic magnetic principles. The present volume addresses this issue by stressing simplicity-sim plicity of order and simplicity of range as well as simplicity of detail. It proposes a pattern of logical classification based on the electronic con sequences that result whenever any form of matter interacts with any kind of energy. An attempt has been made to present each phenomenon of interest in its most visually graphic form while reducing the verbal de scription to the minimum needed to back up the illustrations. This might be called a Life magazine type of approach, in which each point is prin cipally supported by a picture. The illustrations make use of two (perhaps unique) conventions.

The classical theory of electromagnetism is entirely revised in this book by proposing a variant of Maxwell equations that allows solitonic solutions (photons). The Lagrangian is the standard one, but it is minimized on a constrained space that enforces the wave packets to follow the rules of geometrical optics. Exact solutions are explicitly shown; this opens a completely new perspective for the study of light wave phenomena. In the framework of general relativity, the equations are written in covariant form. A coupling with the metric is obtained through the Einstein equation, whose solutions are computed exactly in a lot of original situations. Finally, the explicit construction of elementary particles, consisting of rotating photons, is indicated. The results agree qualitatively and quantitatively with what it is actually observed. This opens the path to an understanding of the structure of matter and its properties, also aimed to provide a causal explanation to quantum phenomena.

The physics of strongly interacting matter in an external magnetic field is presently emerging as a topic of great cross-disciplinary interest for particle, nuclear, astro- and condensed matter physicists. It is known that strong magnetic fields are created in heavy ion collisions, an insight that has made it possible to study a variety of surprising and intriguing phenomena that emerge from the interplay of quantum anomalies, the topology of non-Abelian gauge fields, and the magnetic field. In particular, the non-trivial topological configurations of the gluon field induce a non-dissipative electric current in the presence of a magnetic field. These phenomena have led to an extended formulation of relativistic hydrodynamics, called chiral magnetohydrodynamics. Hitherto unexpected applications in condensed matter physics include graphene and topological insulators. Other fields of application include astrophysics, where strong magnetic fields exist in magnetars and pulsars. Last but not least, an important new theoretical tool that will be revisited and which made much of the progress surveyed in this book possible is the holographic principle - the correspondence between quantum field theory and gravity in extra dimensions. Edited and authored by the pioneers and leading experts in this newly emerging field, this book offers a valuable resource for a broad community of physicists and graduate students.