Written primarily for researchers and graduate students who are new in this emerging field, this book develops the necessary tools so that readers can follow the latest advances in this subject. Readers are first guided to examine the basic informations on nucleon-nucleon collisions and the use of the nucleus as an arena to study the interaction of one nucleon with another. A good survey of the relation between nucleon-nucleon and nucleus-nucleus collisions provides the proper comparison to study phenomena involving the more exotic quark-gluon plasma. Properties of the quark-gluon plasma and signatures for its detection are discussed to aid future searches and exploration for this exotic matter. Recent experimental findings are summarised.

The collisions of high energy photons produced at a electron-positron collider provide a comprehensive laboratory for testing QCD, electroweak interactions and extensions of the standard model. The luminosity and energy of the colliding photons produced by back-scattering laser beams is expected to be comparable to that of the primary e[sup +]e[sup [minus]] collisions. In this overview, we shall focus on tests of electroweak theory in photon-photon annihilation, particularly [gamma][gamma] [yields] W[sup +]W[sup [minus]], [gamma][gamma] [yields] Higgs bosons, and higher-order loop processes, such as [gamma][gamma] [yields] [gamma][gamma], Z[gamma] and ZZ. Since each photon can be resolved into a W[sup +]W[sup minus] pair, high energy photon-photon collisions can also provide a remarkably background-free laboratory for studying WW collisions and annihilation. We also review high energy [gamma][gamma] tests of quantum chromodynamics, such as the scaling of the photon structure function, t[bar t] production, mini-jet processes, and diffractive reactions.

The proceedings blend current and future two-photon physics. Developments since the last Photon-Photon Workshop four years ago are summarized, and the future of the field is projected, not only at existing accelerators, but also at heavy-ion colliders B-factories, and especially linear colliders with back-scattered laser beams.

Articles focus on the planned European proton-proton collider, and concentrate on physics issues, rather than the more technical concerns addressed in the three previous workshops. The use of energies much higher than those of the American Superconducting Super Collider is featured. Topics include reviews of current projects, hadron collisions, lep

The advent of a next linear e{sup {+-}}e− collider and back-scattered laser beams will allow the study of a vast array of high energy processes of the Standard Model through the fusion of real and virtual photons and other gauge bosons. As examples, The author discusses virtual photon scattering [gamma]{sup *}[gamma]{sup *} → X in the region dominated by BFKL hard Pomeron exchange and report the predicted cross sections at present and future e{sup {+-}}e− colliders. The authors also discusses exclusive [gamma][gamma] reactions in QCD as a measure of hadron distribution amplitudes and a new method for measuring the anomalous magnetic and quadrupole moments of the W and Z gauge bosons to high precision in polarized electron-photon collisions.

This volume reports on all aspects of high energy photon interactions using both photon and proton targets. Significant new results from the LEP and HERA experiments as well as from CLEO II and BELLE are presented. These data are confronted with diverse theoretical models. In particular, predictions of QCD in both the perturbative and the non-perturbative sector are extensively discussed. The prospects for gamma-gamma physics at future high energy colliders are also reviewed. In total 72 papers are collected.The proceedings have been selected for coverage in: ? Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP CDROM version / ISI Proceedings)