This book provides a theoretical and observational overview of the state of the art of gamma-ray astrophysics, and their impact and connection with the physics of cosmic rays and neutrinos. With the aim of shedding new and fresh light on the problem of the nature of the gamma-ray sources, particularly those yet unidentified, this book summarizes contributions to a workshop that continues today.

Accretion flows, winds and jets of compact astrophysical objects and stars are generally described within the framework of hydrodynamical and magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) flows. Analytical analysis of the problem provides profound physical insights, which are essential for interpreting and understanding the results of numerical simulations. Providing such a physical understanding of MHD Flows in Compact Astrophysical Objects is the main goal of this book, which is an updated translation of a successful Russian graduate textbook. The book provides the first detailed introduction into the method of the Grad-Shafranov equation, describing analytically the very broad class of hydrodynamical and MHD flows. It starts with the classical examples of hydrodynamical accretion onto relativistic and nonrelativistic objects. The force-free limit of the Grad-Shafranov equation allows us to analyze in detail the physics of the magnetospheres of radio pulsars and black holes, including the Blandford-Znajek process of energy extraction from a rotating black hole immersed in an external magnetic field. Finally, on the basis of the full MHD version of the Grad-Shafranov equation the author discusses the problems of jet collimation and particle acceleration in Active Galactic Nuclei, radio pulsars, and Young Stellar Objects. The comparison of the analytical results with numerical simulations demonstrates their good agreement. Assuming that the reader is familiar with the basic physical and mathematical concepts of General Relativity, the author uses the 3+1 split approach which allows the formulation of all results in terms of physically clear language of three dimensional vectors. The book contains detailed derivations of equations, numerous exercises, and an extensive bibliography. It therefore serves as both an introductory text for graduate students and a valuable reference work for researchers in the field.

In view of the current and forthcoming observational data on pulsar wind nebulae, this book offers an assessment of the theoretical state of the art of modelling them. The expert authors also review the observational status of the field and provide an outlook for future developments. During the last few years, significant progress on the study of pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) has been attained both from a theoretical and an observational perspective, perhaps focusing on the closest, more energetic, and best studied nebula: the Crab, which appears in the cover. Now, the number of TeV detected PWNe is similar to the number of characterized nebulae observed at other frequencies over decades of observations. And in just a few years, the Cherenkov Telescope Array will increase this number to several hundreds, actually providing an essentially complete account of TeV emitting PWNe in the Galaxy. At the other end of the multi-frequency spectrum, the SKA and its pathfinder instruments, will reveal thousands of new pulsars, and map in exquisite detail the radiation surrounding them for several hundreds of nebulae. By carefully reviewing the state of the art in pulsar nebula research this book prepares scientists and PhD students for future work and progress in the field.

This volume extends the ISSI series on magnetic fields in the Universe into the domain of what are by far the strongest fields in the Universe, and stronger than any field that could be produced on Earth. The chapters describe the magnetic fields in non-degenerate strongly magnetized stars, in degenerate stars (such as white dwarfs and neutron stars), exotic members called magnetars, and in their environments, as well as magnetic fields in the environments of black holes. These strong fields have a profound effect on the behavior of matter, visible in particular in highly variable processes like radiation in all known wavelengths, including Gamma-Ray bursts. The generation and structure of such strong magnetic fields and effects on the environment are also described.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the XVIII International Symposium on Lepton-Photon Interactions. It contains 30 review papers on the latest developments by experts in the field. The subjects cover the structure of photons and hadrons, progress in QCD and diffraction, heavy quark (c, b, t) physics, electroweak precision measurements and tests, CP violation, neutrino physics, searches for new particles and phenomena, cosmology, progress in theory and physics at future colliders.