The present volume contains most of the invited talks and two contributed posters of a workshop which was held in]uly 1990 within the frame of the Centro Stefano Franscini, Monte Verita at Ascona in Switzerland. The main idea has been to demonstrate that in many areas in solid state physics the use of synchrotron radiation as a powerful source for polarized uv radiation between 5 eV and about 1500 eV yields exciting new results. Furthermore, one has tried to attract a larger number of Ph D-students to bring them into contact with experienced people in the field. This tutorial aspect, I su ppose, is also in the spirit of Stefano Franscini, after whom the Centro, a joint undertaking between the Cantone Ticino and the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), has been named. Stefano Franscini, himself a dedicated teacher, has been the first member of his Canton in the Swiss Federal Council. As such he has been head of the departement of the interior and has been strongly supporting the foundation of the ETHZ. But he is also reknown, even today, as Cantonal Counceler, who has organised the elementary school system in Ticino.

This conference is the first of what is expected to be a sequence of similar conferences on the teaching of the large and important field of condensed matter physics. The objective is to bring together active research workers and teachers for the discussion of frontier topics, and for cooperative efforts to produce, or at least, to plan the production of curricular materials on the topic of the conference. Reports of the lectures by Nobel Laureates, G Binnig and K von Klitzing are included.

Condensed matter is one of the most active fields of physics, with a stream of discoveries in areas from superfluidity and magnetism to the optical, electronic and mechanical properties of materials such as semiconductors, polymers and carbon nanotubes. It includes the study of well-characterised solid surfaces, interfaces and nanostructures as well as studies of molecular liquids (molten salts, ionic solutions, liquid metals and semiconductors) and soft matter systems (colloidal suspensions, polymers, surfactants, foams, liquid crystals, membranes, biomolecules etc) including glasses and biological aspects of soft matter. The book presents state-of-the-art research in this exciting field.

Condensed matter physics is the sub-field of physics that is concerned with the study of macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter. It is involved in measuring various material properties by using experimental probes and methods from theoretical physics. It also focuses on studying the behavior of condensed phases such as solids and liquids by using physical laws. This discipline is broadly divided into experimental condensed matter physics and theoretical condensed matter physics. Some of the laws which are used for conducting research in this field are laws of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics and electromagnetism. This book unravels the recent studies in the field of condensed matter physics. The various studies that are constantly contributing towards advancing technologies and evolution of this field are examined in detail. It is a vital tool for all researching or studying condensed matter physics as it gives incredible insights into emerging trends and concepts of this field.