Experiments at SLC and LEP have made preliminary measurements of the relative partial widths of the c and b quarks. Using D* tagging, DELPHI has found R{sub c}{bar c}{triple bond}/[Gamma]{sub c}{bar c}/[Gamma]{sub hadr.} = 0.162 {plus minus} 0.032 {plus minus} 0.031, in good agreement with the Standard Model value of 0.171. ALEPH has used semileptonic decays of charm to obtain 0.148 {plus minus} 0.044 {sub -0.038}{sup +0.045}. Three experiments have used semileptonic [Beta] decays to measurement R{sub b}{bar b}: R{sub b}{bar b} = 0.23 {plus minus} 0.10 (Mark II), 0.218 {plus minus} 0.010 {plus minus} 0.021 (L3), and 0.220 {plus minus} 0.016 {plus minus} 0.024 (ALEPH). All agree well with the expected value of 0.217. The uncertainty in branching ratios of c and b hadrons is the largest systematic error in all of the results. Future LEP measurements of the branching ratios may reduce the errors. R{sub b}{bar b} will also be measured with different, and possibly lower, systematic errors by Mark II using impact parameter tagging.

Theoretical developments in the dynamics of heavy quark production in hadronic collisions as well as recent data are discussed. Focus is principally on bottom quark production. Extensive calculations of cross sections and production spectra for both collider and fixed target energies are presented. Available data are in excellent agreement with expectations of lowest order perturbative quantum chromodynamics. Uncertainties in the theoretical estimates are explored. The paper includes calculations and comments on charm and top quark production.

This meeting was devoted to review the physics potential of the LEP accelerator at CERN. A detailed representation of the experimental techniques and most relevant physics issues was given.

The lectures collected in this book present a comprehensive review of the current knowledge of heavy-quark physics, from the points of view of both theory and experiment. Heavy Flavour Physics has accomplished enormous progress during the last few years: the last heavy quark has been discovered and the quality of the collected data on the other relatively lighter quarks has dramatically improved. On the theory side, noticeable progress has been reported on new calculations of decay rates based on various techniques, such as QCD sum rules, heavy-quark mass expansion and lattice QCD. The theory of heavy quark production is constantly improving and awaiting new results. Nevertheless there are strong reasons to believe that the Standard Model of High Energy Physics is incomplete. It exhibits very peculiar patterns for which it offers no explanation. The basic constituents of matter are arranged into three seemingly identical generations or families of quarks and leptons, differing merely in their masses. The pattern in the fermion masses, why they are families and why there are three of them is not yet understood. Furthermore it is known that at least within the standard model there is an intimate connection between the replication of families and the gateway of CP violation, in addition, the latter phenomenon is a crucial ingredient in explaining why our universe is made up almost exclusively of matter rather than being more or less matter-antimatter symmetric. How and to what extent can Heavy Flavour Physics impact on these questions? Does it offer novel windows onto New Physics beyond the Standard Model in general and onto new symmetries, such as Supersymmetry in particular? These questions constitute the central theme of this book. The material treated in this publication may serve as reference for the segment of the high-energy community actively engaged in heavy-quark physics.