Macroscopic quantum phenomena (MQP) occur in a number of different systems. The majority of MQP research is done with electromagnetic circuits. The occurrence of MQP in alternative systems, the effects of the environment on MQP, the implications of MQP for measurement theory and quantum mechanics are discussed. This proceedings should therefore provide a nice balance of up-to-date results of MQP research, along with discussion of its implications and possible applications.

As the end of the nineteenth century neared, it was clear to many in the physics community that if only Newton's equations plus Maxwell's equations could be solved adequately, there would really be nothing very new in physics on a fundamental level. Then came relativity and quantum mechanics. As we now approach the end of the twentieth century, it is clear to many in the physics community that if one could adequately solve somebody's gauge field theory (or somebody else's string model), then nothing fundamentally new would ever again enter into physics. To others in the physics community, it is somewhat doubtful that our present physical understanding of the world, especially of quantum mechanics, has reached such a pinnacle.This conference was organized to discuss the present state of affairs in our knowledge, both experimental and theoretical, of the basic tenets of quantum mechanics. Many fields of physics in which quantum mechanics plays a central role were included: (i) atomic and molecular beams; (ii) photon beams; (iii) atomic interference in atom-surface physics and atom wire physics; (iv) Bose-condensed systems; (v) quantum '1/f' noise; (vi) quantum electrodynamics effects in water, colloidal systems and biological systems; (vii) quantum interference in neutrino physics; (viii) periodic-in-time driven quantum systems; (ix) superconducting quantum circuits; and (x) quantum computer circuit elements.The large variety of different topics, all of current importance, allowed for various viewpoints that are usually not present when conferences devoted to narrower topics are held. The cross-fertilization of ideas was greatly appreciated by the participants, and will be of equal interest to the reader of the proceedings.

This is a collection of papers on Fragmentation Phenomena. It includes reviews and reports on the latest developments in fragmentation of soft matter and materials (polymers, colloids, cells, droplets and rocks), fragmentation of microscopic objects (atomic clusters and nuclei), general topics and theoretical approaches. The book addresses students and young scientists as well as researchers in theoretical and experimental aspects of fragmentation phenomena.

During the last decades frontieres in various branches of physics have been investigated, especially for describing coherent effects, with very similar methodologies. In particular, the quantum-like formalism has recently received a great deal of attention for describing a number of 'classical topics', such as charged particle beam optics and dynamics in accelerating machines, plasma physics, nonlinear optics, transmission lines, solid state physics. On the other hand, proper quantum models that have been applied to coherent correlated states, squeezed states, macroscopic quantum coherence in superconductivity, superradiance in condensed matter, stochastic mechanics, have also been recently developed in way fully similar to the one used for quantum-like models. The quantum-like approach seems, therefore, to form a common basis for understanding the observations in many diverse field of science.This volume collects very significant examples of these common methodologies that have been given by various quantum-like approaches for describing numerious physical scenarios in the above branches of physics.

Offers a comprehensive and up-to-date volume on the conceptual and philosophical problems related to the interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Contents:Critical Phenomena, Field Theory and Renormalisation Group (T-M Yan & S C-C Lin)Field Theories of Surfaces and Interfaces (S C-C Lin)Spiral Self-Avoiding Walks (K Y Lin)Critical Phenomena on Fractal Lattices (Doochul Kim)Percolation and Phase Transitions: Towards a Unified Theory of Phase Transitions (C-K Hu)Real Space Approach to Disordered Systems (S-Y Wu)Three Routes to Chaos: Period Doubling, Intermittency and Quasiperiodicity (B Hu)Ordering Kinetics in Phase Transitions (K Kawasaki)A Design of Analog Circuit for Studies of Transitions to Chaos in a RF-Driven Josephson Junction (J C Huang et al)Potts Model and Graph Theory (F Y Wu)Number and Size of Convex Polygons on the Square Lattice (K Y Lin)Exactly Solvable Models in Statistical Mechanics and Automorphisms of Algebraic Varieties (J-M Maillard)The Application of the Transfer Matrix Method to the Phase Transition of Ising Model (T Oguchi et al)Coherent-Anomaly Method in Critical Phenomena (M Katori & M Suzuki)Monte Carlo Study of Percolation Transitions and Phase Transitions in Interacting Systems (C-K Hu & K-S Mak)Anisotropic Surface Tension and Equilibrium Crystal Shapes (R K P Zia)The Structure Making and Breaking Effects of Ion Solvation in Water (J-L Lin & C-Y Mou)Ordering Processes in Two-Dimensional Quantum Spin Systems (S=1/2) (S Miyashita)Phase Transitions in Arrays of Josephson Junctions (M Y Choi) Readership: Theoretical physicists and condensed matter physicists.

This detailed, accessible introduction to the field of quantum decoherence reviews the basics and then explains the essential consequences of the phenomenon for our understanding of the world. The discussion includes, among other things: How the classical world of our experience can emerge from quantum mechanics; the implications of decoherence for various interpretations of quantum mechanics; recent experiments confirming the puzzling consequences of the quantum superposition principle and making decoherence processes directly observable.