This volume contains the invited and contributed papers presented at the Fourth International Conference on Perspectives in Hadronic Physics and sent to the Editors within the deadline. The Conference was held at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy, from May 12th to 16th, 2003, and was attended by about 100 scientists from 20 countries. The series ofConferences on Perspectives on Hadronic Physics takes place every two years since 1997 and follows the seven Workshops on Perspectives in Nuclear Physics at Intermediate Energies, organized every two years at ICTP since 1983. The aim of these Conferences is to discuss the status-of-the-art concerning the experimental and theoretical investigations of hadronic systems, from nucleons to nuclei and dense nuclear matter, in terms of the relevant underlying degrees of freedom. For such a reason the Fourth Conference has been focused on those experimental and theoretical topics which have been in the last few years the object of intensive investigations, viz. the various approaches employed to describe the structure of hadrons in terms of QCD and QCD inspired models, the recent developments in the treatment of the properties and propagations of hadronic states in the medium, the relevant progress done in the solution of the few- and many- hadron problems, the recent results in the experimental investigation of dense hadronic matter and, last but not least, the physics programs of existing Laboratories and the suggested projects for new Facilities.

This volume discusses theoretical and experimental activities in the investigation of nucleon and nuclear structure by electromagnetic and hadronic probes at intermediate and high energies. The focus is on laboratory activities, recent progress concerning the structure of hadrons, relativistic many-body approaches, deep inelastic scattering and correlations in nuclei.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, is the world's largest and highest energy and highest intensity particle accelerator. Here is a timely book with several perspectives on the hoped-for discoveries from the LHC.This book provides an overview on the techniques that will be crucial for finding new physics at the LHC, as well as perspectives on the importance and implications of the discoveries. Among the accomplished contributors to this book are leaders and visionaries in the field of particle physics beyond the Standard Model, including two Nobel Laureates (Steven Weinberg and Frank Wilczek), and presumably some future Nobel Laureates, plus top younger theorists and experimenters. With its blend of popular and technical contents, the book will have wide appeal, not only to physical scientists but also to those in related fields.

Straddling the traditional disciplines of nuclear and particle physics, hadron physics is a vital and extremely active research area, as evidenced by a 2004 Nobel prize and new research facilities, such as that scheduled to open at CERN. Scientifically it is of vital importance in extrapolating our knowledge of quark-gluon physics at the sub-nucleon level to provide a wider perspective of strongly interacting hadrons, which make up the vast bulk of known matter in the Universe. Through detailed, pedagogical chapters contributed by key international experts, Hadron Physics maps out our contemporary knowledge of the subject. It covers both the theoretical and experimental aspects of hadron structure and properties along with a wide range of specific research topics, results, and applications. Providing a full picture of activity in the field, the book highlights three particular areas of current research: computational lattice hadron physics, the structure and dynamics of hadrons, and generalized parton distributions. It provides a solid introduction, includes background theory, and presents the current state of understanding of the subject.

The aim of the Conference was to discuss recent results and perspectives on the theoretical and experimental investigation of the structure of free hadrons and hadrons in the nuclear medium, as well as the structure of hadronic matter both at normal and extreme conditions. The Volume is a useful update of the subject for theorists and experimentalists working in medium and high energy nuclear physics.

This book begins with a brief historical review of the early applications of standard dispersion relations in particle physics. It then presents the modern perspective within the Standard Model, emphasizing the relation of analyticity together with alternative tools applied to strong interactions, such as perturbative and lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD), as well as chiral perturbation theory. The core of the book argues that, in order to improve the prediction of specific hadronic observables, it is often necessary to resort to methods of complex analysis more sophisticated than the simple Cauchy integral. Accordingly, a separate mathematical chapter is devoted to solving several functional analysis optimization problems. Their applications to physical amplitudes and form factors are discussed in the following chapters, which also demonstrate how to merge the analytic approach with statistical analysis tools. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable guide for researchers working in precision hadronic physics, as well as graduate students who are new to the field.