The second international conference on the subject of Picosecond Phenomena was held June 18-20, 1980, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Scientists from a broad range of disciplines were brought together to discuss their common interest in ultrafast processes. This meeting was organized as a Topical Meeting of the Optical Society of America and was attended by 250 partici pants. The conference reviewed the latest advances in the experimental and theo retical understanding of phenomena that occur on a picosecond timescale. New discoveries in electronics, chemical dynamics, solid state physics, and pico second optics highlighted the interactions between chemists, physicists, biologists,and engineers who attended the conference. The enthusia~m gener ated by the rapid progress in the last two years and the pleasant Cape Cod weather resulted in a successful and enjoyable conference. The conference owes a special thanks to Dr. Jarus Quinn, Joan Connon, and their colleagues at the Optical Society of America for doing a superb job in implementing the meeting arrangements and to the program committee for the selection and organization of the technical presentations. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, the u.S. Army Research Office, and the AFOSR.

1. Introduction. 1.1. Waves, Particles, and Units. 1.2. The Electromagnetic Spectrum. 1.3. Interaction of Radiation with Matter. 1.3a. Blackbody Radiation. 1.3b. Einstein A and B Coefficients. 1.3c. Absorption and Emission of Radiation. 1.3d. Beer's Law. 1.3e. Lineshape Functions. 1.3f. Natural Lifetime Broadening. 1.3g. Pressure Broadening. 1.3h. Doppler Broadening. 1.3i. Transit-Time Broadening. 1.3j. Power Broadening. 2. Molecular Symmetry. 2.1. Symmetry Operations. 2.1a. Operator Algebra. 2.1b. Symmetry Operator Algebra. 2.2. Groups. 2.2a. Point Groups. 2.2b. Classes. 2.2c. Subgroups. 2.3.