Despite the great success of the standard model of electroweak and strong interactions to describe the phenomena observed in high energy physics experiments, the mechanism by which the elementary particles are endowed with their masses is yet to be unraveled. Does nature choose the Higgs mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking as predicted by the standard model, or do we need some alternative explanation? The purpose of the workshop is to capture new trends and ideas in this exciting area of fundamental physics, and to explore the potential of recent (LEPI), present (HERA, LEPII, SLC, Tevatron), and future (FMC, LHC, NLC) colliding-beam experiments to shed light on the Higgs puzzle.

Despite the great success of the standard model of electroweak and strong interactions to describe the phenomena observed in high energy physics experiments, the mechanism by which the elementary particles are endowed with their masses is yet to be unraveled. Does nature choose the Higgs mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking as predicted by the standard model, or do we need some alternative explanation? The purpose of the workshop is to capture new trends and ideas in this exciting area of fundamental physics, and to explore the potential of recent (LEPI), present (HERA, LEPII, SLC, Tevatron), and future (FMC, LHC, NLC) colliding-beam experiments to shed light on the Higgs puzzle.

This volume gathers the latest experimental results from HERA and captures new trends in HERA phenomenology. The articles are by experts for experts, but are suitable for a mixed readership of both theoreticians and experimentalists. H1 members cover ZEUS results and vice versa. The book points out existing discrepancies between experimental data and theoretical predictions and identifies projects to be undertaken in the future.

This volume contains the contributions of 47 leading researchers in high energy physics, both theorists and experimentalists, from all over the world. It discusses the application of quantum field theory to phenomenology in all areas of active research in particle physics. The topics covered include: (i) the status of precision measurements at LEP, SLC, HERA, Tevatron, and other experiments; (ii) quantum-field-theoretical techniques for calculating electroweak and QCD radiative corrections; and (iii) radiative corrections and precision experiments in future colliders (Tevatron II, LHC, NLC, Muon Collider, etc.). The confrontation in a single volume of all the high precision results reported by experimentalists, on one side, with the predictions of the Standard Model (SM) at the level of radiative corrections, on the otherside, provides a detailed test of the SM at the quantum level. And, where discrepancies appear, it gives hints of physics beyond the SM (such as supersymmetry, effective quantum field theories, etc.) which are thoroughly discussed in the book.