Applications of Statistical and Field Theory Methods to Condensed Matter (NATO Science Series B:, 218)

There is no doubt that we have, during the last decade, moved into a "golden age" of condensed matter science. The sequence of discoveries of novel new states of matter and their rapid assimilation into experimental and theoretical research, as well as devices, has been remarkable. To name but a few: spin glasses; incommensurate, fractal, quasicrystal structures; synthetic metals; quantum well fabrication; fractional quantum Hall effect: solid state chaos; heavy fermions; and most spectacularly high-temperature superconductivity. This rapid evolution has been marked by the need to address the reality of materials in "extreme" conditions - - disordered, nonlinear systems in reduced dimensions, restricted geometries and at mesoscopic scales, often with striking competitions between several length and frequency scales, and between strong electron-phonon and electron-electron interactions. In such new territory it is not surprising that very interdisciplinary approaches are being explored and traditional boundaries between subjects and disciplines re-defined. In theory, this is evident, for instance, in attempts: (1) to advance the state of the art for elec­ tronic structure calculations so as to handle strongly interacting many-body systems and delicate competitions for collective ground states (spin models or many-electron Hamiltoni­ ans, field theory, band structure, quantum chemistry and numerical approaches); or (2) to understand pattern formation and complex (including chaotic) dynamics in extended sys­ tems. This demands close involvement with applied mathematics, numerical simulations and statistical mechanics techniques.