Topics in Quantum Field Theory - Modern Methods in Fundamental Physics

This book constitutes the proceedings of a meeting which brought together contributors from the four European networks in the area of the theory of fundamental interactions. While each of these networks overlaps strongly with all the others, this coming together gives the proceedings a greater than usual breadth of subjects nevertheless. The wide range of topics in quantum field theory covered includes Hamiltonian and semiclassical methods, critical phenomena and various aspects of classical and quantum gravity including also a study in the detection of gravitational radiation. This, together with the leading item on the recent history of the subject, gives an overall perspective of the many new research directions in this area.