Book reviews

Electron Spin Resonance. By N. M. Atherton. (Ellis Horwood, 1973.) [Pp. 438.] £11.50. Scope: Treatise/textbook. Level: Specialist/postgraduate; undergraduate. The Riddle of the Pyramids. By Kurt Mendelssohn. (Thames and Hudson, 1974.) [Pp. 224. £3.50. Level: General reader. Radioactivity in Nuclear Spectroscopy, Vol. 1. Editors, J. H. Hamilton and J. C. Manthuruthil. (Gordon & Breach, 1972.) [Pp. xi+578.] £18.75. Scope: Conference Proceedings. Level: Specialist/postgraduate. The Scanning Electron Microscope: Part I. The Instrument. By C. W. Oatley. (Cambridge University Press, 1972.) [Pp. viii+194.] £5.30. Scope: Treatise/textbook. Level: Specialist/postgraduate. Louis de Broglie: sa Conception du Monde Physipue. Contributed papers, with a preface by M. Druon. (Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1973.) [Pp. xxvii+387.] 160F. Statistical Mechanics. By R. K. Pathria. (Pergamon, 1972.) [Pp. xiii+527.] £8.00. Scope: Treatise/textbook. Level: Specialist/graduate. Market Survey for Nuclear Power in Developing Countries—A General Report printed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna. Price £6.00; U.S. dollar;15.00 Physical Models for Semiconductor Devices. By J. E. Carroll. (Edward Arnold, 1974.) [Pp. xvi+253.] £6.50 (Paper, £3.25). Scope: Textbook. Level: Undergraduate. An Introduction to Linear Electric Circuits. By L. V. Kite. (Longman, 1974.) [xiii+290.] £3.95. Scope: Treatise/textbook. Level: Undergraduate. Lecture Notes in Physics, Vol. 28: Lectures in Statistical Physics. Edited by W. C. Schieve and J. S. Turner. (Springer-Verlap: Berlin, Heidelberg and New York, 1974.) [Pp. vi+342.] DM34; about £5.75. Scope: Conference proceedings; treatise. Level: Specialist/post-graduate. Scanning Electron Microscopy: Systems and Applications. Edited by W. C. Nixon. (The Institute of Physics, 1973.) [Pp. x+338.] £15.00. Scope: Conference proceedings. Level: Specialist/postgraduate. Subatomic Physics. By H. Frauenfelder and E. M. Henley. (Prentice Hall, 1974.) [Pp. xv+554.] Scope: Treatise/textbook. Level: Specialist/post-graduate; undergraduate. Channeling. Edited by D. V. Morgan. (John Wiley & Sons, 1974.) [Pp. xv+486.] £11.75. Scope: Survey. Level: Specialist/postgraduate. Principles of Heavy Current Engineering. By P. G. Lund and A. M. Howatson. (Chapman and Hall, 1974.) [Pp. 115.] Price: £1.65. Level: Undergraduate; School; General reader. From Circuits to Computere. Edited by L. Solymar. (Chapman and Hall, 1974.) [Pp. 184.] £2.50. Level: Undergraduate; School; General reader. Exciting Electrical Machines. By E. R. Laithwaite. (Pergamon, 1974.) [Pp. 68.] £0.60. Level: Undergraduate; School; General reader. Microwave Spectroacopy of Free Radicals. By A. Carrington. (Academic Press, 1974.) [Pp. ix+264.] £4.50. Scope: Textbook; survey. Level: Post-graduate; research. Optics. By E. Hecht and A. Zajac. (Addison-Wesley, 1974.) [Pp. viii+565.] Scope: Textbook; library. Level: General reader; undergraduate. The Physics of Liquid Cystals. By P. G. de Gennes. (Clarendon Press: Oxford University Press, 1974.) [Pp. xi+333.] £11.50. Mathemtical Methods for the Physical Sciencw. By K. F. Riley. (Cambridge University Press, 1974.) [Pp. xvi+533.] Cloth £8.75; paper £3.75. Scope: Textbook. Level: Undergraduate. Human Engineering. By John Lenihan. (Wiedenfeld and Nicholson, 1974.) [Pp. 207.] £3.00. Level: Undergraduate, School, General reader.

The joint International Symposium RCBJSF–2014–FM&NT successfully has united two international events – 12th Russia/CIS/Baltic/Japan Symposium on Ferroelectricity (RCBJSF-12) and 9th International Conference Functional Materials and Nanotechnologies (FM&NT-2014). The RCBJSF symposium is a continuation of series of meetings on ferroelectricity, the first of which took place in Novosibirsk (USSR) in 1976. FM&NT conferences started in 2006 and have been organized by Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia in Riga. In 2012 the International program committee decided to transform this conference into a traveling Baltic State conference and the FM&NT-2013 was organized by the Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Estonia. In 2014 the joint international symposium RCBJSF–2014–FM&NT was organized by the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia and was part of Riga – 2014, the European Capital of Culture event. The purpose of the joint Symposium was to bring together scientists, students and high-level experts in solid state physics, materials science, engineering and related disciplines. The number of the registered participants from 26 countries was over 350. During the Symposium 128 high quality scientific talks (5 plenary, 42 invited, 81 oral) and over 215 posters were presented. All presentations were divided into 4 parallel sessions according to 4 main topics of the Symposium: Ferroelectricity, including ferroelectrics and multiferroics, pyroelectrics, piezoelectrics and actuators, integrated ferroelectrics, relaxors, phase transitions and critical phenomena. Multifunctional Materials, including theory, multiscale and multiphenomenal material modeling and simulation, advanced inorganic, organic and hybrid materials. Nanotechnologies, including progressive methods, technologies and design for production, investigation of nano- particles, composites, structures, thin films and coatings. Energy, including perspective materials and technologies for renewable and hydrogen energy, fuel cells, photovoltaics, LEDs, OLEDs. Based on these reports, 48 papers are included in this volume of IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. Additional information about RCBJSF–2014–FM&NT is available at the homepage http://www.fmnt.lu.lv. The Organizing Committee would like to thank all the speakers, contributors, session chairs, referees and other involved staff for their efforts in making the RCBJSF–2014–FM&NT successful. Sincerely, organizers of the event Andris Sternberg Liga Grinberga Anatolijs Sarakovskis Martins Rutkis

No abstract is available for this article.

The XXVIIIth International Colloquium on Group-Theoretical Methods in Physics (ICGTMP), also known as the GROUP 28 conference, took place in Newcastle upon Tyne from 26–30 July 2010. There were 128 attendees from 22 countries – physicists, mathematicians, chemists and engineers who use mathematical and numerical methods based on geometry and symmetry in their work. The conference was organised jointly by Northumbria and Durham Universities. The conference website is http://group28.northumbria.ac.uk.

A rising star in the field of quantum many-body physics, Adilet Imambekov died on 18 July 2012 at age 30 while climbing Khan Tengri mountain in Kazakhstan. Despite his youth, Adilet made key contributions to the field of strongly correlated systems; in particular, he devised a new conceptual framework for describing universal dynamics of one-dimensional quantum systems. Adilet’s work was distinguished by a combination of deep physical insight, mathematical rigor, and elegance.Born on 2 September 1981, Adilet grew up in Zhambyl (now Taraz) and Almaty, Kazakhstan. His extraordinary abilities were evident by age 14, when he won national physics and mathematics competitions, then attended one of the former Soviet Union’s best science high schools, Kolmogorov Lyceum in Moscow. Adilet became the first student in 14 years to graduate with highest honors. As a physics Olympiads competitor, he took first-place prizes in the 1997 and 1998 National Russian Olympiads and received a gold medal at the 1998 International Physics Olympiad.Adilet continued his studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. In his junior year, he passed several Landau Theoretical Minimum exams. He then received his basic theoretical physics training as a member of the Laudau Institute’s theoretical group.After going to Harvard University in 2002 for his PhD studies, Adilet joined the group of one of us (Demler) and concentrated on many-body physics of cold atoms. His first work, which still serves as a guide for new experiments, predicted numerous exotic states for bosons with nonzero spin in an optical lattice.With his unique ability to fuse ideas from solid-state physics, atomic physics, and mathematics, Adilet was able to make progress in difficult problems when other attempts failed. His approach to the problem of interference between low-dimensional Bose condensates provides a good example. Adilet came up with a beautiful mapping of the problem at hand onto a seemingly unrelated one of statistical properties of random surfaces. His work became instrumental for the interpretation of subsequent experiments in which a new universal dynamical phenomenon, prethermalization, was demonstrated.Adilet uniquely combined mathematical intuition with deep insight into the physics of quantum phenomena. He went to Yale University to work with another of us (Glazman) as a postdoc in 2007 and became interested in the dynamics of 1D quantum fluids, conventionally described by the widely known Luttinger liquid theory. In simplifying the problem, the standard theory artificially imposes symmetry that distorts a fluid’s true dynamic response functions; Adilet’s contributions were essential to building a theory free of such artificial assumptions. He combined the existing perturbative results with his own analysis of an integrable Lieb–Liniger model and foresaw the emerging universal dynamic properties of a fluid.Less than a year later, Adilet built what he called the nonlinear Luttinger liquid theory, which universally describes low-energy excitations of a fluid made of particles with a generic, nonlinear dispersion relation. The theory’s beauty is in its simplicity and versatility. It answered the existing questions about the dynamic responses while also providing a platform for tackling other, more difficult issues. While Adilet was making big strides toward developing a theory of quantum quenches and a kinetic theory of nonlinear Luttinger liquid, he joined Rice University as a junior faculty member in 2009.Remarkably, Adilet’s demeanor did not change despite the challenges of being a tenure-track faculty member. He remained warm and open. He quickly forged collaborations with his Rice colleagues and ventured into, for him, a new area of solid-state optics.Adilet pursued his interests with utmost commitment. For example, when he began graduate school at Harvard, he became fascinated with climbing, mountaineering, and endurance sports. He started training nearly every day, which included running along the Charles River and rock climbing in New Hampshire when possible. Within a few years, he conquered two challenging mountains in Alaska and China and became rather well known among climbers. He also twice qualified for the Boston Marathon, and in May 2012 he won his only Ironman triathlon competition.Each of us cherished every opportunity to talk to or collaborate with Adilet. He had a wonderful sense of humor and often brightened even the most challenging and confusing physics topic with an unexpected joke.Adilet’s commitment and love of life inspired many of his friends to pursue their own dreams. He showed by example that little is impossible if you are dedicated. Before going on his last trip to Kazakhstan, Adilet was talking to one of us about how one should attempt to get the most valuable result in the most intellectually challenging problem rather than concentrating on getting every paper published: “There is simply too little time,” he said. Indeed, Adilet was given very little time. But it was enough for him to make long-lasting contributions to physics and to deeply affect the lives of those who were fortunate enough to know him. Adilet Imambekov DANIEL E. PROBER, YALE UNIVERSITYPPT|High resolution© 2013 American Institute of Physics.

Book reviews

Quark Matter 2008—the 20th International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus–Nucleus Collisions was held in Jaipur, the Pink City of India, from 4–10 February, 2008. Organizing Quark Matter 2008 in India itself indicates the international recognition of the Indian contribution to the field of heavy-ion physics, which was initiated and nurtured by Bikash Sinha, Chair of the conference.The conference was inaugurated by the Honourable Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Smt. Vasundhara Raje followed by the key note address by Professor Carlo Rubbia. The scientific programme started with the theoretical overview, `SPS to RHIC and onwards to LHC' by Larry McLerran followed by several theoretical and experimental overview talks on the ongoing experiments at SPS and RHIC. The future experiments at the LHC, FAIR and J-PARC, along with the theoretical predictions, were discussed in great depth. Lattice QCD predictions on the nature of the phase transition and critical point were vigorously debated during several plenary and parallel session presentations.The conference was enriched by the presence of an unprecedented number of participants; about 600 participants representing 31 countries across the globe. This issue contains papers based on plenary talks and oral presentations presented at the conference. Besides invited and contributed talks, there were also a large number of poster presentations.Members of the International Advisory Committee played a pivotal role in the selection of speakers, both for plenary and parallel session talks. The contributions of the Organizing Committee in all aspects, from helping to prepare the academic programme down to arranging local hospitality, were much appreciated. We thank the members of both the committees for making Quark Matter 2008 a very effective and interesting platform for scientific deliberations.Quark Matter 2008 was financially supported by: Air Liquide (New Delhi) Board of Research Nuclear Sciences (Mumbai) Bose Institute (Kolkata) Brookhaven National Laboratory (Upton) Danfysik, Department of Science and Technology (New Delhi) Elsevier B V (Amsterdam) Government of Rajasthan European Organization for Nuclear Research (Geneva) Gesellschaft fur Schwerionenforschung (Darmstadt) Hewlett-Packard Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bangalore) Institute of Physics (Bhubaneswar) IOP Publishing (Bristol) Merint Infrastructure Ltd. Rajasthan Travel service (Jaipur) RIKEN-BNL Research Centre (Upton) Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (Kolkata) Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai) The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Chennai) Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (Kolkata)Without the generous support of these organizations it would not have been possible to organize the conference successfully.Jaipur is a city of valour, of battles won and lost, of the vanquished and the victors; Jaipur is a city of legends and romance. Now Jaipur is also a city of carnival; carnival in the world of quarks and gluons with the beautiful maiden ALICE gracing the quarkland.

This paper aims to evaluate the performance of gamma-ray spectrometry in the Institute of Applied Nuclear Physics (IANP), Albania using Proficiency Tests (PTs). Participation in different proficiency tests is an essential tool for the improvement and testing of High Purity Germanium detector (HPGe) performance. The gamma -ray spectrometry laboratory in the last years has participated in different worldwide open proficiency tests organized by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with satisfactory results. For this paper, we selected the proficiency test organized by the IAEA in 2020 due to the analytical challenge of recognizing radioactive disequilibrium and applying appropriate decay corrections, especially for ingrowing radionuclides of broken natural decay series. The PTs of gamma-ray spectrometry measurements are carried out to improve the laboratory's ability to measure the radioactivity in the environment and foodstuffs at typical routine levels. The activity concentration of the test samples and the evaluation of the associated uncertainties are the main requirements of the test results. This PT was focused on the determination of anthropogenic and natural radionuclides in water, fish, and simulated aerosol filter samples. For this proficiency test, the Laboratory Sourceless Calibration Software (LabSOCS) is used for simulating the absolute efficiency curve. This paper presents the results and discusses the quality of the gamma spectrometry measurements performed in the IANP. The overall performance evaluation showed that 100 % of all reported results have been acceptable. Thus, the gamma-ray spectrometry using an HPGe detector showed high performance in the determination of anthropogenic and natural radionuclides in water, fish and simulated aerosol filter samples.

The 1990 code of practice (COP), produced by the IPSM (now the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, IPEM) and the UK National Physical Laboratory (NPL), gave instructions for determining absorbed dose to water for megavoltage photon (MV) radiotherapy beams (Lillicrap et al ). The simplicity and clarity of the 1990 COP led to widespread uptake and high levels of consistency in external dosimetry audits. An addendum was published in 2014 to include the non-conventional conditions in Tomotherapy units. However, the 1990 COP lacked detailed recommendations for calibration conditions, and the corresponding nomenclature, to account for modern treatment units with different reference fields, including small fields as described in IAEA TRS483 (International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) , Vienna). This updated COP recommends the irradiation geometries, the choice of ionisation chambers, appropriate correction factors and the derivation of absorbed dose to water calibration coefficients, for carrying out reference dosimetry measurements on MV external beam radiotherapy machines. It also includes worked examples of application to different conditions. The strengths of the 1990 COP are retained: recommending the NPL2611 chamber type as secondary standard; the use of tissue phantom ratio (TPR) as the beam quality specifier; and NPL-provided direct calibration coefficients for the user’s chamber in a range of beam qualities similar to those in clinical use. In addition, the formalism is now extended to units that cannot achieve the standard reference field size of 10 cm × 10 cm, and recommendations are given for measuring dose in non-reference conditions. This COP is designed around the service that NPL provides and thus it does not require the range of different options presented in TRS483, such as generic correction factors for beam quality. This approach results in a significantly simpler, more concise and easier to follow protocol.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Guests, Dear Colleagues On behalf of the main organizers of the Conference, who are the Physical Section of the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists and The Institute of Physics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Science, I would like to express our delight to have you here: not only prominent physicists and those who have the chance to become prominent in due time, but also all others whose work makes an original contribution to the very broad and rich area called Condensed Matter Physics. Each field of Physics surely has its characteristic style and features. The present experimental High Energy Physics, e.g., in attacking without any doubt the most fundamental problems concerning matter and the interactions that govern its world, tends to use big installations and large groups of people try to accomplish relatively few large-scale experiments addressing well defined questions and unifying thus the activities into one impressive flow. On the other hand the solid state or Condensed Matter Physics exhibits rather diferent features. Here many parallel strugglings do exist, an immense plurality in views and approaches, large number of apparently independent experiments, models and theoretical concepts which implies a big amount of contributions and discoveries whose importance is hardly predictable in advance. Nobody is usually able to anticipate when and at which place a breakthrough will appear and what its implication may be for other developments. In this way we may view the progress in the CMP rather as accomplished by many quasi-independent parallel steps loosely corresponding to a mosaic picture in which every stone—large or small—finds its irreplaceable position. Very like as in our life to whose present standard CMP has contributed so much. If you agree with this overall characteristics allow me to say a few words to illustrate by some examples about the Czechoslovak contribution to the development of CMP. During the Second World War the Czech Universities were closed and one of the consequences was that the post-war onset of modern CMP era was considerably delayed in Czechoslovakia compared to other developed European or Oversea countries. In spite of this the level based on former tradition of physics here was sufficient to react quickly to new stimuli from outside. Otherwise it is hard to explain that a one-year-stay of the late Zdeněk Matyas with Sir Neville Francis Mott in Bristol, 1946–47, was sufficient to quickly initiate the Prague School of Solid State Theory, and to stimulate widespread activities in Solid State Physics in the early 50s, which has been appreciated everywhere. Let me mention some of the main protagonists: Jan Tauc, founder of the Czechoslovak Semiconductor Physics, recognized for his pioneering work on Photovoltaic Effects, Amorphous Semiconductors and Optical Properties of Semiconductors, since 1970 professor of the Brown University (USA), now present at the Conference; the late Zdeněk Trousil, outstanding technologist who independently discovered and realized zone melting method for rafination of very pure germanium; the solid state theorists Emil Antoncik, Professor of the University at Aarhus (Denmark), and Bedřich Velický, both present at the Conference, the latter one as the Program Chairman; in magnetism Lubos Valenta fundamentally contributed to the theory of spontaneous magnetization in thin films and later stimulated the research in actinide magnetism that has been successfully developed in this country; Jan Kaczer in his systematic study of magnetic domains was first to observe the cylindrical domains that later become bubbles. And, of course, Zdeněk Frait with his perfect Ferromagnetic Resonance experiments in metals and metallic thin films. All three are present here. The modern computer-aided method for studying crystal structures were pushed forward by the late Alan Linek; the research of dielectric and ferroelectric crystal connected with the names of Vaclav Janovec, Jan Fousek, Jan Arend and Vladimir Dvořak, the last one being appreciated mostly by his original contribution to the theory of modulated (in particular incommensurable) structures and related phase transitions. And last but not least the contribution of Frantisek Kroupa to the theory of mechanical properties of solids. Most of these contributions were accomplished during the fifties and sixties. As the people I have mentioned were active in Prague, both in the Institutes of the Academy and at the Charles University, I have to fill out this incomplete enumeration stating that almost simultaneously similar activities appeared also in other cities, as Brno, Bratislava, Kosice and a few others, both Czech and Slovak creating so the Czechoslovak tradition in this field. Let me add, that many physicists, who started work in Czechoslovakia as students or post doctoral fellows emigrated during the Communist era and developed into generally recognized personalities in CMP. We are glad that most of them grasped the opportunity to come and attend this conference. Besides Professors Tauc and Antoncik, I am glad to welcome here Professor Arend (Switzerland), Dr Dorda (FRG), Professors Gerber, Jaros and Mathon (UK), Professor Kunc (France) and others who may be present. Czeckoslovak physicists were also active in the preparation of the European Physical Society. The representative of the Physics Section of our Union, Dr Plajner, was among those, who signed its charter and this act commenced good relations, and further fruitful cooperation between EPS and our Section which helped us in our isolation under the past Communist regime; and to feel, at least in a limited way, the European appurtenance. An important event along this line was the organization of the 6th EPS General Conference in Prague in 1984. Even more, we value the fact that this 12th GC of EPS Condensed Matter Division, entrusted to our hands still in the time of totality, may be held under entirely new external conditions. They are not without difficulties but with much more clear perspectives. I wish that all of you who have honoured us by attending this conference not only gain the maximum benefit from the presented contributions and high level discussions, but also gain favourable impressions of our City, its cultural life and historical monuments and — if I may express it thus — useful personal and professional contacts with our physicists.

pss Rapid Research Letters – the fastest peer‐reviewed publication medium in solid state physics

The 12th National Conference on Solid State Physics and Materials Science (SPMS2021) gathered various notable scientists (7 plenary speakers and 34 invited speakers). Attending the conference and actively participating in the debate were more than 450 scholars with an interest in the topic. Four hundred reports were divided into five specialized sessions, including (A) physics and magnetic materials, (B) semiconductor and dielectric physics, (C) semiconductor and dielectric materials and devices, (D) biomedical materials and materials for agriculture, energy, and the environment, and (E) composite materials - metals, ceramics, and Vietnam-Korea sessions on applied physics. In addition, the Organizing Committee received numerous full-text reports that had been submitted to the Journal of Science and Technology (Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) following a rigorous review procedure. SPMS2021 co-organized by the Vietnam Physical Society, the Vietnam Materials Research Society (V-MRS), the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Materials Science (Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology), Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam National University (VNU), Phenikaa University, and Can Tho University was held on 13 – 15 August 2022 in Can Tho City after nearly 9 months of postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference has attracted 7 plenary speakers, 34 invited speakers, and over 450 scientists (Figure 1, Table 1, and Table 2) 1. It is not only a sizable and esteemed scientific conference that draws the interest of the Vietnamese scientific community, but it is also a venue for getting together, exchanging ideas, and disseminating the most recent advancements in the SPMS sector. Since 1995, it has been conducted continuously every two years. Many scientists are generally interested in the domains of solid-state physics and materials science, which have a wide range of activities and exceptional accomplishments in both basics and applications in Vietnam.

The annual international conference Functional Materials and Nanotechnologies (FM&NT) was started in 2006 by scientists from the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia. The warm welcome and open atmosphere of this scientific conference has turned it into an event where people from different countries and different fields come and meet under the shared umbrella of functional materials and nanotechnology. It is particularly important for early stage scientists who are looking for new knowledge and contacts with people from various fields to build their own network. Our Latvian colleagues, with their success in internationalization, made us neighbouring Estonians so jealous that we could not help but propose organising the conference every second year in Estonia.In a way, this conference is a continuation of the idea of the famous Baltic seminars which took place over several decades in the last century. Due to political constraints, these seminars were only open to scientists of former Eastern Europe countries, but had a great popularity and attendance from over the whole Soviet Union. Many collaborations started from the initial personal contact between scientists at these twice yearly seminars, held alternately in Latvia and Estonia.At the FM&NT 2012 conference, the decision was made that Institute of Physics, University of Tartu would organise the next event in Tartu in 2013. FM&NT-2013 was hence held in Tartu (Estonia) from 21–24 April 2013 at the Dorpat Conference Centre.The main selected topics of the conference were: (i) multifunctional materials, (ii) nanomaterials, (iii) materials for sustainable energy applications and (vi) theory. Additionally, the focus in this conference was on studies with the help of synchrotron radiation and other novel light sources such as free electron lasers.The conference provided an opportunity for 300 scientists from 21 countries to meet, establish contacts, exchange knowledge and discuss their research. During the three days of the conference, 14 invited talks were given, 45 oral and five commercial talks by companies were delivered and more than 200 posters were presented and discussed.As an outcome of the conference, 14 contributions were selected as regular papers to be submitted as a special section in Physica Scripta , and they are published in this issue. Additionally, 62 papers submitted based on the conference contributions, were included in IOP Conference Series : Materials Science and Engineering and are available at http://iopscience.iop.org/1757-899X/49/1. Additional information about FM&NT-2013 is available at its homepage http://fmnt.ut.ee/. Future information regarding the conference will be published on the website.Photograph. Participants of FM&NT-2013, the photo was taken in front of the Science Centre AHHAA on 23 April 2013.AcknowledgementThe Organizing Committee would like to thank all the speakers, contributors, session chairs and other staff involved for their personal efforts in making FM&NT-2013 successful and memorable. We express our thanks to all the authors for their research contribution presented in this issue. We express our gratitude to all of the reviewers and editors with special thanks to the Editor-in-Chief of Physica Scripta Dr Suzy Lidström, who took part of the conference with an invited talk. The efforts of members of the IOP Publishing team, especially the publisher Yasmin McGlashan, and the guest editor from the local organizing committee Dr Rainer Pärna, are also gratefully acknowledged.We would like to acknowledge financial support by Tartu University Development Fund, Estonian national projects supporting Materials Science, Science Internationalisation and Centre of Excellence programs based on the contribution of the European Structural Funds and Estonian national funding. Also, the graduate school on ‘Functional Materials and Technologies’ supported by the European Social Fund has given a generous contribution to assist in the participation of our early stage researchers. This support is gratefully acknowledged. We also would like to acknowledge and thank all the sponsors, companies (Raith, Bruker, Vistec Lithography, Saint-Tech, The Doma Group, Armgate and American Elements) who create conditions for our everyday research in the Baltics. We hope that the continuation of the tradition introduced with this conference will strengthen the international cooperation of scientists from Baltic states with researchers from other countries. In particular, we very much value the communication between new generations of researches which takes place, ensuring the fruitful development of science in our countries.The Organizing Committee hopes that the conference FM&NT-2013 gave the participants good insight into recent progress in nanotechnology, sustainable energetics, the processing and modelling of multifunctional materials and research enabled by the use of synchrotron radiation or other novel light sources such as free electron lasers. We sincerely hope that the conference has provided support for the circulation of information and brought together many young and experienced scientists from different fields, leading to fruitful discussions. We hope that all of the participants had an ejoyable and memorable time in Tartu. We welcome you back in the future.

Frederick Seitz

This book and the accompanying software (PC Diskette) is a toolbox for performing a set of numerical simulations on simple quantum mechanical problems. It is one in a series of similar books (CUPS) covering different fields in physics from classical mechanics to nuclear and particle physics. Each chapter of the book is written by a different author and deals with a different physical problem. The choice of problems is standard, e.g. bound state and scattering problems in one and three dimensions, quantum mechanical time development; the exceptions are, a study of identical particles and electron states in a one dimensional lattice, an example from solid state physics. Although the chapters are self-contained and can be studied independently (at the expense of some minor duplication of material), care was taken with a uniform style of presentation and similar format in numerical simulations. As a result, it is easy to proceed in the study of the different problems having understood the technical possibilities of one simulation. Each chapter starts with a section presenting the basic theoretical concepts to be studied using the numerical simulation. It is followed by a section with a short description of the numerical technique used and an extensive series of suggestions for problems and quantities to experiment with, using the computer codes provided. A final section describes in detail how to run the computer programs. This book is not, and is not intended to be, a textbook for learning quantum mechanics nor a textbook of numerical analysis. Nevertheless, I find the theoretical presentation clear and straightforward enough for its purpose. The extensive and up to date list of references to books and research articles at the end of each chapter is also very helpful. Technically, I found the software easy to install and, after some initial testing, easy to run. The produced plots are clear and the use of units of atomic dimension gives a touch of reality to the simulations. In contrast to other similar books, this is not a `picture' book of quantum mechanics where results of numerical simulations are illustrated; here the reader is given the necessary means to play and discover for himself the properties of quantum mechanical systems. I believe that this book, used by teachers for demonstrations and students for independent study, provides a versatile tool for numerical experimentation in quantum mechanics.