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One of the great unsolved problems of science and also physics is the prediction of the three dimensional structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence: the folding problem. It may be stated that the deep connection existing between physics and protein folding is not so much, or in any case not only, through physical methods (experimental: X rays, NMR, etc, or theoretical: statistical mechanics, spin glasses, etc), but through physical concepts. In fact, protein folding can be viewed as an emergent property not contained neither in the atoms forming the protein nor in the forces acting among them, in a similar way as superconductivity emerges as an unexpected coherent phenomenon taking place on a sea of electrons at low temperature. Already much is known about the protein folding problem, thanks, among other things, to protein engineering experiments as well as from a variety of theoretical inputs: inverse folding problem, funnel like energy landscapes (Peter Wolynes), helix coil transitions, etc. Although quite different in appearance, the fact that the variety of models can account for much of the experimental findings is likely due to the fact that they contain much of the same (right) physics. A physics which is related to the important role played by selected highly conserved, "hot", amino acids which participate to the stability of independent folding units which, upon docking, give rise to a (post critical) folding nucleus lying beyond the highest maximum of the free energy associated to the process.

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This study is devoted to the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (S-Z) effect, and important related topics in cluster and CMB research. S-Z science is about to be significantly enhanced by unique, multi-faceted cluster and cosmological yield, at a level of precision in accord with the high standards of the current era that was heralded by spectacular achievements in cosmological CMB research. The pedagogical reviews and technical seminars included in this volume represent most of the important current topics in S-Z work and in the astrophysics of clusters. The publication touches upon all relevant aspects of the S-Z effect and its use as a precise cluster and cosmological probe. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the detection of the CMB by Penzias and Wilson (in 1964), there is a chapter devoted to the history of this discovery. In his fascinating account of their work, he outlines also some lessons pertinent to current scientific issues. Other chapters discuss very interesting related observational work in Europe and the US.

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This book is a snapshot of the vision shared by outstanding scientists on the key theoretical and experimental issues in Mesoscopic Physics. Quantum properties of electrons in solid state devices and transport in semiconducting and superconducting low-dimensional systems, are discussed, as well as the basis of quantum computing (entanglement, noise decoherence and read-out). Each chapter collects the material presented at a Varenna School course of last year, by leading experts in the field. The reader gets a flavour of how theorists and experimentalists are paving the way to the physical realization of solid state qubits, the basic units of the new logic and memory elements for quantum processing. He will be surprised in finding that mesoscopic solid state devices, which were invented only yesterday (think of the Single Electron Transistor, or the Cooper Pair Box) are currently used as charge-sensing applications in the equipment of frontier research laboratories. These devices contribute as probing systems to produce evidence on still unsettled questions. ... Read more

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A quiet, shy boy, Enrico Fermi found escape in books on mathematics and physics. To him, those subjects made sense. The outside world was far more confusing. It was a place where Fermi's older brother died during a simple operation, where his young wife was persecuted for her religion. It was also a world Fermi would radically change.

The experiments he conducted as a refugee in the United States would soon lead to an energy of unimaginable power and potential danger. This is his story. ... Read more

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The global climate of the Earth has significantly varied over the last Millennia. On a regional scale, the climate has varied and does presently vary on many different time scales, leading to a continuously changing pattern of temperatures, humidity, precipitation, with important effects on the whole terrestrial biosphere. Physicist are interested in understanding the mechanism at work by gathering data and properly analysing them, by building theoretical models and, if possible, making predictions on the future evolution of the system. Along these lines, an important question is to understand the role of the solar forcing, in order to unravel the internal mechanisms of variability of the Earth's climate from the variable forcing of the Sun. On the other hand, one can learn about the past solar variability by reading into the terrestrial archives that provide us with proxy data on the history of both the Sun and the climate. Thus, realizing that the Sun and the Earth from a closely coupled system, where the variable properties of the former may affect in many subtle ways the behaviour of the latter, is an important step toward the understanding of both. This book is explicitly devoted to these issues. First, it is important to obtain reliable data from terrestrial archives, and to properly date the records that have been measured. The first part of the book is devoted to these crucial aspects, dealing with various types of proxy data and with the difficult issue of the dating of the records. Once obtained the data, it has to be interpreted. this goal is nowadays relying upon a plethora of data analysis methods, that explicitly take into account the nonlinear nature of the system and try to elucidate the dynamics and the main processes active in the measured system. The second part of the book is devoted to the issue of data analysis and prediction. Finally, once interpreted and analyzed the data, theoretical models have to be build describing the dynamics of the system considered. Due to the extreme complexity of the Sun/Earth system (as well as of its components, the Sun itself and the Earth's climate), drastic simplifications in the modelling efforts have to be accepted and one has to bear in mind that the models probably are nothing more than a pale image of the real dynamics. The third part of the book is devoted to the theoretical and numerical modelling of the solar and climatic variability, and of their complex interactions. This volume gives an up-to-date view of the present state of this field. ... Read more

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For a long time after the discovery in 1964, by Christenson, Cronin, Fitch and Turlay, that the long-lived neutral kaon decays both into three and into two pions, which has since been taken as proof of CP violation, successive new and more precise experiments confirmed the original evidence and provided results compatible with a phenomenological description confining the CP violation to the mixing between neutral kaons and antikaons. However the Standard Model, with three generations of quarks, linking as it does CP violation to the presence of a single non trivial phase in the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark mixing matrix, implies that if CP violation exists at all, then it is a general property of weak interactions, appearing in transitions were amplitudes involving all three quark families interfere with each other, producing effects with a magnitude related to that of the CKM coefficients. This fact has stimulated an impressive amount of theoretical work leading in many cases to precise predictions. This publication reviews the field, from both the theoretical and experimental point of view, while planning for the forthcoming experimentation at LHC and considering possible new facilities for kaon, B meson and neutrino physics.

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In an astronomical subject of such wide applications as interstellar dust it is to be expected that not only are there diverse opinions on its precise nature, but also diverse opinions on its influence in various astrophysical environments. At this Enrico Fermi school lecturers of the highest calibre presented their subjects and points of view to the students, so that the basic scientific controversies and methodology were accessible. In addition to questions of sources and growth, the destruction of grains was extensively discussed. A number of physical processes, such as charging and heating of grains, were also considered. Classically, and in the current context of dust problems, the optics of grains individually and in clouds has been the most critically and fully treated aspect. ... Read more

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This text presents the results of broad interdisciplinary effort to study proteins in physical and evolutionary prospectives. Among the authors are physicists, chemists, crystallographers, and evolutionary biologists. Experimental and theoretical developments "from molecules to cells" are presented providing a broad picture of modern biophysical chemistry. ... Read more

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The electron liquid paradigm is at the basis of most of our current understanding of the physical properties of electronic systems. Quite remarkably, the latter are nowadays at the intersection of the most exciting areas of science: materials science, quantum chemistry, nano-electronics, biology, and quantum computation. Accordingly, its importance can hardly be overestimated. During the past 20 years the field has witnessed momentous developments, which are partly covered in this new volume. Advances in semiconductor technology have allowed the realizations of ultra-pure electron liquids whose density, unlike that of the ones spontaneously occurring in nature, can be tuned by electrical means, allowing a systematic exploration of both strongly and weakly correlated regimes. Most of these system are two- or even one-dimensional, and can be coupled together in the form of multi-layers or multi-wires, opening vast observational possibilities. On the theoretical side, quantum Monte Carlo methods have allowed an essentially exact determination of the ground-state energy of the electron liquid, and have provided partial answers to the still open question of the structure of its phase diagram. Starting from the 1980s some truly revolutionary concepts have emerged, which are well represented in this volume.

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Some of the areas we publish in:

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In this Enrico Fermi School, the first one dedicated to advanced organic materials, the main research results and open problems in science and technology of organic nanostructures have been discussed; in particular, growth techniques, electronic and optical properties, device applications. The necessary background material has been covered and interdisciplinary aspects have been emphasized with the aim of a unified approach to the basic physical phenomena bridging the gap between standard graduate courses and the state of the art in the field. The lecturers have provided authoritative and comprehensive tutorial reviews of the main issues involved in the science and technology of organic materials and their nanostructures. In particular, the following topics have been specifically addressed: charge carrier mobility and transport properties, electrical conductivity of conjugated polymers, charge transfer states in organics, photorefractivity in organics, energy transfer processes in organics, photophysics and fast spectroscopy, technology of polymer electronics and light emitting devices. ... Read more

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The field of cold atomic gases faced a revolution in 1995 when Bose-Einstein condensation was achieved. Since then, there has been an impressive progress, both experimental and theoretical. The quest for ultra-cold Fermi gases started shortly after the 1995 discovery, and quantum degeneracy in a gas of fermionic atoms was obtained in 1999. The Pauli exclusion principle plays a crucial role in many aspects of ultra-cold Fermi gases, including inhibited interactions with applications to precision measurements, and strong correlations. The path towards strong interactions and pairing of fermions opened up with the discovery in 2003 that molecules formed by fermions near a Feshbach resonance were surprisingly stable against inelastic decay, but featured strong elastic interactions. This remarkable combination was explained by the Pauli exclusion principle and the fact that only inelastic collisions require three fermions to come close to each other. The unexpected stability of strongly interacting fermions and fermion pairs triggered most of the research which was presented at this summer school. It is remarkable foresight (or good luck) that the first steps to organize this summer school were already taken before this discovery. It speaks for the dynamics of the field how dramatically it can change course when new insight is obtained. The contributions in this volume provide a detailed coverage of the experimental techniques for the creation and study of Fermi quantum gases, as well as the theoretical foundation for understanding the properties of these novel systems.

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Enrico FermiÆs scientific work, noted for its originality and breadth, has had lasting consequences throughout modern science. Written by close colleagues as well as scientists whose fields were profoundly influenced by Fermi, the papers collected here constitute a tribute to him and his scientific legacy. They were commissioned on the occasion of his 100th birthday by the Italian Physical Society and confirm that Fermi was a rare combination of theorist, experimentalist, teacher, and inspiring colleague. The book is organized into three parts: three biographical overviews by close colleagues, replete with personal insights; fourteen analyses of FermiÆs impact by specialists in their fields, spanning physics, chemistry, mathematics, and engineering; and a year-by-year chronology of FermiÆs scientific endeavors. Written for a general scientific audience, ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Tribute to an Outstanding Twentieth Century Italian Physicist!!
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"Without Enrico Fermi [pronounced Fur-me], 20th century physics would have been a shadow of what it became. [He was a] superbly innovative scientist [involved in a] range of fields so large that it is unsurpassed by any other physicist in that century.[As well], he was an experimentalist and theorist-a very rare combination at that time-and an inspiring colleague and teacher."

Thus begins the forward (written by a physics and history of science professor from Harvard) of this book, edited by two University of Rome physics professors, that commemorates the life, work, and scientific legacy of Nobel Prize winner Enrico Fermi (1901 to 1954).The material presented was written by close colleagues as well as scientists whose fields were deeply influenced by Fermi.

This book is actually organized into four parts:

(1) Consists of three sections: a Forward, Preface, and an excellent Introduction entitled "Enrico Fermi: his life and a comment on his work."All these sections give insight into Fermi the man and his work.Special attention should be given to the Introduction which is "the glue connecting the various topics [of the book] and the pointer indicating the evolutions subsequent to Fermi's [untimely death]."

(2) Consists of three Commemoration speeches by Italian physicists who collaborated with Fermi.Two were given in 1955 and one in 1968.The talks in this part, just like the sections of part (1), give valuable insights into Fermi the man and his scientific work.

(3) Is made up of "fourteen [essays] of Fermi's impact by specialists in their fields, spanning physics, chemistry, mathematics, and engineering."I personally enjoyed the three essays on nuclear energy and reactors, the essay on Fermi's legacy in particle physics, and the essay on his "last lessons."Note that the introduction of part (1) has a brief summary of each of these essays (which I found very helpful).

(4) Gives a detailed chronology of Fermi's scientific endeavors with some insight into his character, scientific thought, and his style of working.The first years of this chronology are lumped together from (1901 to 1917) and the last year profiled is 1954.

The book is peppered with black and white photographs.As well, there are diagrams to illustrate key concepts.

Who is this book written for?According to the book, it says it's "written for a general scientific audience."However, be aware that many of the essays of part (3) contain some sophisticated mathematics.However, you don't have to understand it to understand the main thrust of the essay.As well, it would be beneficial to be familiar with some physics.In fact, a good science or physics dictionary would be helpful when reading this book.

What I did when I read this book was to read part (1) first.However, when I read the introduction of this part I skipped the essay summaries.Then I read part (2) and then skipped to part (4).Finally, I read part (3) last.For those essays of this part that I did not find especially appealing, I just read their essay summaries located in the introduction of part (1).

Finally, I was surprised by three omissions:

(1) There was no mention of the chemical element named in honor of Fermi.It is called Fermium.Symbol Fe.
(2) There is no mention of the U.S. lab named after Fermi called Fermilab (formerly National Accelerator Laboratory).
(3) There was no mention of the famous "Fermi Paradox" which he uttered in 1950.It states that if the universe is teeming with alien life, then where is everybody?

Note that these were omissions that I personally found surprising.In no way, do they diminish the book's quality.

In conclusion, this book offers a good readable source on the life of one of the twentieth centuries most distinguished scientists.It is a must for anybody interested in the history of modern science!!

(first published in English 2004;forward;preface;introduction;three commemoration talks;14 essays;chronology;main narrative 395 pages;bibliography;index)

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Altough first proposed by Einstein in 1924, Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in a gas was not achieved until 1995 when, using a combination of laser cooling and trapping, and magnetic trapping and evaporation, it was first observed in rubidium and then in lithium and sodium, cooled down to extremely low temperatures. This book brought together many leaders in both theory and experiments on Bose-Einstein condensation in gases. Their lectures provided a detailed coverage of the experimental techniques for the creation and study of BEC, as well as the theoretical foundation for understanding the properties of this novel system. Many exciting aspects coming out of research on condensates were presented. The timing for this book was excellent since the field is still small enough to cover fully, but is also clearly about to undergoa major expansion. This volume provides the first systematic review of the field and the many developments that have taken place in the past three years. Silicon-based Microphotonics ... Read more

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Absolute must for atom coolers and trappers
Preceedings of the Italian summer school on BEC in 1998. Great coverage from basics to complex phase contrast imaging techniques. Articles from the greatest in the field, including Wolfgang Ketterle, Carl Weiman, EricCornell, and Dan Heinzen. ... Read more