Bogdan Povh, MPI Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg

Mitja Rosina, University of Ljubljana

Photon Scattering - Form Factors.- Lepton Scattering - Nucleon Radius.- Quasi-Elastic Scattering - Virtual Photons and Gluons.- The Hydrogen Atom - The Playground of Quantum Mechanics.- Many Electron Atoms - Shell Structure.- Covalent and Ionic Binding - Electron Sharing.- Intermolecular Forces - Building Complex Structures.- Cold Neutron - Spectroscopy of the Solid State.- Quantum Gases - Quantum Degeneration.- Quantum Liquids - Superfluidity.- Metals - Quasi-free Electrons.- Hadrons - Atoms of Strong Interaction.- The Nuclear Force - Pion Sharing.- Nuclei - Droplets of a Fermi Liquid.- Stars, Planets and Asteroids - Interplay between Gravitation and Quantum Phenomena.- Elementary Particles - Fundamental Interactions.- Cosmology - The Early Universe.

Quantum physics may appear complicated, especially if one forgets the "big picture" and gets lost in the details. However, it can become clearer and less tangled if one applies a few fundamental concepts so that simplified approaches can emerge and estimated orders of magnitude become clear. Povh and Rosina's Scattering and Structures presents the properties of quantum systems (elementary particles, nucleons, atoms, molecules, quantum gases, quantum liquids, stars, and early universe) with the help of elementary concepts and analogies between these seemingly different systems. In this new edition, sections on quantum gases and an up to date overview of elementary particles have been added.