Table of contents

Nonperturbative phenomena in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and, in particular, confinement are reviewed. As an example of the treatment, an exact solution of the =2 supersymmetric Yang–Mills gauge theory is presented. Prospects for application of the duality idea in QCD are discussed.

We review some theoretical aspects of neutrino oscillations in the case where more than two neutrino flavors are involved. These include: approximate analytic solutions for 3-flavor (3f) oscillations in matter; matter effects in ν_μ↔ν_τ oscillations; 3f effects in oscillations of solar, atmospheric, reactor, and supernova neutrinos and in accelerator long-baseline experiments; CP and T violation in neutrino oscillations in the vacuum and in matter; the problem of U_e3; and 4f oscillations.

The effect of the spin states of structural defects on the mechanical properties of a crystal is the subject of spin micromechanics, a discipline that emerged at the junction of solid state physics, spin chemistry, and plasticity physics. The main reason for considering the electron spin when discussing elementary processes in plastically deformed crystals is the solid experimental evidence of recent years that the multiplicity of excited short-lived defect pairs affects the way in which dislocations (plastic deformation carriers) move in various nonmagnetically ordered crystals. Because the contribution of defect spin states to mechanical properties can basically be found from magnetic field effects on plasticity, the systematization and analysis of recent experimental data on such effects are given the main attention in this review. In interpreting these effects, analogies between the elementary events of a dislocation overcoming an obstacle and the earlier studied spin-dependent processes (charge transfer, light emission, intermolecular chemical bond formation) are employed.

The results of experimental and theoretical investigations of the properties of heteronuclear rare-gas dimers are presented. Spectra in the vacuum ultraviolet region received primary emphasis. It is shown that the bulk of the excitation energy stored by the low-temperature plasma of binary mixtures is released by the heteronuclear dimers in a narrow spectral band near atomic resonance lines.

The major stages of how mathematical statistical physics has been used in the last fifty years to describe random medium electromagnetic wave (light) propagation are outlined. The statistical description is discussed either in terms of the scalar parabolic equation (quasioptical approximation) — when the governing parameters are needed, or by writing its functional integral solution — if the caustic structure of the wave field is to be analyzed.

The anisotropy and polarization of cosmic microwave background radiation provide the most powerful tools for modern cosmology. At present, many experiments for observing these phenomena are either being conducted or prepared, which holds promise for yielding the fundamental parameters of the present and early universe; for shedding light on the crucial current problem of the existence of gravitational waves; and for solidly contributing to elementary particle and high energy physics. In the present paper the formation mechanisms of anisotropy and polarization are briefly discussed. The latest experiments in the field, in particular the WMAP experiment aboard a special spacecraft, are given particular attention.

The history of the creation and development of Bohr's atomic theory is discussed. Even now, with a consistent quantum theory available, Bohr's theory is not simply the property of history, of methodological interest only. To this day, the ideas of the theory not only provide an excellent introduction to atomic physics, but are also used successfully in treating atomic Rydberg states, exotic atoms, etc.