Table of contents

The Casimir effect is analyzed. This effect consists of a polarization of the vacuum of quantized fields which arises as a result of a change in the spectrum of vacuum oscillations when the quantization volume is bounded or the topology of the space is non-Euclidean. Calculations of the effect for manifolds of various configurations and for fields with various spins are reported. Various definitions of the Casimir vacuum energy in the presence of walls are discussed. The quantum field theory of Casimir forces is generalized to incorporate the dispersion properties of the medium. Applications of the Casimir effect in various branches of physics are reviewed: from the theory of molecular forces to cosmology and elementary particle physics, including the bag model and supersymmetry.

The current status of the physics of liquid-crystalline polymers is reviewed. Major attention is paid to the theory of the nematic state of solutions and melts of polymers of varying architecture, and also of polyelectrolytes. The conditions for phase equilibrium in solutions and melts and the elastic properties of systems are studied, as well as light scattering in the region of a nematic phase transition and the dynamic properties of rigid-chain polymers.

A review is given of both theoretical and experimental investigations of the sputtering as a result of strong excitation of the electron subsystem of a solid by fast and multiply charged ions. A systematic account is given of the main experimentally established relationships governing inelastic sputtering. An analysis is made of the dependences of the inelastic sputtering coefficient on the energy and charge of the incident ions and on the target structure, and of the differential characteristics of the sputtered particles. Theoretical investigations of the electron-excitation region and its relaxation, of the transfer of the electron energy to the target atoms, and of the inelastic sputtering models are discussed. A brief account is given of the history of the topic, of possible practical applications of inelastic sputtering, and of its relationship to other phenomena.