The IX Mexican Workshop on Particles and Fields was held in the beautiful
city of Colima, in the South-West of Mexico, from 17–22 November
2003. The proceedings of the Workshop were delayed due to problems with a
previous publisher, we are very grateful that Journal of Physics: Conference
Series kindly agreed to publish the proceedings rapidly at this late stage.
The Workshop aimed to cover, through invited lectures delivered by
internationally known experts, the most recent developments in the field. There was
also a series of short seminars as well as a poster session, which allowed the
whole community to participate with their most recent research results. A
special session was dedicated to awarding the Division Medal to Professor Benjamin
Grinstein, from The University of California, San Diego, for his outstanding contributions
to the field. This volume contains the written version of the material
presented at the Workshop.
The Workshop was attended by more than 100 participants, including
faculty members, postdocs and graduate students. It was organized by the Particles
and Fields Division of the Mexican Physical Society, and generously sponsored
by several institutions: Universidad de Colima, Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás Hidalgo, Centro
de Investigaciones y Estudios Avanzados del IPN (CINVESTAV), Consejo
Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Conacyt).
The Local Organizing Committee was integrated by Paolo Amore, Alfredo
Aranda, Carlos Moisés Hernóndez Suórez (Director of the Physics Faculty),
Arturo Gonzólez Larios, Enrique Farías Martínez, and Myriam Cruz Calvario,
all from the University of Colima. The members of the National Organizing Committee
were Adnan Bashir (IFM-UMSHN), Jens Erler (IF-UNAM),
Heriberto Castilla Valdés (CINVESTAV-U.Zacatenco), Gabriel López Castro
(CINVESTAV-U.Zacatenco), Myriam Mondragón (IF-UNAM) and Luis
Villaseñ or (IFM-UMSHN). We gratefully acknowledge the help given by each
one of them to the organization of the Workshop.
Many thanks also to our Conference Secretaries Patricia Carranza and
Soledad López for their efficiency and readiness to help, and to the many
students of the University of Colima who helped us with innumerable tasks.
Last but not least, we thank most warmly all the speakers for their excellent
lectures.