Carlos Martins - Böcker

This workshop on the cosmology of extra dimensions and varying fundamental constants was part of JENAM 2002, held in Porto in September 2002. It brought together string theorists, particle physicists, theoretical and observational cosmologists, relativists and observational astrophysicists. The overall motivation for the workshop was to discuss theoretical motivations for the existence of additional space-time dimensions and confront these expectations with existing or upcoming observational and experimental tests. The interaction between specialists in different areas was quite fruitful, and a number of outstanding issues were identified which are likely to become the main paths of research to be explored in this area in the coming years.

The globalized economy, dominated by the diffusion of innovation and social, political, and economic changes, allows people and knowledge to flow without knowing what lies ahead. As new economies emerge and technologies impose significant changes, the internationalization of markets and industries has made defining its delimitation more difficult.Competitive Drivers for Improving Future Business Performance is a conceptualized reference source that discusses the use of digital skills to manage change in volatile contexts and provides fundamental understanding of competitive advantage to guarantee superior performances. To assure this level of performance, a set of choices (drivers) must be created ensuring operational efficiency, innovative products, customer knowledge-base, and focused branding. Featuring research on topics such as consumer experience, strategic leadership, and flexible technologies, this book is ideally designed for managers, executives, entrepreneurs, academicians, consulting professionals, researchers, industry professionals, and students seeking coverage on how to improve competitive performance in an era of uncertainty.

Starting out from humankind's earliest ideas about the cosmos, this book gives the reader a clear overview of our current understanding of the universe, including big bang theories and the formation of stars and galaxies, as well as addressing open questions.

Nature is characterized by a number of physical laws and fundamental dimensionless couplings. These determine the  properties of our physical universe, from the size of atoms, cells and mountains to the ultimate fate of the universe as a whole. Yet it is rather remarkable how little we know about them. The constancy of physical laws is one of the cornerstones of the scientific research method, but for fundamental couplings this is an assumption with no other justification  than a historical assumption. There is no 'theory of constants' describing their role in the underlying theories and how they relate to one another or how many  of them are truly fundamental.  Studying the behaviour of these quantities throughout the history of the universe is an effective way to probe fundamental physics. This explains why the ESA and ESO include varying fundamental constants among their key science drivers for the next generation of facilities. This symposium discussed the state-of-the-art in the field, as well as the key developments anticipated for the coming years.

Nature is characterized by a number of physical laws and fundamental dimensionless couplings. These determine the  properties of our physical universe, from the size of atoms, cells and mountains to the ultimate fate of the universe as a whole. Yet it is rather remarkable how little we know about them. The constancy of physical laws is one of the cornerstones of the scientific research method, but for fundamental couplings this is an assumption with no other justification  than a historical assumption. There is no 'theory of constants' describing their role in the underlying theories and how they relate to one another or how many  of them are truly fundamental.  Studying the behaviour of these quantities throughout the history of the universe is an effective way to probe fundamental physics. This explains why the ESA and ESO include varying fundamental constants among their key science drivers for the next generation of facilities. This symposium discussed the state-of-the-art in the field, as well as the key developments anticipated for the coming years.