J Allen - Böcker

The understanding of electronic behaviour in solids when (some of) the valence electrons have both localized and band-like characteristics is one of the central problems of physics and chemistry in the second half of this century. Many advances have indeed been made using highly sophisticated techniques and concepts. Our objectives in bringing together specialists from different areas was cross-fertilization of ideas and redefinition of bottlenecks and problems. The testimony of the participants and the book which follows indicate a fair degree of success. This book is a record of discussions aimed at digestion and reassessment of some of the recent major advances in our understanding of narrow bands. Note that we expressly asked participants to give a short readable account of the major problems in their field and not to emphasize their latest results to be as "technical" as they might be in a normal scientific article. We did not ask for complete reviews of what was going on in the field and this book should not be read as such. Neither should it be approached as the sort of educational text which the NATO ASI proceedings are supposed to be. We have tried to produce a useable account of a workshop in which an attempt was made to define real problems and to distinguish them from illusory problems.