Jiri Jonas - Böcker

The main contributions to this volume present overviews of the different subfields or applications of high pressure studies. In contrast, contributed papers offer more specialized aspects of various high pressure studies. The various contributions to this volume make clear the wide range of fundamental and applied problems that can be studied by high pressure techniques, and also point towards a major growth of high pressure science and technology in the near future. The text focuses mainly on advances achieved in the years since the previous ASI devoted to the high pressure field.

For chemists, biochemists, physicists and materials scientists, pressure as an experimental variable represents a tool that provides unique information about the microscopic properties of the materials being studied. In addition to its use as a research tool for investigating the energetics, structure, dynamics and kinetics of molecular transformations of materials, pressure is also being used to modify the properties of materials to preserve or improve their properties. The contributions collected here cover the main areas of high pressure research, including applications in materials science, condensed matter physics, chemistry and biochemistry. In addition, some papers offer more specialised aspects of high pressure studies. The book makes clear the impressive range of fundamental and applied problems that can be studied by high pressure techniques and also points towards a major growth of high pressure science and technology in the new millennium.

For chemists, biochemists, physicists and materials scientists, pressure as an experimental variable represents a tool that provides unique information about the microscopic properties of the materials being studied. In addition to its use as a research tool for investigating the energetics, structure, dynamics and kinetics of molecular transformations of materials, pressure is also being used to modify the properties of materials to preserve or improve their properties. The contributions collected here cover the main areas of high pressure research, including applications in materials science, condensed matter physics, chemistry and biochemistry. In addition, some papers offer more specialised aspects of high pressure studies. The book makes clear the impressive range of fundamental and applied problems that can be studied by high pressure techniques and also points towards a major growth of high pressure science and technology in the new millennium.

It was the objective of the ASI on "Advances in High Pressure Studies of Chemical and Biochemical Systems" to present the current status of such studies and to emphasize the advances achieved during the nine years since the previous ASI on "High Pressure Chemistry". These advances are partly due to the improved instrumentation enabling static and dynamic measurements at pressures several orders of magnitude higher than before, and partly due to the more general availability of high pressure equipment. This has led to a remarkable development in various areas of physics and chemistry, and especially in biochemistry. Throughout the presentation of this Advanced Study Institute the emphasis fell on the teaching character of such a summer school, and the contributions in this volume are of such a nature. Following a general introduction to modern high pressure research, a series of chapters on theoretical and experimental studies of gases, fluids and solids at high temperatures and pressures are presented with special emphasis on the physical aspects involved. Instrumentation used in such studies, viz. shock compression, NMR spectroscopy, laser scattering, x-ray and neutron scattering, and vibrational spectroscopy are treated in detail. The subsequent chapters are devoted to the application of high pressure techniques in the broad areas of organic, inorganic and biochemistry_ The formal lectures were supplemented by 29 contributed papers, for which a list of titles is included.

This monograph, which is the outcome of the ASI on High Pressure Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Materials Science, illustrates new developments in the field of high pressure science. In fact, for chemists, biochemists, and materials scientists, pressure as an experimental variable represents a tool which provides unique information about systems of materials studied. It is interesting to note how the growth of the high pressure field is also reflected in the content of the recent ASI's dealing with this field. The ASI High Pressure Chemistry held in 1977 was followed by the ASI High Pressure Chemistry and Biochemistry held in 1986, and the coverage of the present ASI also includes applications to materials science. In view of the teaching character of the ASI, it is natural that main contributions to this volume present overviews of the different subfields or applications of high pressure research. In contrast, contributed papers offer more specialized aspects of various high pressure studies. The various contributions to this volume make clear the impressive range of fundamental and applied problems that can be studied by high pressure techniques, and also point towards a major growth of high pressure science and technology in the near future. This ASI focused mainly on advances achieved in the six years since the previous ASI devoted to the high pressure field. The organization of this volume is as follows.