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The proceedings contain the lectures and contributions given at the workshop on double-beta decay and related topics, which was held at the ETC∗ (European Centre for Theoretical Studies), Trento, Italy, between April 24 and May 5, 1995.Double-beta decay is of prominent actuality nowadays. With the largely increased actuality of neutrino physics by recent observations and discussions of solar and atmospheric neutrino deficits, dark matter physics and neutrino oscillations and recent corresponding development in Grand Unified Theories, double-beta decay has attained a key position within these problems. The lectures of this Workshop treat the theoretical and experimental status, potential and perspectives of double-beta decay research and the intimate interrelations with the above mentioned and other topics from the view of particle, nuclear and astrophysics.

The Predeal International Summer School, held at the Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Bucharest, Romania, is a prestigious scientific event. The school first took place in 1969 and since then it has been held every two years.This year the lectures were given by more than 30 outstanding professors, covering timely subjects in theoretical and experimental nuclear physics. In addition, there were special sessions of contributed papers presenting the most recent results in these domains. The aim of the school was thus two-fold: to give basic information on some hot subjects of research in nuclear physics and to present them with the most recent achievements in these fields. This volume contains the proceedings of the school.

The interest in understanding the physical world that we live in, the origin of its formation and evolution, is reflected in the world-wide activities in Europe, the USA and Japan to set up powerful research facilities providing beams of radioactive nuclei of various kinds, and beams of extremely large energies. At the same time, complex and large detector arrays with improved technical capabilities are built either around these facilities or independently (dedicated to cosmic rays). Recently, spectacular progress has been made in superheavy nuclei, cold binary and ternary fission, nuclear shell structure and nuclear astrophysics, to mention only a few directions. The energy spectrum of cosmic rays exceeds the upper limits provided by artificial accelerators. An international collaboration has committed itself to the installation of an extremely large area detector array, AUGER, in order to study the highest particle energies in the Universe.