A comprehensive survey of the use of the Liouville (and super-Liouville) equation in (super)string theory outside the critical dimension, and of the complementary approach based on the discretized space-time - known as the matrix model approach. The authors pay particular attention to supersymmetry, both in the continuum formulation and through the consideration of the super-eigenvalue problem. The methods presented here are important in a large number of complex problems, e.g. random surfaces, 2-D gravity and large-N quantum chromodynamics, and this comparitive study of the different methods permits a cross-evaluation of the results when both methods are valid, combined with new predictions when only one of the methods may be applied.

Contents:Black Hole Evaporation and Quantum Gravity (K Schoutens et al.)A String Project in Multicolor QCD (V Kazakov)Matrix Models and String Theory (K Demeterfi & I Klebanov)Developments in 2D String Theory (A Jevicki)Exact Results for Two-Dimensional N = 2 Supersymmetric Theories — An Introduction to the tt∗ Equations (S Cecotti)Perturbative Topological Field Theory (R Dijkgraaf)Barriers in Quantum Gravity (J Ambjørn)Two-Dimensional Black Hole and Nonperturbative String Theory (A Dhar)U(N) Gauge Theory and Lattice Strings (I K Kostov)Quantization of Mirror Symmetry (H Ooguri)W-Strings 93 (C N Pope)Applications of O(d,d) Transformations to Generate New Geometries (S P Khastgir & J Maharana) Readership: High energy physicists. keywords:

Aside from the obvious statement that it should be a theory capable of unifying general relativity and quantum field theory, not much is known about the true nature of quantum gravity. New ideas - and there are many of them for this is an exciting field of research - often diverge to a degree where it seems impossible to decide in which of the many possible direction(s) the ongoing developments should be further sustained. The division of the book in two (overlapping) parts reflects the duality between the physical vision and the mathematical construction. The former is represented by tutorial reviews on non-commutative geometry, on space-time discretization and renormalization and on gauge field path integrals. The latter one by lectures on cohomology, on stochastic geometry and on mathematical tools for the effective action in quantum gravity. The book will benefit everyone working or entering the field of quantum gravity research.

"Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts" appearing twice a year has become oneof the fundamental publications in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics andneighbouring sciences. It is the most important English-language abstracting journal in the mentioned branches. The abstracts are classified under more than a hundred subject categories, thus permitting a quick survey of the whole extended material. The AAA is a valuable and important publication for all students and scientists working in the fields of astronomy and related sciences. As such it represents a necessary ingredient of any astronomical library all over the world.

This proceedings contains the talks delivered at the plenary and parallel sessions. Topics covered include e⁺e⁻ Physics at Z0, String Theory and Theory of Extended Objects, High Energy pp Physics, Non-Accelerator Particle Physics, Conformal Field Theory, e⁺e⁻ Physics below Z⁰, Structure Functions and Deep Inelastic Scattering, Neutrino Physics, Recent Developments in 2-Dimensional Gravity, Lattice Gauge Theory and Computer Simulations, CP Violation , Accelerator Physics, Cosmology and Particle Physics, Interface Between Particle and Condensed Matter Physics, Detector R&D, and Astroparticle Physics.

This volume gives an up-to-date account of the major activities in the general area of string theory. String phenomenology, mirror symmetry, duality black hole physics, topological and conformal field theory, 2D gravity and QCD related developments are reviewed in detail.