Justbefore the preliminary programof Orbis Scientiae 1998 went to press the news in physics was suddenly dominated by the discovery that neutrinos are, after all, massive particles. This was predicted by some physicists including Dr. Behram Kusunoglu, who had apaper published on this subject in 1976 in the Physical Review. Massive neutrinos do not necessarily simplify the physics of elementary particles but they do give elementary particle physics a new direction. If the dark matter content ofthe universe turns out to consist ofneutrinos, the fact that they are massive should make an impact on cosmology. Some of the papers in this volume have attempted to provide answers to these questions. We have a long way to go before we find the real reasons for nature’s creation of neutrinos. Another neutrino-related event was the passing of their discoverer, Fredrick Reines: The trustees of the Global Foundation, members of the Orbis Scientiae 1998, dedicate this conference to Fredrick Reines of the University of California at Irvine. The late Professor Reines was a loyal and active member of these series of conferences on the frontiers of physics and cosmology since 1964. He also sewed as one of the trustees of the Global Foundation for the past three years. Professor Reines discovered the most elusive particle, the neutrino, in 1954. We are proud to say that we recognized the importance of this discovery by awarding him the J.

Neutrinos are one of the most abundant particles in the universe. Because they have very little interaction with matter, however, they are incredibly difficult to detect. Neutrinos are similar to the more familiar electron, with one crucial difference: neutrinos do not carry electric charge. Because neutrinos are electrically neutral, they are not affected by the electromagnetic forces which act on electrons. Three types of neutrinos are known. Each type or 'flavour' of neutrino is related to a charged particle (which gives the corresponding neutrino its name). Hence, the 'electron neutrino' is associated with the electron, and two other neutrinos are associated with heavier versions of the electron called the muon and the tau. The book presents citations from the literature for the last three years from the journal literature and the existent book literature. Access is provided by subject, author and title indexes.

Held December 16-19, 1999, these proceedings are derived from the Global Foundation Inc.'s Orbis Scientiae 1999. Topics include: cosmological parameters; unifying elementary particle physics; cosmology; superstrings; and black holes.

String theory is a model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects called strings, rather than the zero-dimensional point particles that form the basis for the standard model of particle physics. The phrase is often used as shorthand for Superstring theory, as well as related theories such as M-theory. By replacing the point-like particles with strings, an apparently consistent quantum theory of gravity emerges. Moreover, it may be possible to 'unify' the known natural forces (gravitational, electromagnetic, weak nuclear and strong nuclear) by describing them with the same set of equations. Studies of string theory have revealed that it predicts higher-dimensional objects called branes. String theory strongly suggests the existence of ten or eleven (in M-theory) space-time dimensions, as opposed to the usual four (three spatial and one temporal) used in relativity theory.

Recent experimental results with direct bearing on theories of cosmological dark matter/energy, as well as continuing work on neutrino masses and mixing, have invigorated both particle physics and cosmology, and should continue to do so well into the 21st century, thereby launching a beautiful new epoch for these fields. The expert contributions from this conference took stock of these developments. This volume contains papers by over 40 physicists that summarize and interpret the newest findings, and suggest future avenues to be explored. A number of new theoretical ideas are also presented, dealing with progress in understanding the dynamics and symmetries of strings and branes, renormalization in quantum field theory, possible Lorentz violation effects, and related problems. Ongoing and next generation gravitational and neutrino experiments are described, and the issues of unification are dealt with in the context of, and beyond, the standard model. Together, the contributions provide a useful blend of experimental and theoretical physics from many prominent physicists, including three Nobel Laureates. The volume also contains information of an historical nature, concerning the contributions to physics by Paul Frampton, on the occasion of his 60th year, and summarizing the career of Behram Kursunoglu (1922-2003).

th The 29 International Conference was held as the first one of the millennium at its Fort Lauderdale venue. These conferences began, with High Energy Physics being the main topic, by introducing gradually cosmology into its programs. These proceedings of the 2000 conference reflect the variety of topics and ideas discussed. Our future conferences will be designed somewhat akin to the early Coral Gables Conferences where we shall seek some convergence of ideas. For this reason various committees have been formed from among the participating physicists. The committees and their memberships are listed in these proceedings. We further decided for the first time to include some graduate student participants in our future meetings for which also a committee has already been established. The topics will demonstrate a more activist structure of the Coral Gables Conferences, for example the duality of the gravitational forces and expansion of the universe will be discussed from this point of view since it conveys a convergence to the ideas of quintessence versus the ordinary theory, which are considered as the cause of the expansion of the universe. We further wish to announce that the future conferences will assume a collective organization where several committees as listed in these proceedings will have their input into the conference. We have now introduced new topics and ideas, which referred especially to the attractive and repulsive nature of the gravitational force. These proceedings of the conference contain a variety of topics and ideas.

The first part of the conference explores two major environmental concerns that arise from fuel use: (1) the prospect that the globe will become warmer as a result of emissions of carbon dioxide, and (2) the effect upon health of the fine particles emitted as combustion products. The conference focused on the fact that there was lack of data direct enough to enable us to predict an entirely satisfactory result, and that makes policy options particularly difficult. With regard to (1) above, in the second half of the 20th century there were major increases in anthropogenic C02 emissions, and it is generally agreed that these were responsible for an increase in C02 concentrations. But the relationship between global temperature and CO2 concentrations remains murky. The principal problem is that water vapor is a more important greenhouse gas than C02 and that the concentrations of water vapor vary widely in time and space. The approach to this problem is probably, but not certainly, a positive feedback effect: as temperature increases so does the water vapor leading to further temperature increases. Scientists associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tend to believe the general features of the models. Other scientists are often less convinced.

“International Energy Forum 1999” was held in Washington D.C. during November 5-6, 1999 in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Crystal City. Once again the main topic was Nuclear Energy. Various papers presented contained pros and cons of Nuclear Energy for generating electricity. We were aiming to clarify the often discussed subject matter of the virtues of Nuclear Energy with regard to Global Warming as compared to using fossil fuels for the generation of electricity. The latter is also currently the only way to operate our means of transportation like automobiles, planes etc. Therefore emission into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases constitutes the main source of Global Warming, which is absent in the case of Nuclear Energy. These arguments are often put forward to promote the use of Nuclear Energy. However not all is well with the Nuclear Energy. There are the questions of the waste problem so far unsolved, safety of Nuclear Reactors is not guaranteed to the extent that they are inherently safe. If we aim to construct inherently safe reactors, then the economics of a Nuclear Reactor makes it unacceptable.

This conference proceedings explores issues surrounding the replacement of existing nuclear power plants when they reach the end of their useful life. Topics covered include: Nuclear competitiveness regarding politics and power plant evolution; social acceptance regarding communication, information, waste, and safety proliferation; and durability regarding resources and effects on the environment.