This series, Finite Systems and Multipartide Dynamics, is intended to
provide timely reviews of current research topics, written in a style
sufficient- ly pedagogic so as to allow a nonexpert to grasp the
underlying ideas as well as understand technical details. The series is
an outgrowth of our involvement with three interdisciplin- ary
activities, namely, those arising from the American Physical Society's
Topical Group on Few-Body Systems and Multipartide Dynamics, the series
of Gordon Research Conferences first known by the title "Few-Body
Problems in Chemistry and Physics" and later renamed "Dynamics of Simple
Systems in Chemistry and Physics," and the series of Sanibel Symposia,
sponsored in part by the University of Florida. The vitality of these
activities and the enthusiastic response to them by researchers in
various subfields of physics and chemistry have convinced us that there
is a place-even a need-for a series of timely reviews on topics of
interest not only to a narrow band of experts but also to a broader,
interdisciplinary readership. lt is our hope that the emphasis on
pedagogy will permit at least some of the books in the series to be
useful in graduate-level courses. Rather than use the adjective
"Few-Body" or "Simple" to modify the word "Systems" in the title, we
have chosen "Finite. " It better expresses the wide range of systems
with which the reviews of the series may deal.
