There is considerable interest, both fundamental and technological, in
the way atoms and molecules interact with solid surfaces. Thus the
description of heterogeneous catalysis and other surface reactions
requires a detailed understand- ing of molecule-surface interactions.
The primary aim of this volume is to provide fairly broad coverage of
atoms and molecules in interaction with a variety of solid surfaces at a
level suitable for graduate students and research workers in condensed
matter physics, chemical physics, and materials science. The book is
intended for experimental workers with interests in basic theory and
concepts and had its origins in a Spring College held at the
International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Miramare, Trieste.
Valuable background reading can be found in the graduate-Ievel
introduction to the physics of solid surfaces by ZangwilI(1) and in the
earlier works by Garcia- Moliner and F1ores(2) and Somorjai.(3) For
specifically molecule-surface interac- tions, additional background can
be found in Rhodin and Ertl(4) and March.(S) V. Bortolani N. H. March M.
P. Tosi References 1. A. Zangwill, Physics at Surfaces, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge (1988). 2. F. Garcia-Moliner and F. Flores,
Introduction to the Theory of Solid Surfaces, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge (1979). 3. G. A. Somorjai, Chemistry in Two Dimensions:
Surfaces, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York (1981). 4. T. N.
Rhodin and G. Erd, The Nature of the Surface Chemical Bond,
North-Holland, Amsterdam (1979). 5. N. H. March, Chemical Bonds outside
Metal Surfaces, Plenum Press, New York (1986).
