This book deals with three related areas having both fundamental and
technological interest. In the first part, the objective is to provide a
bird's- eye view on structure in polymeric solids. This is then
complemented by a chapter, directly technological in its emphasis,
dealing with the influence of processing on polymeric materials. In
spite of the technological interest, this leads to some of the current
fundamental theory. Part II, concerned with liquid crystals, starts with
a discussion of the physics of the various types of material, and
concludes with a treatment of optical applications. Again, aspects of
the theory are stressed though this part is basically phenomenological
in character. In Part III, an account is given first of the use of
chemical-bonding arguments in understanding the electronic structure of
low-dimensional solids, followed by a comprehensive treatment of the
influence of dimen- sionality on phase transitions. A brief summary of
dielectric screening in low-dimensional solids follows. Space-charge
layers are then treated, including semiconductor inversion layers.
Effects of limited dimensionality on superconductivity are also
emphasized. Part IV concludes the volume with two specialized topics:
electronic structure of biopolymers, and topological defects and
disordered systems. The Editors wish to acknowledge that this book had
its origins in the material presented at a course organized by the
International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste.
