From January 8-13,1990, distinguished physicists from many nations came
to Chile to share with each other and with Latin American students
exciting recent developments. The occasion was the third of a series of
meetings on Quantum Mechanics of Fundamental Systems which are held
every two years at the Centro de Estudios Cientificos de Santiago. This
volume grew out from that gathering. The meeting was possible thanks to
the generous support of the Tinker Foundation, the John D. and Catherine
T. MacArthur Foundation, the International Centre for Theoretical
Physics, the Ministere des AfIaires Etrangeres et Service Culturel et de
Cooperation Scientifique et Technique de France, the Third World Academy
of Sciences, and FONDECYT-Chile. The happy winds blowing over Chile at
the time enhanced the joy provided by the beauty of the physics
discussed. Claudio Teitelboim Jorge Zanelli Santiago, Chile vii Contents
Chapter 1 Fractional Statistics in Quantum Mechanics Daniel P. Arovas 1.
Introduction............................................. 1 2.
Charge-Flux Composites. . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .
. .. . . . . 4 3. Dilute Anyon Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4. Fractional Statistics in
the Quantized Hall Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5. Many-Body
Theory of the Anyon Gas... . .................. 16 6. Chern-Simons Field
Theory and Fractional Statistics ......... 20 Appendix: Many Anyons in a
Magnetic Field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 . .