MODERN STUDIES OF BASIC QUANTUM CONCEPTS AND PHENOMENA

This is a short summary of the purpose and the contents of the Nobel S ymposium. It serves as an introduction to the original papers presente d by the participants. The topics are hem organized in a way that does not necessarily follow the order of presentation at the Symposium; th ey have been arranged in a manner that will hopefully facilitate the r eading by a more general audience. Short introductions and explanation s of basic concepts and nomenclature are given as well as hints toward s open questions in the respective areas. These are followed by short comments which indicate how each speaker's contribution fits into this context. We hope that this will inspire a large readership to share w ith the participants of the Symposium the excitement over the new deve lopments presented here.