Librería Samer Atenea
Librería Aciertas (Toledo)
Kálamo Books
Librería Perelló (Valencia)
Librería Elías (Asturias)
Donde los libros
Librería Kolima (Madrid)
Librería Proteo (Málaga)
TheideafortheselectureseriesaroseataWorkshoponsolarphysicswhichwas heldattheInterUniversityCentreforAstronomyandAstrophysics(IUCAA), Pune/IndiainDecember2000. ThisWorkshopaimedtopresentacompreh- siveandup-to-dateoverviewofsolarphysicsforinterestedstudentsandfaculty inotherbranchesofastrophysics. Itwasintendedtoshowthatthis?eld,c- centratingonourcloseststar,isavitalandexciting?eldofresearch. Forthis purposeanumberofcomprehensivereviewswereorganisedwhichassumedthat theaudiencewouldhaveonlyabasicphysicsbackgroundbuthadnoprior knowledgeaboutsolarphysics. Thesetoflecturescoveredtopicsrangingfrom thesolarcoretotheconvectionzone,thephotosphere,chromosphere,andcorona andextendingtothesolarwindintheinterplanetarymedium DuringandaftertheWorkshoptherewasmuchenthusiasmforthisform ofpresentationanditwasfeltthattheselectures,augmentedbyincludingthe latestresearch?ndingsinthe?eld,wouldbebene?cialtoamuchlargeraudience. Thustheplanforthisbookoriginatedwhichcouldthenberealisedthanksto thepublishers,Springer-Verlag. Thereare9articlesbasedonthelecturesgivenattheWorkshop. Thearticle byChitreon'OverviewofSolarPhysics'givesanintroductiontothewhole varietyofphenomenaofsolarphysics,theproblemsandtheirsolutionsand salientresults. Thearticleon'InstrumentationandObservationaltechniques relatedtoSolarPhysics'byBhatnagardescribesindetailtheprinciplesof- larinstrumentationnormallyusedtotakesimplewhitelight,monochromatic andspectroscopicobservations. Practicalmethodstomeasureimportantbasic parameters,likearea,positionandtheclassi?cationofsunspotsaredescribed indetail. Antia’sarticleon'SolarInteriorandSeismology'describesthesolar interior,thetechniqueofhelioseismologyandhowthisnewtechniqueallowsa determinationoftheinternalstructureanddynamicsoftheSunandconstrains theoriesofstellarstructure,evolutionandangularmomentumtransport. - bastha’sarticleon'TheActiveandExplosiveSun'givesanoverviewofhighly time-dependentphenomenainthephotosphere,chromosphereandcoronaofthe Sunandprovidessometheoreticalmodelsofthesolar?ares. Hasan’sarticle on'MagneticFluxTubesandActivityontheSun'discussesthegeneration, storageandemergenceofmagnetic?eldsintheformofsmall-scale?uxtubes andexaminestheirroleinheatingofthechromosphere. Ventakrishan’sar- cleon'SolarMagneticFields'givesatheoreticaloverviewofthegeneration VI Preface ofmagnetic?eldsbythedynamomechanism,thegeneralmagnetic?eldtop- ogyandhowthemagnetic?eldsaremeasured. Ulmschneider’scontributionon 'ThePhysicsofChromospheresandCoronae'discusseswhyallstarslikethe Sunhavehotouterchromosphericandcoronallayers. Itidenti?estheheating mechanismsanddynamicalprocesseswhichtakeplacebothinthepresenceand absenceofmagnetic?elds. ThearticlebyDwivedion'TheSolarCorona'gives ageneraloverviewofthesolarcorona,howitisobservedandwhatthephy- calprocessesleadingtoitsformationare. FinallyManoharan’scontributionon 'TheSolarWind'describesthegenerationandmeasurementofthesolarwind derivedfrominsituobservationsbyspacecraftandinterplanetaryscintillation studies. Wehopethatbyreadingtheselectures,interestedpeople,amateurs,graduate andpostgraduatestudentswillbemotivatedtotakeupsolarphysicsasanarea ofresearch,andshareourexcitementaboutthewondersofourneareststar- theSun. WearethankfultoT. PadmanabhanandtheInterUniversityCentrefor AstronomyandAstrophysics,PunefororganisingandhostingthisWorkshop onSolarPhysics. Mumbai,Udaipur,Heidelberg H. M. Antia February2003 A. Bhatnagar P. Ulmschneider ListofContributors AshokAmbastha S. S. Hasan Udaipur Solar Observatory Indian Institute of Astrophysics Physica