M Shifman is Professor of Physics at the University of Minnesota. In 1997, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He has had the honour of receiving the 1999 Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics (together with A Vainshtein and V Zakharov), "for fundamental contributions to the understanding of nonperturbative QCD, nonleptonic weak decays, and the analytic properties of supersymmetric gauge theories." Professor Shifman's scientific interests are focused on quantum chromodynamics and the gauge theories in general, including supersymmetry in the strong coupling regime. He is one of the recognised leaders in the theory of hadrons, and particularly in the heavy quark theory. Other significant contributions include the invisible axion and developments in the quasi-exactly solvable spectral problem.

This is the fourth and last volume of the invaluable publication At the Frontier of Particle Physics: Handbook of QCD. In this volume the reader will find three important sections. The first is devoted to QCD-based phenomenology. It covers issues deeply woven into the fabric of particle physics: weak interactions of light quarks (J Bijnens) and heavy quarkonium physics (A Hoang). The second section is a report on recent advances in the understanding of confinement in three dimensions in the Georgi–Glashow model (I Kogan and A Kovner). The third section deals with lattice QCD (A Kronfeld) and loop equations (A Dubin and Yu Makeenko).

The five reviews in Volume 4, together with the 33 reviews in Volumes 1–3, constitute a full encyclopedia, covering all aspects of quantum chromodynamics as we know it today. The articles have been written by recognized experts in this field. Combining features of a handbook and a textbook, this is the most comprehensive source of information on the current status of QCD. It is intended for students as well as physicists — both theorists and experimentalists.

Contents:

• QCD and Weak Interactions of Light Quarks (J Bijnens)
• Heavy Quarkonium Dynamics (A H Hoang)
• Monopoles, Vortices and Strings: Confinement and Confinement in 2+1 Dimensions at Weak Coupling (I I Kogan & A Kovner)
• Uses of Effective Field Theory in Lattice QCD (A S Kronfeld)
• Loop Equations and Nonperturbative QCD (A Dubin & Y Makeenko)
• Appendices:
• Pair Production by a Linearly Polarized Quantum (B L Ioffe)
• A Method for Production of Polarized Neutrons (B L Ioffe)

"The historical articles are interesting and, in places, riveting ... a practitioner in any field-theory discipline, especially — a beginning practitioner, can spend rewarding hours delving into these descriptions. At the Frontier of Particle Physics will remain useful for a long time."