Issues

A new analytic computational technique has been developed in a wide class of supersymmetric Yang‐Mills models. In physics the technique provides some of the first general exact results in four‐dimensional quantum field theory, including a quantitative description of confinement via magnetic monopole condensation. In mathematics the topological study of smooth four‐dimensional manifolds has been revolutionized.

Eight years after transition temperatures first exceeded that of liquid nitrogen, high‐T_c superconductors are being used in magnetometer sensors, prototype filters for cellular‐phone base stations and magnetic resonance applications. Further progress in thin‐film technology and electronics could lead to applications for high‐T_c materials such as nondestructive testing, medical and geophysical sensors, communications, and multichip modules.

Physics, anyone? Contemplating the analytical mechanics of tennis rackets may improve your game—but it's no substitute for practice.

Diffusing near‐infrared light provides new mechanisms for clinical diagnosis of tissue structure and function.

Under financial and social stress, the nation's research universities are redefining their objectives. The roundtable panel gives the universities the close scrutiny that physicists usually apply to their own science.