M. Combescot is a former student of the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, France (Mathematics and Physics majors). In 1973, she obtained her Ph.D. in condensed matter many-body theory from the University of Paris, France (adviser Prof. Ph. Nozières). After two years of postdoc at Cornell University, USA, she returned as a research member at CNRS in Paris, permanently. Yet, she likes teaching very much --- she has been first at the "Aggregation de Physique", a competitive exam for high school teachers. For many years, she taught undergraduate courses at universities and engineering schools in Paris. Over the last two decades, she also gave various courses at the graduate level, in Paris and in many other places in the world. This book is based on one of these lectures.

Dr. Shiue-Yuan Shiau obtained his B.S. in 1998 and M.S. in 2002 from National Taiwan University. In 2007, he received his Ph.D in condensed matter physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. After postdocs in INAC/SPSM, CEA at Grenoble, France and in RCAS, Academia Sinica at Taipei, Taiwan, he is currently assistant research fellow at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan.