Because of their apparent “simplicity” simple atoms present a great challenge and temptation to experts in various branches of physics from fundamental problems of particle physics to astrophysics, applied physics and metrology. This book is based on the presentations at the International Conference on Precision Physics of Simple Atomic Systems (PSAS 2002) whose primary target was to provide an effective exchange between physicists from different fields. From the early days of modern physics, studies of simple atoms involved basic ideas which have essentially contributed to the creation of the present day physical picture based on the Schr¨odinger and Dirac theories, quantum electrodynamics (QED) with the renormalization approach etc. Today,.
