The International Topological Conference, which was held in Moscow in the summer of 1996, had gathered a brilliant assembly of mathematicians.

The Conference was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pavel Sergeevich Alexandroff, the founder of the world-famous Moscow topological school. The traditions of this school were sharply featured in the lectures delivered by mathematicians from Moscow State University, Steklov Mathematical Institute and other Russian scientific centers. The lectures presented by foreign guests of the Conference also comprised a great deal of interest.

The papers collected in this book are written by the participants of this Conference. They give a clear impression of the current state of Topology, as one of the most actively developing mathematical sciences. Nowadays topological methods often find applications not only in other branches of Mathematics, but also in various problems of Physics and other sciences. Investigations in such fields as the behavior of dynamical systems and their stability, wave phenomena in a continuous medium, quantum mechanics and field theory are especially fruitful when they are carried out from the topological viewpoint.

The present book will be of use both for professional mathematicians and for all investigators who apply topological methods in their research.