ИСТИНА

The XVIIIth International Workshop on High Energy Physics and Quantum Field Theory (QFTHEP'2004) continued a series of the QFTHEP workshops started in 1985 by the Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics of Moscow State University and conceived with the purpose of presenting topics of current interest and providing a stimulating environment for scientific discussion on new developments in particle physics, either theoretical and experimental. Traditionally the list of Workshop attendees included not only world known experts, but also a large number of active young scientists and students from Russia and other countries. The Workshop QFTHEP'2004 was organized by the D.V. Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics of Moscow State University, V.A. Fock Institute of Physics of the St.-Petersburg State University and B.P. Konstantinov Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was held from June 17 till June 23, 2004 in Peterhof (near St. Petersburg). QFTHEP'2004 was attended by more than 30 foreign scientists from 12 countries, about 90 scientists from various regions of Russia and other NIS. More than 20 plenary reports and about 80 talks at the parallel sessions were presented during the Workshop. The structure of the conference allowed the participants to combine stimulating discussions of new results in specific areas of the physics of fundamental interactions with fruitful exchange of knowledge (via general plenary talks and informal discussions) from the perspective of experimenters, theorists, phenomenologists and teachers. These Proceedings include about 60 contributed papers which cover a wide spectrum of topics: Collider Physics; Loop Corrections and Resummations Higgs bosons beyond the Standard Model Gravity and extra dimensions; Effective field theories; Selected questions of quantum field theory; Baryon and multibaryon states; Physics of nuclei. On behalf of the Organizing Committee we would like to thank all the speakers for their excellent talks, the International Advisory Committee for support, advice and contributions, the authors for submitting their manuscripts for publication. The Organizing Committee expresses its deepest gratitude to the institutions and foundations kindly having sponsored the Workshop. The provided support has allowed to host QFTHEP'2004 on the proper scientific level and to foster the contacts of the Russia and NIS attendees with the world scientific community. We are indebted to Mrs Valeria Keshek, Drs Pavel Baikov, Mikhail Iofa, Vasily Tarasov and other members of the Organizing Committee for their cooperation and efficient help with the preparation of the Proceedings for publication. M.N.Dubinin and V.I.Savrin, Editors