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Starting from first principles, this book introduces the fundamental concepts and methods of dissipative quantum mechanics and explores related phenomena in condensed matter systems. Major experimental achievements in cooperation with theoretical advances have brightened the field and brought it to the attention of the general community in natural sciences. Nowadays, working knowledge of dissipative quantum mechanics is an essential tool for many physicists. This book — originally published in 1990 and republished in 1999 and and 2008 as enlarged second and third editions — delves significantly deeper than ever before into the fundamental concepts, methods and applications of quantum dissipative systems. This fourth edition provides a self-contained and updated account of the quantum mechanics of open systems and offers important new material including the most recent developments. The subject matter has been expanded by about fifteen percent. Many chapters have been completely rewritten to better cater to both the needs of newcomers to the field and the requests of the advanced readership. Two chapters have been added that account for recent progress in the field. This book should be accessible to all graduate students in physics. Researchers will find this a rich and stimulating source. Table of Contents Introduction General Theory of Open Quantum Systems: Diverse Limited Approaches: A Brief Survey System-Plus-Reservoir Models Imaginary-Time Approach and Equilibrium Dynamics Real-Time Path Integrals and Nonequilibrium Dynamics Miscellaneous Applications: Damped Linear Quantum Mechanical Oscillator Quantum Brownian Free Motion The Thermodynamic Variational Approach Suppression of Quantum Coherence Quantum Statistical Decay: Introduction Classical Rate Theory: A Brief Overview Quantum Rate Theory: Basic Methods Multidimensional Quantum Rate Theory Crossover From Thermal to Quantum Decay Thermally Activated Decay The Crossover Region Dissipative Quantum Tunneling The Dissipative Two-State System: Introduction Thermodynamics Electron Transfer and Incoherent Tunneling Two-State Dynamics: Basics and Methods Two-State Dynamics: Sundry Topics The Driven Two-State System The Dissipative Multi-State System: Quantum Brownian Particle in a Washboard Potential Multi-State Dynamics Duality Symmetry Twisted Partition Function and Nonlinear Mobility Charge Transport in Quantum Impurity Systems Quantum Transport for Sub- and Super-Ohmic Friction