Experimental meson spectroscopy - 1983

The Seventh International Conference on Experimental Meson Spectroscopy (EMS-83) was held at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, during April 14-16, 1983. The approximately 150 physicists who participated represented most of the experimental groups and many theorists active in this field throughout the world. Meson spectroscopy gave birth to quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Although QCD has explained many qualitative and gross features of meson spectroscopy, detailed quantitative explanation is still lacking. In particular, our understanding of meson spectroscopy to date has been mainly confined to q anti q states. For example, a crucial missing link in QCD such as glueballs has only recently been critically probed experimentally. Thus continued high precision experimental work and theoretical calculations in soft QCD are essential for the establishment of QCD as the theory which explains strong interactions. At this conference, many very interesting and important recent results were presented and reviewed. Separate entries were made in the data base for the papers presented