We dedicate this volume to the memory of Raoul Bott, a great
mathematician of the 20th Century. He is well known for his amazing
work on the periodicity of the homotopy groups of Lie groups, and his
contributions to index theory, foliations, equivariant topology,
and gauge theory. In recent years he was also active in TQFT and
physics. Raoul has been a long time supporter of Gokova Geometry
Topology Conferences, which he attended twice; he wrote articles to
its proceedings, as well as giving organizational support. He had a
very warm and modest presence; interacting with him was not only a
source of mathematical stimulation, but at a personal level a great
joy for everyone. In these conferences he left a lasting impression,
especially in younger mathematicians who were in awe of him; when
answering their questions he gently embraced them by their shoulders
like a Turkish grandfather. Raoul this modest volume is to you with
all our heartfelt respect.
Thanks to TUBITAK's continuous support since 1992, Gökova Geometry
Topology Conferences have flourished greatly and has had a strong
impact. Also, this is the first year we receive support
from NSF. We thank NSF for their generous support. We also would like to thank International Press for printing and distributing the hardcopy version of these proceedings.