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We consider few-photon ionization of atomic lithium by linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulses, and demonstrate that asymmetries of the electron angular distribution can occur for initially polarized (2p, m=+1) target atoms. The dependence of the photoelectron emission angle relative to the electric field direction is investigated at different laser intensities and wavelengths. The experimental spectra show excellent agreement with numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation. In the perturbative picture, the angular shift is traced back to interferences between partial waves with mean magnetic quantum number $\ne$0. This observation allows us to obtain quantum mechanical information on the electronic final state., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

A general form of the Borel-Cantelli Lemma and its connection with the proof of Khintchine's Theorem on Diophantine approximation and the more general Khintchine-Groshev theorem are discussed. The torus geometry in the planar case allows a relatively direct proof of the planar Groshev theorem for the set of $\psi$-approximable points in the plane. The construction and use of Haudsorff measure and dimension are explained and the notion of ubiquity, which is effective in estimating the lower bound of the Hausdorff dimension for quite general lim sup sets, is described. An application is made to obtain the Hausdorff dimension of the set of approximable points in the plane when $\psi(q)=q^{-v}$, $v>0$, corresponding to the planar Jarnik-Besicovich theorem.

Analogues of Khintchine's Theorem in simultaneous Diophantine approximation in the plane are proved with the classical height replaced by fairly general planar distance functions or equivalently star bodies. Khintchine's transference principle is discussed for distance functions and a direct proof for the multiplicative version is given. A transference principle is also established for a different distance function., Comment: 3 figures

The Hausdorff dimension of an exceptional set of periods for which convergence of a formal solution to an inhomogeneous wave equation in n spatial and one temporal dimension is problematic, is determined along with conditions which the periods must satisfy to ensure the solvability of the inhomogeneous wave equation by a smooth periodic function. To derive this information, a complete metric theory for a related fully nonlinear Diophantine approximation problem involving perfect squares is established., Comment: 20 pages

An asymptotic formula which holds almost everywhere is obtained for the number of solutions to the Diophantine inequalities |qA-p|<\psi(|q|), where A is an n by m matrix (m>1) over the field of formal Laurent series with coefficients from a finite field, and p and q are vectors of polynomials over the same finite field., Comment: Revised version

It is shown that for any translation invariant outer measure M, the M-measure of the intersection of any subset of R^n that is invariant under rational translations and which does not have full Lebesgue measure with an the closure of an open set of positive measure cannot be positive and finite. Analogues for $p$-adic fields and fields of formal power series over a finite field are established. The results are applied to some problems in metric Diophantine approximation., Comment: Revised version

We begin with a brief treatment of Hausdorff measure and Hausdorff dimension. We then explain some of the principal results in Diophantine approximation and the Hausdorff dimension of related sets, originating in the pioneering work of Vojtech Jarnik. We conclude with some applications of these results to the metrical structure of exceptional sets associated with some famous problems. It is not intended that all the recent developments be covered but they can be found in the references cited., Comment: 43 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "Fractal Geometry and Applications: A Jubilee of Benoit Mandelbrot", Proceedings of Symposia in Pure Mathematics, American Mathematical Society

The nature and origin of exceptional sets associated with the rotation number of circle maps, Kolmogorov-Arnol'd-Moser theory on the existence of invariant tori and the linearisation of complex diffeomorphisms are explained. The metrical properties of these exceptional sets are closely related to fundamental results in the metrical theory of Diophantine approximation. The counterpart of Diophantine approximation in hyperbolic space and a dynamical interpretation which led to the very general notion of `shrinking targets' are sketched and the recent use of flows in homogeneous spaces of lattices in the proof of the Baker-Sprindzuk conjecture is described briefly.