The articles in this book deal with energetic hadron
processes near astrophysical compact objects, including
compact binary systems and active galactic nuclei. A variety
of observational results suggest that relativistic hadrons
can be produced in the vicinity of these objects. Amongthe
topics treated in detail are the question whether a large
fraction of the energy produced by active galactic nuclei is
channeled into a population of relativistic protons and the
problem of the origin of very high and ultra-high energy
gamma rays from galactic compact sources.