Liaison and Related Topics: Notes from the Torino Workshop/School

These are the expanded and detailed notes of the lectures given by the authors during the school and workshop entitled "Liaison and Related Topics," held at the Politecnico di Torino during the period October 1-5, 2001. In these notes we have attempted to cover liaison theory from first principles, through the main developments (especially in codimension two) and the standard applications, to the recent developments in Gorenstein liaison and a discussion of open problems. Given the extensiveness of the subject, it was not possible to go into great detail in every proof. Still, it is hoped that the material that we chose will be beneficial and illuminating for the participants, and for the reader.