  A survey of the stability of matter problem is given, starting with the
stability of the hydrogen atom. The stablity of bulk matter with Coulomb
potentials, with or without relativistic mechanics, and with or without
magnetic fields is discussed. The final section discusses the stability of
matter in a relativistic model with the Dirac operator as kinetic energy (but
restricted to the positive subspace) and with the quantized electromagnetic
field in the Coulomb gauge.
