The radio line emission of interstellar molecules routinely shows deviations from thermal equilibrium which culminate with strong maser radiation in some sources. Like its laboratory counterpart, the maser radiation is amplified through the effect of induced processes in a region where a population inversion exists and displays many of the basic features of laboratory lasers. This review is intended to explain the basic theory of astronomical masers and to survey the theoretical models which were developed for specific sources.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.54.1225