Rabinowitz Floer homology is the semi-infinite dimensional Morse homology associated to the Rabinowitz action functional used in the pioneering work of Rabinowitz. Gradient flow lines are solutions of a vortex-like equation. In this survey article we describe the construction of Rabinowitz Floer homology and its applications to symplectic and contact topology, global Hamiltonian perturbations and the study of magnetic fields.
