This document discusses process synchronization and the critical section problem in operating systems. It provides background on how concurrent processes may need to access shared resources and data in a controlled manner to maintain consistency. The classic critical section problem is defined, where multiple processes need exclusive access to a critical section of code that manipulates shared data. Semaphores are introduced as a solution, where wait and signal operations on a semaphore can be used to control access to critical sections and ensure only one process is in its critical section at a time.