The document discusses deadlocks in database systems. It defines deadlock as a waiting state where transactions are unable to progress because each is holding a resource needed by another, forming a cyclic dependency. It outlines the four conditions for deadlock - mutual exclusion, hold and wait, no preemption, and circular wait. Methods for handling deadlocks include avoidance, prevention, detection and recovery. Prevention techniques involve locking protocols or transaction rollback with timestamps. Detection uses a wait-for graph to identify cycles indicating deadlocks, and recovery requires selecting victims to rollback to break cycles.