Fundamentals of condensed matter and crystalline physics. An introduction for students of physics and materials science. (Q2904678)

The textbook presents an undergraduate course, including issues of conventional solid state physics and condensed matter physics. The book is divided into eighteen chapters and four parts devoted to structure, scattering, dynamics and transitions. Chapter 1 examines the structure of crystalline matter in which particles are arranged in a repeating pattern (space lattice) that extends over very long distances, in particular in different Bravais lattices (cubic and hexagonal). Chapter 2 presents structural features of amorphous materials (disordered matters), which can only be defined in a statistical sense by introducing an ensemble-averaged, pair-distribution function. As examples of the amorphous structures the random close pack and the continuous random network systems are considered. Chapter 3 studies the nature of the forces that form between particles and promote the formation of a condensed phase of matter. Five major bounds (van der Waals, covalent, ionic, metallic and hydrogen ones) are described and the overall cohesive energy in a crystal is calculated. Chapter 4 is devoted to various magnetic structures ordered due to spins of magnetic particles. Important phenomena of diamagnetism and paramegnetism are discussed and it is explained, how pair-wise bonding between particles eventually leads to phase transition in which order appears in the form of correlated regions arising from a disordered host. Chapter 5 presents a general formalism based on an example of light waves, composed of oscillating electromagnetic fields, to describe the scattering of waves by a large system of particles showing that the scattering pattern relates directly to the structural arrangement of the particles. Chapter 6 considers the scattering of waves by an ordered crystal and establishes the foundations of conventional crystallography based on Bragg diffraction from crystal planes defined by Miller indices. It is shown, how an important lattice, known as the reciprocal lattice, forms in the wave vector space. Chapter 7 explores the relationship between the structure factor of an amorphous medium and the corresponding short-range order described by the pair distribution function in detail. Moreover, it is shown, how visible light is scattered by amorphous media. In this case, the pattern of density fluctuations is described by the van Hove correlation function related to the structure factor by a Fourier transform. Chapter 8 is devoted to liquid crystals and microemulsions, whose structures undergo a series of transitions with symmetries that are intermediate between that of crystals and liquids. In this case the more ordered structures arise as a result of only weak, inter-particle forces. Chapter 9 develops the dynamic structure factor as a direct extension of the static structure factor and applies it to examine the dynamics of liquid-like structures, in particular macromolecules in a solvent and polymer liquids. Chapter 10 examines the elastic nature of a crystal and replaces the notion of atoms as independent harmonic oscillators with the concept of phonons as quantized pieces of elastic waves propagating within a crystal. A reality of these phonons is confirmed in Chapter 11 by examining two thermal properties of a crystal: its specific heat and thermal conductivity. A sharp division in temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity at low and high temperatures is explained by nature of phonon-phonon collisions, which are only successful in retarding heat flow at high temperatures, where Umklapp processes dominate. Chapters 12 and 13 are devoted to the inherent motions of conduction electrons in metallic crystals. First, a simplistic model of the mobile electrons as quantum mechanical waves trapped within an infinite square well potential is presented. In this free electron model, the electron is only trapped by the confines of the crystal itself and it provides a simple interpretation of such electron emission phenomena as the photoelectric effect. Then, the nearly free electron model extends the previous model introducing a weak periodic potential. Due to continuum energies in the free electron model become to be separated into bands of allowed electron energy, separated by disallowed energy gaps ensuring understanding of material division into conductors, insulators and semiconductors. In Chapter 14, the author contrasts all considered microscopic motions with the comparatively macroscopic material strains that result when an external force is applied. It is shown, that the response of a material to such bulk forces shares much in common with those microscopic dynamics present in the absence of the force. Chapter 15 regards the fundamental nature of phase transitions. The competition between inter-particle interactions and thermodynamic forces is examined by determining the conditions for phase transitions to occur and the special contribution of thermodynamic fluctuations near so-called ``critical'' points of phase diagrams, where certain thermodynamic quantities tend to diverge is emphasized. Chapter 16 studies the percolation process to demonstrate, how percolation clusters grow in a self-similar power law manner near the percolation threshold. Moreover, the finite-sized scaling and renormalization techniques are introduced. Both of these techniques use the inherent self-similarity to gain insight into the critical exponents characterizing a second-order phase transition. The theoretical approaches for phase transitions near a critical point are developed in Ch. 17. Here, a fluctuation-free assumption known as mean field theory and renormalization techniques that exploit the self-similarity of the fluctuations are considered in particular. Finally, Ch. 18 examines the phase transition of a material to a state of virtually infinite conductivity (superconductivity). Here, the transition involves the combination of two electrons into a boson-like, superconducting charge carrier known as Cooper pair and it is again stated a second-order transition consistent with mean-field theory. In total, this textbook, written by living and clear language, combines contemporary physical essence with sufficiently rigorous mathematics. The text is accompanied by numerous examples and exercises that make this book very useful for students and their teachers.