Schlieren and shadowgraph techniques are basic and valuable tools in various scientific and engineering disciplines. They allow us to see the invisible: the optical inhomogeneities in transparent media like air, water, and glass that otherwise cause only ghostly distortions of our normal vision.These techniques are discussed briefly in many books and papers, but there is no up-to-date complete treatment of the subject before now. The book is intended as a practical guide for those who want to use these methods, as well as a resource for a broad range of disciplines where scientific visualization is important. The colorful 400-year history of these methods is covered in an extensive introductory chapter accessible to all readers.

This unique publication summarizes fifty years of Russian research on shock compression of condensed matter using chemical and nuclear explosions. This research has important applications in physics, materials science and engineering. The book places the importance of Russian experiments in a global context. It then describes the experimental devices used, summarizing the results of experiments on pure metals, metal alloys and compounds, minerals, rocks, organic solids and liquids. The book emphasizes theoretical aspects, experimental problems, and data analysis. Since large scale underground nuclear tests have stopped, it will be some time before similar pressures can be generated by alternative means. This book will be of interest to condensed matter physicists, materials scientists, earth scientists and astrophysicists.

This book presents an overview of the science of superconducting materials. It covers the fundamentals and theories of superconductivity. Subjects of special interest involving mechanisms of high temperature superconductors, tunneling, transport properties, magnetic properties, critical states, vortex dynamics, etc. are present in the book. It assists as a fundamental resource on the developed methodologies and techniques involved in the synthesis, processing, and characterization of superconducting materials. The book covers numerous classes of superconducting materials including fullerenes, borides, pnictides or iron-based chalcogen superconductors ides, alloys and cuprate oxides. Their crystal structures and properties are described. Thereafter, the book focuses on the progress of the applications of superconducting materials into superconducting magnets, fusion reactors, and accelerators and other superconducting magnets. The applications also cover recent progress in superconducting wires, power generators, powerful energy storage devices, sensitive magnetometers, RF and microwave filters, fast fault current limiters, fast digital circuits, transport vehicles, and medical applications.

Considered one of the major fields of photonics of the beginning 21st century, plasmonics offers the potential to confine and guide light below the diffraction limit and promises a new generation of highly miniaturized photonic devices. Offering both a comprehensive introduction to the field and an extensive overview of the current state of the art, Plasmonics - Fundamentals and Applications should be of great value to the newcomer and to the experienced researcher. The topics covered include plasmon waveguides, cavities for field-enhancement, nonlinear processes and the emerging field of active plasmonics studying interactions of surface plasmons with active media.

This book consists of chapters written by international experts on various aspects of single molecule toroics (SMTs).The chapters cover a broad range of relevant topics and highlight the latest advances performed in the field. An up-to-date overview of the emerging SMT architectures is presented while particular attention is given to not only the magnetism and relaxation effects involved but also to the respective applications in advanced electronics and memory devices. The role that lanthanides play -especially that of dysprosium- is discussed, while a thorough analysis using theoretical/ab initio calculations is provided. Since SMTs have grown out of single molecule magnetism (SMM), it is an expanding and topical subject and the present book will engender excitement and interest amongst chemists, physicists, theoreticians and materials scientists. The volume will be of great interest to researchers and graduates working on this topic and particularly those involved in lanthanide chemistry, magnetism and theory.

Filtration of aerosols is omnipresent in our daily lives, in areas as diverse as health, the protection of people and the environment, and air treatment inside buildings. However, the collection of particles within a filter media is not, contrary to popular belief, linked to a simple screen effect. The phenomena involved are much more complex and require the consideration of aerosol interactions, filter media and process conditions to select the best fiber filter for a given application. Aerosol Filtration, book for students, hygiene or process engineers, fibrous media manufacturers, designers, and filtration system suppliers or users addresses the filtration of aerosols in six chapters. These chapters cover physics and aerosol characterization, the fibrous media, and efficiency and filter clogging by solid or liquid aerosols, with special attention to the filtration of the nanoparticles.

Non-collinear spin textures have attracted significant attention due to their topological nature, emergent electromagnetic properties, and potential spintronic and magnonic device applications. This book explores the physical properties of distinct spin textures in D2d compounds. The main goals of the work are (a) discovering new spin textures in D2d Heusler compounds and studying their detailed properties to enrich the field of non-collinear magnetism (b) optimizing the nano-track geometry and generating isolated and single chains of nano-objects that will establish new hallmarks for technological applications (c) studying the stability of spin textures with magnetic fields and temperatures and finding a way to observe the striking behavior of spin textures near the specimen edges. The first few chapters provide a brief overview of spin textures such as Bloch and Neel skyrmions. In the experimental methods section, the author shows how to identify the single-crystalline grains of a polycrystalline sample, how to make single-crystalline thin specimens and nano-tracks, and then provides explicit descriptions of different imaging techniques performed on a transmission electron microscope. This part will be valuable for beginners wishing to conduct research in experimental nano-magnetism and transmission electron microscope imaging. The core results of the book are presented in four chapters, describing the discovery of several new and unanticipated spin textures, namely square-shaped antiskyrmions, elliptical Bloch skyrmions, fractional antiskyrmions, fractional Bloch skyrmions and elongated (anti)skyrmions in a single D2d Heusler compound. It is shown that these textures can be understood by a combination of dipole-dipole interactions and a chiral vector exchange that makes it possible to stabilize various spin textures even in the same compound. The D2d compounds are the first non-centrosymmetric systems shown to host several co-existing non-collinear spin textures.

Quantum systems with many degrees of freedom are inherently difficult to describe and simulate quantitatively. The space of possible states is, in general, exponentially large in the number of degrees of freedom such as the number of particles it contains. Standard digital high-performance computing is generally too weak to capture all the necessary details, such that alternative quantum simulation devices have been proposed as a solution. Artificial neural networks, with their high non-local connectivity between the neuron degrees of freedom, may soon gain importance in simulating static and dynamical behavior of quantum systems. Particularly promising candidates are neuromorphic realizations based on analog electronic circuits which are being developed to capture, e.g., the functioning of biologically relevant networks. In turn, such neuromorphic systems may be used to measure and control real quantum many-body systems online. This thesis lays an important foundation for the realization of quantum simulations by means of neuromorphic hardware, for using quantum physics as an input to classical neural nets and, in turn, for using network results to be fed back to quantum systems. The necessary foundations on both sides, quantum physics and artificial neural networks, are described, providing a valuable reference for researchers from these different communities who need to understand the foundations of both.

Volume 43 of Advances in Solid State Physics contains the written versions of most of the plenary and invited lectures of the Spring Meeting of the Condensed Matter Physics section of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft held from March 24 to 28, 2003 in Dresden, Germany. Many of the topical talks given at the numerous and very lively symposia are also included. They covered an extremely interesting selection of timely subjects. Thus the book truly reflects the status of the field of solid state physics in 2003, and explains its attractiveness, not only in Germany but also internationally.

This book presents a complementary perspective to Schroedinger theory of electrons in an electromagnetic field, one that does not appear in any text on quantum mechanics. The perspective, derived from Schroedinger theory, is that of the individual electron in the sea of electrons via its temporal and stationary-state equations of motion - the 'Quantal Newtonian' Second and First Laws. The Laws are in terms of 'classical' fields experienced by each electron, the sources of the fields being quantum-mechanical expectation values of Hermitian operators taken with respect to the wave function. Each electron experiences the external field, and internal fields representative of properties of the system, and a field descriptive of its response. The energies are obtained in terms of the fields. The 'Quantal Newtonian' Laws lead to physical insights, and new properties of the electronic system are revealed. New mathematical understandings of Schroedinger theory emerge which show the equation to be intrinsically self-consistent. Another complimentary perspective to Schroedinger theory is its manifestation as a local effective potential theory described via Quantal Density Functional theory. This description too is in terms of 'classical' fields and quantal sources. The theory provides a rigorous physical explanation of the mapping from the interacting system to the local potential theory equivalent. The complementary perspective to stationary ground state Schroedinger theory founded in the theorems of Hohenberg and Kohn, their extension to the presence of a magnetic field and to the temporal domain - Modern Density Functional Theory -- is also described. The new perspectives are elucidated by application to analytically solvable interacting systems. These solutions and other relevant wave function properties are derived.

This open access book describes the theory of transformation thermotics and its extended theories for the active control of macroscopic thermal phenomena of artificial systems, which is in sharp contrast to classical thermodynamics comprising the four thermodynamic laws for the passive description of macroscopic thermal phenomena of natural systems. This monograph consists of two parts, i.e., inside and outside metamaterials, and covers the basic concepts and mathematical methods, which are necessary to understand the thermal problems extensively investigated in physics, but also in other disciplines of engineering and materials. The analyses rely on models solved by analytical techniques accompanied by computer simulations and laboratory experiments. This monograph can not only be a bridge linking three first-class disciplines, i.e., physics, thermophysics, and materials science, but also contribute to interdisciplinary development.

This book provides a thorough overview of methods and approaches to the experimental characterization of superconductors at microwave frequencies, and includes a detailed description of the two main techniques, both based on the use of coplanar waveguide resonators, that the authors employed to investigate the properties of unconventional superconductors. In the second part several case studies are described, covering a large spectrum of materials and issues. Particular emphasis is given to recent hot topics concerning iron-based superconductors, both of fundamental nature and relevant for applications. The book is intended as a learning tool for researchers in the field, and serves as a guide providing inspiring examples of the use of coplanar resonator techniques to address key topics in the field of unconventional superconductivity.

Mechanical Properties of Single Molecules and Polymer Aggregates Rudiger Berger, Kurt Binder, Gregor Diezemann, Jurgen Gauss, Mark Helm, Katharina Landfester, Wolfgang Paul (Halle), Peter Virnau. Optical Properties of Individual Molecular Aggregates and Nano Particles Thomas Basche, Hans-Jurgen Butt, Gregor Diezemann, Jurgen Gauss, Klaus Mullen, Harald Paulsen, Carsten Sonnichsen, Rudolf Zentel. Structure Formation of Polymeric Building Blocks I: Self-assembly of Copolymers Kurt Binder, Holger Frey, Andreas Kilbinger (Univ. Fribourg), Ute Kolb, Michael Maskos (IMM Mainz), Wolfgang Paul (Univ. Halle), Hans Wolfgang Spiess. Structure Formation of Polymeric Building Blocks II: Complex Polymer Architectures Kurt Binder, Hans Jurgen Butt, Angelika Kuhnle, Klaus Mullen, Wolfgang Paul (Univ. Halle), Erwin Schmidt, Manfred Schmidt, Hans Wolfgang Spiess, Thomas Vilgis. Structure Formation of Polymeric Building Blocks III: Polymer Complexes in Biological Applications Kurt Kremer, Heiko Luhmann, Christine Peter, Friederike Schmid, Erwin Schmidt, Manfred Schmidt, Eva Sinner (Univ. of Natural Resources, Vienna), Tanja Weil (Univ. Ulm)."

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the growing field of nuclear solid state physics with synchrotron radiation, a technique that is finding a number of unique applications in fields such as magnetism, surface science, and lattice dynamics. Due to the remarkable brilliance of modern synchrotron radiation sources, the method is particularly suited for the study of thin films, nanoparticles and clusters. Its high isotopic specificity can be employed to measure magnetic or vibrational properties with very high spatial resolution. The book is written on an introductory level and is thus suited for newcomers to the field. Many examples are presented to illustrate the unique experimental possibilities.

The present volume 45 of Advances in Solid-State Physics contains the written versions of selected invited lectures from the spring meeting of the Arbeitskreis Festk rperphysik of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft in the World Year of Physics 2005, the Einstein Year, which was held from 4 - 11 March 2005 in Berlin, Germany. Many topical talks given at the numerous symposia are included. Most of these were organized collaboratively by several of the divisions of the Arbeitskreis.

The book presents, to some extent, the status of the field of solid-state physics in 2005 not only in Germany but also internationally. It is ''nanoscience'', namely the physics of quantum dots and wires, electrical transport, optical properties, spin transport in nanostructures, and magnetism on the nanoscale, that is of central interest to the physics community. Also, soft matter and biological systems are covered.

This book presents an overview of the most recent advances in nonlinear science. It provides a unified view of nonlinear properties in many different systems and highlights many new developments. While volume 1 concentrates on mathematical theory and computational techniques and challenges, which are essential for the study of nonlinear science, this second volume deals with nonlinear excitations in several fields. These excitations can be localized and transport energy and matter in the form of breathers, solitons, kinks or quodons with very different characteristics, which are discussed in the book. They can also transport electric charge, in which case they are known as polarobreathers or solectrons. Nonlinear excitations can influence function and structure in biology, as for example, protein folding. In crystals and other condensed matter, they can modify transport properties, reaction kinetics and interact with defects. There are also engineering applications in electric lattices, Josephson junction arrays, waveguide arrays, photonic crystals and optical fibers. Nonlinear excitations are inherent to Bose-Einstein Condensates, constituting an excellent benchmark for testing their properties and providing a pathway for future discoveries in fundamental physics.

Digital photography, MP3, digital video, etc. make extensive use of NAND-based Flash cards as storage media. To realize how much NAND Flash memories pervade every aspect of our life, just imagine how our recent habits would change if the NAND memories suddenly disappeared. To take a picture it would be necessary to find a film (as well as a traditional camera...), disks or even magnetic tapes would be used to record a video or to listen a song, and a cellular phone would return to be a simple mean of communication rather than a multimedia console. The development of NAND Flash memories will not be set down on the mere evolution of personal entertainment systems since a new killer application can trigger a further success: the replacement of Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) with Solid State Drives (SSDs). SSD is made up by a microcontroller and several NANDs. As NAND is the technology driver for IC circuits, Flash designers and technologists have to deal with a lot of challenges. Therefore, SSD (system) developers must understand Flash technology in order to exploit its benefits and countermeasure its weaknesses. Inside NAND Flash Memories is a comprehensive guide of the NAND world: from circuits design (analog and digital) to Flash reliability (including radiation effects), from testing issues to high-performance (DDR) interface, from error correction codes to NAND applications like Flash cards and SSDs.

Introduction and Overview (R.Z. Bachrach). Advances from a Technique Perspective: Absorption: Surface Absorption Near Edge Structure: XANES (A. Bianconi, A. Marcelli). Surface EXAFS (J.E. Rowe). Photoemission Spectroscopy: Angle Resolved Photoemission (W. Eberhardt). Surface Core Level Spectroscopy (A. Flodstrom et al.). Resonant Photoemission (J.W. Allen). Ion Spectroscopy: Photon Stimulated Desorption (V. Rehn, R.A. Rosenberg). Diffraction and Scattering: Grazing Incidence XRay Scattering (P.H. Fouss et al.). Photo and Auger Electron Diffraction (C.S. Fadley). Index.

This book provides an introduction to nonequilibrium statistical physics via lattice models. Beginning with an introduction to the basic driven lattice gas, the early chapters discuss the relevance of this lattice model to certain natural phenomena, examining simulation results in detail. Later chapters discuss absorbing-state transitions, and examine a variety of systems subject to dynamic disorder. The book discusses the effects of multiparticle rules, nonunique absorbing-states and conservation laws, as well as the use of methods such as mean-field theory, Monte Carlo simulation and the concept of universality. It also includes detailed references and examples using simple respresentations of nature to describe real systems.

This book covers polarization, alignment, and orientation effects in atomic collisions induced by electron, heavy particle, or photon impact. The first part of the book presents introductory chapters on light and particle polarization, experimental and computational methods, and the density matrix and state multipole formalism. Examples and exercises are included. The second part of the book deals with case studies of electron impact and heavy particle excitation, electron transfer, impact ionization, and autoionization. A separate chapter on photo-induced processes by new-generation light sources has been added. The last chapter discusses related topics and applications. Part III includes examples of charge clouds and introductory summaries of selected seminal papers of tutorial value from the early history of the field (1925 - 1975). The book is a significant update to the previous (first) edition, particularly in experimental and computational methods, the inclusion of key results obtained during the past 15 years, and the extended coverage of photo-induced processes. It is intended as an introductory text for both experimental and theoretical students and researchers. It can be used as a textbook for graduate courses, as a primary source for special topics and seminar courses, and as a standard reference. The book is accompanied by electronically available copies of the full text of the key papers in Part III, as well as animations of theoretically predicted electron charge clouds and currents for some of the cases discussed in Part II.

The original Handbook of Surface and Interface Analysis: Methods for Problem-Solving was based on the authors? firm belief that characterization and analysis of surfaces should be conducted in the context of problem solving and not be based on the capabilities of any individual technique. Now, a decade later, trends in science and technology appear to have validated their assertions.

Major instrumental assets are generally funded and maintained as central facilities to help potential users make informed decisions about their appropriate use in solving analytical problem(s). Building on the popular first edition, this long-awaited second edition was motivated by the increasingly common industry view that it is more cost-effective to contract out analytical services than to maintain in-house facilities. Guided by that trend, this book focuses on developing strategic thinking for those who decide which facilities to access and where to subcontract analytical work. It covers most of the major tactical issues that are relevant at the location in which data are being produced.

New Information in this Second Edition Includes:

• Electron-optical imaging techniques and associated analytical methods
• Techniques based on synchrotron sources
• Convenient and versatile scanning probe group methods
• Scanning tunneling microscopy, biocompatible materials, and nano-structured materials

Assessing benefits and limitations of different methodologies, this volume provides the essential physical basis and common modes of operation for groups of techniques. Exploring methods for characterization and analysis of particular types of materials and/or their relevant applications?the text synergizes traditional and novel ideas to help readers develop a versatile and rational approach to surface and interface analysis.

Advances in Polymer Science enjoys a longstanding tradition and good reputation in its community. Each volume is dedicated to a current topic and each review critically surveys one aspect of that topic, to place it within the context of the volume. The volumes typically summarize the significant developments of the last 5 to 10 years and discuss them critically, presenting selected examples, explaining and illustrating the important principles and bringing together many important references of primary literature. On that basis, future research directions in the area can be discussed. Advances in Polymer Science volumes thus are important references for every polymer scientist as well as for other scientists interested in polymer science - as an introduction to a neighboring field, or as a compilation of detailed information for the specialist.

This thesis presents the first systematic electron transport investigation of rhombohedral graphite (RG) films and thus lies at the interface of graphene physics, vdW heterostructure devices and topological matter. Electron transport investigation into the rhombohedral phase of graphite was limited to a few layers of graphene due to the competing hexagonal phase being more abundant. This work reports that in exfoliated natural graphite films, rhombohedral domains of up to 50 layers can be found. In the low energy limit, these domains behave as an N-layer generalisation of graphene. Moreover, being a potential alternative to twisted bilayer graphene systems, RG films show a spontaneous metal-insulator transition, with characteristic symmetry properties that could be described by mean-field theory where superconductivity is also predicted in these low energy bands. A nodal-line semimetal in the bulk limit, RG thin films are a 3D generalisation of the simplest topological insulator model: the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain. Similar to the more usual topological insulators, RG films exhibit parallel conduction of bulk states, which undergo three-dimensional quantum transport that reflects bulk topology.

The concepts of the Jahn-Teller effect and vibronic coupling are being applied to more and more systems in both chemistry and physics. Aspects of structural chemistry such as the distortion of the nuclear framework to a lower-symmetry conformation have received an increasing attention, as well as the dynamics on the coupled potential energy surfaces.
The Jahn-Teller intersections are now recognized as prototype cases of conical intersections where the nuclear motion is known to be inherently nonadiabatic in nature and interchanges freely between the different potential energy surfaces. In the condensed phase especially, the significance of the Jahn-Teller effect has been increasingly appreciated, following the discovery of superconductivity in the fullerides and of very large ("colossal") magnetoresistance in the manganite perovskites. Indeed, these materials are particularly challenging since the Jahn-Teller interaction competes with electronic correlation effects.
"Vibronic Interactions and the Jahn-Teller Effect: Theory and Applications" provides an in-depth discussion of the Jahn-Teller effect and vibronic interactions as reflected by the contributions presented at the XX International Conference on the Jahn-Teller effect, Fribourg, Switzerland, 2010. The following topics have been treated in a clear and concise way:
Complex topologies of Jahn-Teller effect and conical intersections
Multi-state vibronic interactions on strongly coupled potential energy surfaces
Interplay of vibronic and spin-orbit coupling
Strain in Jahn-Teller systems and cooperative Jahn-Teller effect
Orbital ordering and its relation to ferromagnetism, ferroelectricity and molecular magnets
The Jahn-Teller effect in icosahedral systems
The Jahn-Teller effect and high temperature superconductivity
This book is of interest to a wide audience including academic and industrial theoretical and experimental physicists, chemists, spectroscopists, and crystallographers.

Core level spectroscopy has become a powerful tool in the study of electronic states in solids. From fundamental aspects to the most recent developments, Core Level Spectroscopy of Solids presents the theoretical calculations, experimental data, and underlying physics of x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), and resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES). Starting with the basic aspects of core level spectroscopy, the book explains the many-body effects in XPS and XAS as well as several theories. After forming this foundation, the authors explore more advanced features of XPS, XAS, XMCD, and RXES. Topics discussed include hard XPS, resonant photoemission, spin polarization, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). The authors also use the charge transfer multiplet theory to interpret core level spectroscopy for transition metal and rare earth metal systems. Pioneers in the theoretical and experimental developments of this field, Frank de Groot and Akio Kotani provide an invaluable treatise on the numerous aspects of core level spectroscopy that involve solids.