This book presents the general concepts of self-organized spatio-temporal ordering processes. These concepts are demonstrated via prototypical examples of recent advances in materials science. Particular emphasis is on nano scale soft matter in physics, chemistry, biology and biomedicine. The questions addressed embrace a broad spectrum of complex nonlinear phenomena, ranging from self-assembling near the thermodynamical equilibrium to dissipative structure formation far from equilibrium. Their mutual interplay gives rise to increasing degrees of hierarchical order. Analogues are pointed out, differences characterized and efforts are made to reveal common features in the mechanistic description of those phenomena.

The book covers the flux pinning mechanisms and properties and the electromagnetic phenomena caused by the flux pinning common for metallic, high-Tc and MgB2 superconductors. The condensation energy interaction known for normal precipitates or grain boundaries and the kinetic energy interaction proposed for artificial Nb pins in Nb-Ti, etc. are introduced for the pinning mechanism. Summation theories to derive the critical current density are discussed in detail. Irreversible magnetization and AC loss caused by the flux pinning are also discussed. The loss originally stems from the ohmic dissipation of normal electrons in the normal core driven by the electric field induced by the flux motion.

The readers will learn why the resultant loss is of hysteresis type in spite of such mechanism. The influence of the flux pinning on the vortex phase diagram in high Tc superconductors is discussed and the dependencies of the irreversibility field are also described on other quantities such as anisotropy of superconductor, specimen size and electric field strength. Recent developments of critical current properties in various high-Tc superconductors and MgB2 are introduced.

Other topics are: singularity in the case of transport current in a parallel magnetic field such as deviation from the Josephson relation, reversible flux motion inside pinning potentials which causes deviation from the critical state model prediction, the concept of the minimization of energy dissipation in the flux pinning phenomena which gives the basis for the critical state model, etc. Significant reduction in the AC loss in AC wires with very fine filaments originates from the reversible flux motion which is dominant in the two-dimensional pinning. The concept of minimum energy dissipation explains also the behavior of flux bundle size which determines the irreversibility line under the flux creep.

The new edition has been thoroughly updated, with new sections on the progress in enhancing the critical current density in high temperature superconductors by introduction of artificial pinning centers, the effect of packing density on the critical current density and irreversibility field in MgB2 and derivation of the force-balance equation from the minimization of the free energy including the pinning energy.

The characteristics of electrical contacts have long attracted the attention of researchers since these contacts are used in every electrical and electronic device. Earlier studies generally considered electrical contacts of large dimensions, having regions of current concentration with diameters substantially larger than the characteristic dimensions of the material: the interatomic distance, the mean free path for electrons, the coherence length in the superconducting state, etc. [110]. The development of microelectronics presented to scientists and engineers the task of studying the characteristics of electrical contacts with ultra-small dimensions. Characteristics of point contacts such as mechanical stability under continuous current loads, the magnitudes of electrical fluctuations, inherent sensitivity in radio devices and nonlinear characteristics in connection with electromagnetic radiation can not be understood and altered in the required way without knowledge of the physical processes occurring in contacts. Until recently it was thought that the electrical conductivity of contacts with direct conductance (without tunneling or semiconducting barriers) obeyed Ohm's law. Nonlinearities of the current-voltage characteristics were explained by joule heating of the metal in the region of the contact. However, studies of the current-voltage characteristics of metallic point contacts at low (liquid helium) temperatures [142] showed that heating effects were negligible in many cases and the nonlinear characteristics under these conditions were observed to take the form of the energy dependent probability of inelastic electron scattering, induced by various mechanisms.

This book highlights a systematic introduction to the basic theory of elastic wave propagation in complex media. The theory of elastic waves is widely used in fields such as geophysical exploration, seismic survey, medical ultrasound imaging, nondestructive testing of materials and structures, phononic crystals, metamaterials and structure health monitoring. To help readers develop a systematic grasp of the basic theory, and thus its applications, the book elaborates on the theory of elastic wave propagation in isotropic solid media, covering phenomena in infinite media, interfaces, layered structure with finite thickness, Rayleigh wave and Love wave propagating along the surface of semi-infinite solid and covering layer, and the guided waves and leaky waves in flat plates and in cylindrical rods. The propagation patterns and features of guided waves in cylindrical shells and spherical shells are also introduced. The author wrote the book based on a decade of teaching experience of a graduate course of the same name and two decades of research on the theory and applications. The book is a valuable reference for students, researchers and professionals who expect an understandable and comprehensive discussion of the theory, analytical methods and related research results.

The results in this dissertation set the ground to answer a fundamental question in data-driven polymer material science: "Why don't prepared composites show less fatigue than the pure plastics?" A simultaneous analysis of mechanical testing and small angle X-Ray scattering from the DESY source in Hamburg has been applied to approach this question, which is also central to the European research project "Nanotough", and the results are clearly presented in this book. The evolution of the materials structure is visualized and quantitatively analyzed from exhaustive sequences of scattering images. Three different classes of polymer composites are presented as typical and illustrative examples. The obtained results illustrate that the interactions of their components can cause unpredictable structural effects, ultimaltely leading to a weakening of the material, where a reinforcement was expected.

The advent of laser cooling of atoms led to the discovery of ultra-cold matter, with temperatures below liquid Helium, which displays a variety of new physical phenomena. "Physics of Ultra-Cold Matter" gives an overview of this recent area of science, with a discussion of its main results and a description of its theoretical concepts and methods.
Ultra-cold matter can be considered in three distinct phases: ultra-cold gas, Bose Einstein condensate, and Rydberg plasmas. This book gives an integrated view of this new area of science at the frontier between atomic physics, condensed matter, and plasma physics. It describes these three distinct phases while exploring the differences, as well as the sometimes unexpected similarities, of their respective theoretical methods.
This book is an informative guide for researchers, and the benefits are a result from an integrated view of a very broad area of research, which is limited in previous books about this subject. The main unifying tool explored in this book is the wave kinetic theory based on Wigner functions. Other theoretical approaches, eventually more familiar to the reader, are also given for extension and comparison. The book considers laser cooling techniques, atom-atom interactions, and focuses on the elementary excitations and collective oscillations in atomic clouds, Bose-Einstein condensates, and Rydberg plasmas. Linear and nonlinear processes are considered, including Landau damping, soliton excitation and vortices. Atomic interferometers and quantum coherence are also included.

This book develops the subject from the basic principles of quantum mechanics. The emphasis is on a single statement of the ideas underlying the various approximations that have to be used and care is taken to separate sound arguments from conjecture. This book is written for the student of theoretical physics who wants to work in the field of solids and for the experimenter with a knowledge of quantum theory who is not content to take other people's arguments for granted. The treatment covers the electron theory of metals as well as the dynamics of crystals, including the author's work on the thermal conductivity of crystals which has been previously published in English.

During the last decade we have been witness to several exciting achievements in electron crystallography. This includes structural and charge density studies on organic molecules complicated inorganic and metallic materials in the amorphous, nano-, meso- and quasi-crystalline state and also development of new software, tailor-made for the special needs of electron crystallography. Moreover, these developments have been accompanied by a now available new generation of computer controlled electron microscopes equipped with high-coherent field-emission sources, cryo-specimen holders, ultra-fast CCD cameras, imaging plates, energy filters and even correctors for electron optical distortions. Thus, a fast and semi-automatic data acquisition from small sample areas, similar to what we today know from imaging plates diffraction systems in X-ray crystallography, can be envisioned for the very near future. This progress clearly shows that the contribution of electron crystallography is quite unique, as it enables to reveal the intimate structure of samples with high accuracy but on much smaller samples than have ever been investigated by X-ray diffraction. As a tribute to these tremendous recent achievements, this NATO Advanced Study Institute was devoted to the novel approaches of electron crystallography for structure determination of nanosized materials.

The Surface Wettability Effect on Phase Change collects high level contributions from internationally recognised scientists in the field. It thoroughly explores surface wettability, with topics spanning from the physics of phase change, physics of nucleation, mesoscale modeling, analysis of phenomena such drop evaporation, boiling, local heat flux at triple line, Leidenfrost, dropwise condensation, heat transfer enhancement, freezing, icing. All the topics are treated by discussing experimental results, mathematical modeling and numerical simulations. In particular, the numerical methods look at direct numerical simulations in the framework of VOF simulations, phase-field simulations and molecular dynamics. An introduction to equilibrium and non-equilibrium thermodynamics of phase change, wetting phenomena, liquid interfaces, numerical simulation of wetting phenomena and phase change is offered for readers who are less familiar in the field. This book will be of interest to researchers, academics, engineers, and postgraduate students working in the area of thermofluids, thermal management, and surface technology.

In this thesis, the pseudogap and the precursor superconducting state, which are of great importance in clarifying the superconductivity mechanism in high-temperature cuprate superconductors, are investigated with a c-axis optical study in YBa2(Cu1-xZnx)3Oy. Testing was performed over a wide energy range with smaller temperature intervals for several Zn-substituted samples, as well as for several carrier-doping levels. A spectral weight (SW) analysis, in which the pseudogap behavior can be separated from the superconducting condensate with the SW transfer to the high-energy region, revealed that the pseudogap is not the precursor of the superconductivity (carriers moving to the high-energy region with pseudogap opening never contribute to the superconducting condensation). Moreover, the high-energy transfer continues even below Tc for the Zn-substituted samples (in which we weaken the superconductivity), which gives evidence to the coexistence of the pseudogap and the superconducting gap below Tc. On the other hand, the analysis of optical conductivity revealed that a precursor state to superconductivity can be defined at temperatures much higher than Tc. The superconducting carrier density (ns) was calculated for each temperature (above and below Tc) and the results confirmed the existence of ns at temperatures above Tc. The observed real superconducting condensate (ns) above Tc puts a serious constraint on the theory for high- Tc superconductivity. A theory based on an inhomogeneous superconducting state, in which a microscopically phase-separated state in a doped Mott insulator can be observed, is the most plausible candidate. This theory can explain the existence of ns and the observed temperature range for the precursor superconducting state. The results obtained show that the pseudogap coexists with superconductivity below Tc and is not the precursor of superconductivity. On the other hand, it is also possible to define a precursor superconducting state that is different than the pseudogap. The temperature range and the observed superconducting condensate in this state can be explained with the help of the inhomogeneous superconducting state.

Disorder is everywhere, inherently present in nature, and is commonly believed to be a synonymous with disturbance. As a consequence, the methodical and customary study of the dynamics of the electromagnetic field, both in the linear and nonlinear optical regimes, leans to rule out it from the treatment. On the other hand, nonlinearity enriches the physical disciplines and brings them closer to reality with respect to the linear approximation. Nonlinearity allows to stimulate a wide and rich ensemble of optical responses that beautifies the role of matter in the active processes with electromagnetic fields. Independently of each other, both of these mechanisms foster localization of light. What happens when light enlightens their synergistic interaction? When pushed together, light, disorder and nonlinearity make new and intriguing phenomena emerge. This text provides a comprehensive investigation of the role of disorder in the nonlinear optical propagation both in transparent media and lasers. Eventually, disorder promotes and enhances complex nonlinear dynamics opening new perspectives in applied research driven by the processes of localization of the electromagnetic field. The first experimental study of laser emission in granular media unveils how randomness magnifies and largely affect laser-matter interactions. Viola Folli in her research work touches and deepens the leading milestones of the new science named Complex Photonics.

At first glance, the articles in this book may appear to have nothing in common. They cover such seemingly disparate subjects as the properties of small metallic clusters and the behavior of superfluid He3, nuclear physics and organic materials, copper oxides and mag netic resonance. Why have they been brought together, particUlarly in our time of narrow spe cialization? In fact, the properties and effects described in this book touch upon one and the same fundamental phenomenon: pair correlation. Introduced in the theory of superconductivity by J. Bardeen, L. Cooper, and J. Schrieffer (BCS), this effect plays a key role in various Fermi systems. The book consists of several sections. The first chapter is concerned with conven tional and high Tc superconductors. The second chapter describes two relatively young fami lies of superconductors: organics and fullerenes. Chapter III addresses the superfluidity of 3 He * The discovery of this phenomenon in 1971 was a big event in physics and last year was acknowledged by a Nobel prize. This book contains the text of the Nobel lecture. Chapters IV and V are devoted to correlations in finite Fermi systems such as small metallic clusters, C 60 anions, and atomic nuclei. The book thus covers a broad range of problems, illuminating the close ties between various areas of physics.

This book provides a comprehensive overview on the recent significant advancements of conductive polymers and their composites in terms of conductive mechanism, fabrication strategies, important properties, and various promising applications. The corresponding knowledge was systematically compiled in the logical order and demonstrated as seven chapters. The special structure, influencing factors of the conductivity, the charge carrier transport model, the wettability and classical categories of the conductive polymers are narrated. Both conventional and novel strategies undertaken to fabricate the conductive polymers are introduced, as provided the overall master of the progress. In comparison with the bulk counterpart, nanostructured conductive polymers with different dimensions such as nanospheres, nano-networks, nanotubes and nanowire arrays are produced through distinct methods, thus presenting unique and distinct performance endowed by the nanometer scale. The combination of conductive polymers with other functional materials results in a number of the composites with improved properties by synergistic effect. The superior performance of conductive polymers and their composites greatly facilitates their development toward various important applications in the advanced and sophisticated fields such as biological utilization, energy storage and sensors. Due to their excellent biocompatibility, conductive polymers and their composites stand out to be useful in the biological field including tissue engineering, drug delivery and artificial muscle. To meet the urgent demand of the energy storage, conductive polymers and their composites play an important role in the devices including supercapacitors, solar cells and fuel cells. Finally, development of conductive polymers and their composites in the modern industry is greatly enhanced by their applications in smart sensors such as conductometric sensors, gravimetric sensors, optical sensors, chemical sensors and biosensors. This book has significant value for researchers, graduate students, and engineers carrying out the fundamental research or industrial production of conductive polymers and their composites.

Studies on the electronic properties of conjugated polymers and low molecular weight organic solids have been of increasing interest in recent years. This book is organized into two parts dedicated to these two classes of materials. For each part a general introductory review provides background knowledge of the language and of the main points required for understanding the book's contents. The reviews that follow provide a more complete understanding of the underlying physics of the materials through discussion of the interconnected topics. Theoretical concepts, models and methods are overviewed; this is used to support the explanation of the physical and chemical properties of these materials. The presentation of selected aspects of experimental research greatly contributes to the basic understanding of organic electronic materials.

This Thesis in biological physics has two components, describing the use of X-ray scattering techniques to study the structure of two different stacked lipid membrane systems. The first part focuses on the interaction between a short 11-mer peptide, Tat, which is part of the Tat protein in the HIV-1 virus. Although highly positively charged, the Tat protein has been shown to translocate through hydrocarbon lipid bilayers easily, without requiring the cell's energy, which is counter to its Born self-energy. In this work Tat's location in the headgroup region was demonstrated using a combined X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics approach. Bilayer thinning was observed as well as softening of different membrane mimics due to Tat. It was concluded that Tat's headgroup location, which increases the area/lipid, and its bilayer softening likely reduce the energy barrier for passive translocation. The second part is a rigorous investigation of an enigmatic phase in the phase diagram of the lipid dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC). The ripple phase has fascinated many researchers in condensed matter physics and physical chemistry as an example of periodically modulated phases, with many theoretical and simulation papers published. Despite systematic studies over the past three decades, molecular details of the structure were still lacking. By obtaining the highest resolution X-ray data so far, this work revealed the complex nature of the chain packing, as well as confirming that the major side is thicker than the minor side of the saw-tooth ripple structure. The new model shows that the chains in the major arm are tilted with respect to the bilayer normal and that the chains in the minor arm are slightly more disordered than all-trans gel-phase chains, i.e., the chains in the minor arm are more fluid-like. This work provides the highest resolution X-ray structure of the ripple phase to-date.

This book addresses novel electronic and thermoelectronic properties arising from topological spin textures as well as topologically non-trivial electronic structures. In particular, it focuses on a unique topological spin texture, i.e., spin hedgehog lattice, emerging in a chiral magnet and explore its novel properties which are distinct from the conventional skyrmion lattice, and discusses the possibility of realizing high-temperature quantum anomalous Hall effect through quantum confinement effect in topological semimetal. This book benefits students and researchers working in the field of condensed matter physics, through providing comprehensive understanding of the current status and the outlook in the field of topological magnets.

This book resulted from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Electron Kinetics and Applications of Glow Discharges," held in St. Petersburg, Russia, on May 19-23, 1997. Glow discharges have found widespread applications in many technological processes from the manufacture of semiconductors, to recent developments in na- technology, to the traditional fields of gas lasers, and discharge lamps. Consequently, the interest in the physics of glow discharges has experienced yet another resurgence of interest. While the non-equilibrium character of glow discharges is widely accepted, the opinion still prevails that the main features can be captured by fluid models, and that kinetic treatments are only required for the understanding of subtle details. The erroneousness of this belief is demonstrated by the failure of fluid models to describe many basic features of glow discharges such as, for instance, electrode phenomena, striations, and collisionless heating effects. An adequate description of glow discharges thus has to be of kinetic nature.

This volume represents the written account of the NATO Advanced Study Institute "Lower-Dimensional Systems and Molecular Electronics" held at Hotel Spetses, Spetses Island, Greece from 12 June to 23 June 1989. The goal of the Institute was to demonstrate the breadth of chemical and physical knowledge that has been acquired in the last 20 years in inorganic and organic crystals, polymers, and thin films, which exhibit phenomena of reduced dimensionality. The interest in these systems started in the late 1960's with lower-dimensional inorganic conductors, in the early 1970's with quasi-one-dimensional crystalline organic conductors. which by 1979 led to the first organic superconductors, and, in 1977, to the fITSt conducting polymers. The study of monolayer films (Langmuir-Blodgett films) had progressed since the 1930's, but reached a great upsurge in . the early 1980's. The pursuit of non-linear optical phenomena became increasingly popular in the early 1980's, as the attention turned from inorganic crystals to organic films and polymers. And in the last few years the term "moleculw' electronics" has gained ever-increasing acceptance, although it is used in several contexts. We now have organic superconductors with critical temperatures in excess of 10 K, conducting polymers that are soluble and processable, and used commercially; we have films of a few monolayers that have high in-plane electrical conductivity, and polymers that show great promise in photonics; we even have a few devices that function almost at the molecular level.

This book presents a comprehensive review of the most important methods used in the characterisation of piezoelectric, ferroelectric and pyroelectric materials. It covers techniques for the analysis of bulk materials and thick and thin film materials and devices.

There is a growing demand by industry to adapt and integrate piezoelectric materials into ever smaller devices and structures. Such applications development requires the joint development of reliable, robust, accurate and - most importantly - relevant and applicable measurement and characterisation methods and models. In the past few years there has been a rapid development of new techniques to model and measure the variety of properties that are deemed important for applications development engineers and scientists.

The book has been written by the leaders in the field and many chapters represent established measurement best practice, with a strong emphasis on application of the methods via worked examples and detailed experimental procedural descriptions. Each chapter contains numerous diagrams, images, and measurement data, all of which are fully referenced and indexed.

The book is intended to occupy space in the research or technical lab, and will be a valuable and practical resource for students, materials scientists, engineers, and lab technicians.

This book deals with the application of giant magneto-resistance (GMR) effects to electronic devices. It will appeal to engineers and graduate students in the fields of electronic devices and materials. The main subjects are magnetic sensors with high resolution and magnetic read heads with high sensitivity, required for hard-disk drives with recording densities of several gigabytes. Another important subject is novel magnetic random-access memories (MRAM) with non-volatile non-destructive and radiation-resistant characteristics. Other topics include future GMR devices based on bipolar spin transistors, spin field-effect transistors (FETs) and double-tunnel junctions.

As the characteristic dimensions of electronic devices continue to shrink, the ability to characterize their electronic properties at the nanometer scale has come to be of outstanding importance. In this sense, Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) is becoming an indispensable tool, playing a key role in nanoscience and nanotechnology. SPM is opening new opportunities to measure semiconductor electronic properties with unprecedented spatial resolution. SPM is being successfully applied for nanoscale characterization of ferroelectric thin films. In the area of functional molecular materials it is being used as a probe to contact molecular structures in order to characterize their electrical properties, as a manipulator to assemble nanoparticles and nanotubes into simple devices, and as a tool to pattern molecular nanostructures. This book provides in-depth information on new and emerging applications of SPM to the field of materials science, namely in the areas of characterisation, device application and nanofabrication of functional materials. Starting with the general properties of functional materials the authors present an updated overview of the fundamentals of Scanning Probe Techniques and the application of SPM techniques to the characterization of specified functional materials such as piezoelectric and ferroelectric and to the fabrication of some nano electronic devices. Its uniqueness is in the combination of the fundamental nanoscale research with the progress in fabrication of realistic nanodevices. By bringing together the contribution of leading researchers from the materials science and SPM communities, relevant information is conveyed that allows researchers to learn more about the actual developments in SPM applied to functional materials. This book will contribute to the continuous education and development in the field of nanotechnology.

The Theory of High-Tc Superconductivity (P.W. Anderson). Holes in the Quantum Antiferromagner (A. Auerbach, B.E. Larson). Slave Boson Approach to the One Dimensional tJ Model (T.K. Lee, Z. Wang). Universality of Behavior of Electrons on a Ring (F.V. Kusmartsev). Vector Mean Field Theory of Statistics (M.D. Johnson et al.). Superconducting and Magnetic Phase Boundaries in Doped Cu-Based Superconducting Oxides (Y. Gao et al.). Infrared Properties (Z. Schlesinger et al.). On Transport Properties of HTSC Oxides (M. Affronte, D. Pavuna). A Unified Approach to a Description of the Cuprate Superconductors (V.Z. Kresin et al.). ElectronHole Asymmetry (J.E. Hirsch). Properties and Superconductivity of Large Bipolarons (D. Emin). Topological Effects in Disordered Phase of Two-Dimensional Magnet (A.M. Tsvelik, M. Yu. Reizer). Current Status of Fermi Liquid Based Approaches to the Cuprates (K. Levin et al.). 55 additional articles. Index.

The present book covers the transport properties of superconductor/two dimensional electron gas Josephson junctions. Starting with the basic el ement, a superconductor/two dimensional electron gas interface, phase co herent Andreev reflection in hybrid Josephson junctions is introduced and further on, multiterminal structures are discussed. Special care is taken on explaining the underlying theoretical concepts related to the transport mech anisms. Employing a two dimensional electron gas in a semiconductor as a normal conductor opens up the possibility to observe effects not found in purely metallic junctions. One example is the light sensitivity of the semi conductor, which has a direct impact on the supercurrent in the Josephson junction. Many of the effects reported here rely on the fast technological progress in the epitaxial growth of III V semiconductor heterostructures. By using these layer systems, fascinating quantum effects have been found. Two examples out of many are the quantized conductance in a point contact and electron optics using ballistic electron beams. By combining heterostructures with su perconductors, many of the effects found in purely semiconductor systems can in a sense, be transferred to the superconducting state. A prominent example is the quantization of the critical current in a superconducting quantum point contact.

The essence of this book can be found in a line written by the ancient Roman Stoic Philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca: "Fortune is of sluggish growth, but ruin is rapid". This sentence summarizes the features of the phenomenon that we call "collapse," which is typically sudden and often unexpected, like the proverbial "house of cards." But why are such collapses so common, and what generates them? Several books have been published on the subject, including the well known "Collapse" by Jared Diamond (2005), "The collapse of complex societies" by Joseph Tainter (1998) and "The Tipping Point," by Malcom Gladwell (2000). Why The Seneca Effect? This book is an ambitious attempt to pull these various strands together by describing collapse from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint. The reader will discover how collapse is a collective phenomenon that occurs in what we call today "complex systems," with a special emphasis on system dynamics and the concept of "feedback." From this foundation, Bardi applies the theory to real-world systems, from the mechanics of fracture and the collapse of large structures to financial collapses, famines and population collapses, the fall of entire civilzations, and the most dreadful collapse we can imagine: that of the planetary ecosystem generated by overexploitation and climate change. The final objective of the book is to describe a conclusion that the ancient stoic philosophers had already discovered long ago, but that modern system science has rediscovered today. If you want to avoid collapse you need to embrace change, not fight it. Neither a book about doom and gloom nor a cornucopianist's dream, The Seneca Effect goes to the heart of the challenges that we are facing today, helping us to manage our future rather than be managed by it.

Based on courses given at the Ecole Polytechnique in France, this book covers not only the fundamental physics of semiconductors, but also discusses the operation of electronic and optical devices based on semiconductors. It is aimed at students with a good background in mathematics and physics, and is equally suited for graduate-level courses in condensed-matter physics as for self-study by engineers interested in a basic understanding of semiconductor devices.