World-leading researchers, including Nobel Laureates and rising young stars, examine some of the most important and fundamental questions at the forefronts of modern science, philosophy, and theology, taking into account recent discoveries from a range of fields. This fascinating book is ideal for anyone seeking answers to deep questions about the universe and human life. The remarkable career of Charles H. Townes, inventor of the maser and laser for which he shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics, has spanned seven decades. His interests have ranged from the origin of the Universe to the structure of molecules, always focusing on the nature of human life. Honouring his work, this book explores the most basic questions of science, philosophy, and the nature of existence: How did the Universe begin? Why do the fundamental constants of nature have the values they do? What is human consciousness, and do we have free will?

Based on an established course and covering the fundamentals, central areas and contemporary topics of this diverse field, Fundamentals of Condensed Matter Physics is a much-needed textbook for graduate students. The book begins with an introduction to the modern conceptual models of a solid from the points of view of interacting atoms and elementary excitations. It then provides students with a thorough grounding in electronic structure and many-body interactions as a starting point to understand many properties of condensed matter systems - electronic, structural, vibrational, thermal, optical, transport, magnetic and superconducting - and methods to calculate them. Taking readers through the concepts and techniques, the text gives both theoretically and experimentally inclined students the knowledge needed for research and teaching careers in this field. It features 246 illustrations, 9 tables and 100 homework problems, as well as numerous worked examples, for students to test their understanding. Solutions to the problems for instructors are available at www.cambridge.org/cohenlouie.

World-leading researchers, including Nobel Laureates and rising young stars, examine some of the most important and fundamental questions at the forefronts of modern science, philosophy, and theology, taking into account recent discoveries from a range of fields. This fascinating book is ideal for anyone seeking answers to deep questions about the universe and human life. The remarkable career of Charles H. Townes, inventor of the maser and laser for which he shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics, has spanned seven decades. His interests have ranged from the origin of the Universe to the structure of molecules, always focusing on the nature of human life. Honouring his work, this book explores the most basic questions of science, philosophy, and the nature of existence: How did the Universe begin? Why do the fundamental constants of nature have the values they do? What is human consciousness, and do we have free will?

We began planning and writing this book in thc late 1970$ at thc ugge s stion of Manuel Cardona and Helmut Latsch. We also received considerable eo couragement and stimulation from colleagues. Same said there was a need for instructional material in tbis area while others emphasized thc utility of a research text. We tried to strike a compromise. Thc figures, tables, and rcferences are included to enable researchcrs to obt81o quickly essential information in this area of semiconductor research. For instructoTS and stu dents, we attempt to cover same basic ideas abaut electronic structure and semiconductor physics with applications to real, rather than model, solids. Ve \Vish to thank our colleagues and collaborators whose research rc sults and ideas are presented here. Special thanks are duc to Jim Phillips who illfluellced lIS hoth during ollr formative )'ears and afterwards. We are grateful to Sari Yamagishi for her patience and skill with the typing and production of the manuscript. Finally, we acknowledge the great patience of Helmut Lotsch and Manucl Cardona. llerkeley, CA M.L. Gehen . inncapolis, MN, J.R, Chelikew"ky March 1988 VII Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Theoretical Concepts and Methods .................... . 4 2.1 Thc One-Electron Model and Band Structure 7 2.2 Properties cf En(k) ......................... . 11 3. Pseudopotentials 16 3.1 The Empirical Pseudopotential Method .......... 20 3.2 Self-Consistent and Ab Initio Pseudopotentials ...... ..... 25 4. Response Functiolls and Density of States . .."

The goal of this Volume "Conceptual Foundations of Materials: A standard model for ground- and excited-state properties" is to present the fundamentals of electronic structure theory that are central to the understanding and prediction of materials phenomena and properties. The emphasis is on foundations and concepts. The Sections are designed to offer a broad and comprehensive perspective of the field. They cover the basic aspects of modern electronic structure approaches and highlight their applications to the structural (ground state, vibrational, dynamic and thermodynamic, etc.) and electronic (spectroscopic, dielectric, magnetic, transport, etc.) properties of real materials including solids, clusters, liquids, and nanostructure materials. This framework also forms a basis for studies of emergent properties arising from low-energy electron correlations and interactions such as the quantum Hall effects, superconductivity, and other cooperative phenomena.
Although some of the basics and models for solids were developed in the early part of the last century by figures such as Bloch, Pauli, Fermi, and Slater, the field of electronic structure theory went through a phenomenal growth during the past two decades, leading to new concepts, understandings, and predictive capabilities for determining the ground- and excited-state properties of real, complex materials from first principles. For example, theory can now be used to predict the existence and properties of materials not previously realized in nature or in the laboratory. Computer experiments can be performed to examine the behavior of individual atoms in a particular process, to analyze the importance of different mechanisms, or just to see what happen if one varies the interactions and parameters in the simulation. Also, with ab initio calculations, one can determine from first principles important interaction parameters which are needed in model studies of complex processes or highly correlated systems. Each time a new material or a novel form of a material is discovered, electronic structure theory inevitably plays a fundamental role in unraveling its properties.
- Provides the foundations of the field of condensed matter physics
- An excellent supplementary text for classes on condensed matter physics/solid state physics
- Volume covers current work at the forefront
- Presentations are accessible to nonspecialists, with focus on underlying fundamentals