This book provides an interdisciplinary guide to quasicrystals, the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winning topic, by presenting an up-to-date and detailed introduction to the many fundamental aspects and applications of quasicrystals science. It reviews the most characteristic features of the peculiar geometric order underlying their structure and their reported intrinsic physical properties, along with their potential for specific applications. The role of quasiperiodic order in science and technology is also examined by focusing on the new design capabilities provided by this novel ordering of matter. This book is specifically devoted to promoting the very notion of quasiperiodic order, and to spur its physical implications and technological capabilities. It, therefore, explores the fundamental aspects of intermetallic, photonic, and phononic quasicrystals, as well as soft-matter quasicrystals, including their intrinsic physical and structural properties. In addition, it thoroughly discusses experimental data and related theoretical approaches to explain them, extending the standard treatment given in most current solid state physics literature. It also explores exciting applications in new technological devices of quasiperiodically ordered systems, including multilayered quasiperiodic systems, along with 2D and 3D designs, whilst outlining new frontiers in quasicrystals research. This book can be used as a reader-friendly introductory text for graduate students, in addition to senior scientists and researchers coming from the fields of physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. Key features: * Provides an updated and detailed introduction to the interdisciplinary field of quasicrystals in a tutorial style, considering both fundamental aspects and additional freedom degrees provided by designs based on quasiperiodically ordered materials. * Includes 50 fully worked out exercises with detailed solutions, motivating, and illustrating the different concepts and notions to provide readers with further learning opportunities. * Presents a complete compendium of the current state of the art knowledge of quasicrystalline matter, and outlines future next generation materials based on quasiperiodically ordered designs for their potential use in useful technological devices. Dr. Enrique Macia-Barber is Professor of condensed matter physics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. His research interests include the thermoelectric properties of quasicrystals and DNA biophysics. In 2010 he received the RSEF- BBVA Foundation Excellence Physics Teaching Award. His book Aperiodic Structures in Condensed Matter: Fundamentals and Applications (CRC Press, Boca-Raton, 2009) is one of the Top Selling Physics Books according to YBP Library Services.

This book provides an interdisciplinary guide to quasicrystals, the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winning topic, by presenting an up-to-date and detailed introduction to the many fundamental aspects and applications of quasicrystals science. It reviews the most characteristic features of the peculiar geometric order underlying their structure and their reported intrinsic physical properties, along with their potential for specific applications. The role of quasiperiodic order in science and technology is also examined by focusing on the new design capabilities provided by this novel ordering of matter. This book is specifically devoted to promoting the very notion of quasiperiodic order, and to spur its physical implications and technological capabilities. It, therefore, explores the fundamental aspects of intermetallic, photonic, and phononic quasicrystals, as well as soft-matter quasicrystals, including their intrinsic physical and structural properties. In addition, it thoroughly discusses experimental data and related theoretical approaches to explain them, extending the standard treatment given in most current solid state physics literature. It also explores exciting applications in new technological devices of quasiperiodically ordered systems, including multilayered quasiperiodic systems, along with 2D and 3D designs, whilst outlining new frontiers in quasicrystals research. This book can be used as a reader-friendly introductory text for graduate students, in addition to senior scientists and researchers coming from the fields of physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. Key features: * Provides an updated and detailed introduction to the interdisciplinary field of quasicrystals in a tutorial style, considering both fundamental aspects and additional freedom degrees provided by designs based on quasiperiodically ordered materials. * Includes 50 fully worked out exercises with detailed solutions, motivating, and illustrating the different concepts and notions to provide readers with further learning opportunities. * Presents a complete compendium of the current state of the art knowledge of quasicrystalline matter, and outlines future next generation materials based on quasiperiodically ordered designs for their potential use in useful technological devices. Dr. Enrique Macia-Barber is Professor of condensed matter physics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. His research interests include the thermoelectric properties of quasicrystals and DNA biophysics. In 2010 he received the RSEF- BBVA Foundation Excellence Physics Teaching Award. His book Aperiodic Structures in Condensed Matter: Fundamentals and Applications (CRC Press, Boca-Raton, 2009) is one of the Top Selling Physics Books according to YBP Library Services.

Here is a fascinating reader-friendly exploration of "the phosphorus enigma." The volume attempts to answer the questions: How did phosphorus atoms, which are produced inside the inner cores of a handful of huge stars, become concentrated in relatively high proportions in the organisms composing Earth's biosphere? And how did these phosphate derivatives manage to be included in such a great variety of organic molecules playing essential biochemical roles in all known life forms? Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topic, the volume is arranged in three sections. The first section introduces the fundamental concepts and notions of physics, chemistry, and biology necessary for the proper understanding of the topics discussed within an astronomical framework. The author then focuses on the role of phosphorus and its compounds within the context of chemical evolution in galaxies, considering its relevance in most essential biochemical functions as well as its peculiar chemistry under different physicochemical conditions. The third section provides an overall perspective on the role of phosphorus and its compounds in current areas of research of solid state physics, materials engineering, nanotechnology or medicine.

One of the Top Selling Physics Books according to YBP Library Services Order can be found in all the structures unfolding around us at different scales, including in the arrangements of matter and in energy flow patterns. Aperiodic Structures in Condensed Matter: Fundamentals and Applications focuses on a special kind of order referred to as aperiodic order. The book covers several topics dealing with the role of aperiodic order in numerous domains of the physical sciences and technology. It first presents the most characteristic features of various aperiodic systems. The author then describes theoretical aspects and useful mathematical approaches to properly study the physical systems. Focusing on applied issues, he discusses how to exploit aperiodic order in different technological devices. The author also examines one-, two-, and three-dimensional designs. For those new to the field of aperiodic systems, this book is an excellent guide to the many facets and applications of aperiodic structures.

Here is a fascinating reader-friendly exploration of "the phosphorus enigma." The volume attempts to answer the questions: How did phosphorus atoms, which are produced inside the inner cores of a handful of huge stars, become concentrated in relatively high proportions in the organisms composing Earth's biosphere? And how did these phosphate derivatives manage to be included in such a great variety of organic molecules playing essential biochemical roles in all known life forms? Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topic, the volume is arranged in three sections. The first section introduces the fundamental concepts and notions of physics, chemistry, and biology necessary for the proper understanding of the topics discussed within an astronomical framework. The author then focuses on the role of phosphorus and its compounds within the context of chemical evolution in galaxies, considering its relevance in most essential biochemical functions as well as its peculiar chemistry under different physicochemical conditions. The third section provides an overall perspective on the role of phosphorus and its compounds in current areas of research of solid state physics, materials engineering, nanotechnology or medicine.

One of the Top Selling Physics Books according to YBP Library Services Order can be found in all the structures unfolding around us at different scales, including in the arrangements of matter and in energy flow patterns. Aperiodic Structures in Condensed Matter: Fundamentals and Applications focuses on a special kind of order referred to as aperiodic order. The book covers several topics dealing with the role of aperiodic order in numerous domains of the physical sciences and technology. It first presents the most characteristic features of various aperiodic systems. The author then describes theoretical aspects and useful mathematical approaches to properly study the physical systems. Focusing on applied issues, he discusses how to exploit aperiodic order in different technological devices. The author also examines one-, two-, and three-dimensional designs. For those new to the field of aperiodic systems, this book is an excellent guide to the many facets and applications of aperiodic structures.

Environmental and economic concerns have significantly spurred the search for novel, high-performance thermoelectric materials for energy conversion in small-scale power generation and refrigeration devices. This quest has been mainly fueled by the introduction of new designs and the synthesis of new materials. In fact, good thermoelectric materials must simultaneously exhibit extreme properties: they must have very low thermal conductivity values and both electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient high values as well. Since these transport coefficients are interrelated, the required task of optimization is a formidable one. Thus, thermoelectric materials provide a full-fledged example of interdisciplinary research connecting fields such as solid-state physics, materials science engineering, and structural chemistry and raise the need of gaining proper knowledge of the role played by the electronic structure in the thermal and electrical transport properties of solid matter. This book presents a detailed, updated introduction to the field of thermoelectric materials in a tutorial way, focusing on both basic notions and fundamental questions and illustrating the abstract concepts with suitable application examples. It discusses thermoelectric effects, the transport coefficients and their mutual relations, the efficiency of thermoelectric devices, and some notions on the characterization and related industry standards. It also reviews the two basic strategies for optimizing the thermoelectric performance of materials: the control of thermal conductivity and the power factor enhancement. It discusses structural complexity approach, focusing on complex enough lattice structures with heavy atoms in the unit-cell or nanostructured systems characterized by low-dimensional effects, and introducing different kinds of bulk materials of growing chemical and structural complexity. It also discusses the electronic structure engineering approach that focuses on obtaining a guiding principle, in terms of an electronic band structure tailoring process, and describes the role played by the electronic structure in the thermoelectric performance of different materials.