Book Description

RF photonic components, transmission systems, and signal processing examples in optical fibers are reviewed by leading academic, government, and industry scientists working in this field. This volume introduces various related technologies such as direct modulation of laser sources, external modulation techniques, and detectors. The text is aimed at engineers and scientists engaged in the research and development of optical fibers and analog RF applications. ... Read more

Book Description

The manipulation of electric charge in bulk semiconductors and their heterostructures is the basis of nearly all modern electronic and opto-electronic devices. Recent studies of spin-dependent phenomena in semiconductors open the door to technologies that harness the spin of the electron in semiconductor devices. In addition to providing spin-dependent analogies that extend existing electronic devices into the realm of semiconductor "spintronics," the spin degree of freedom also offers prospects for fundamentally new functionality in the quantum domain, ranging from storage to computation. This is likely to play a crucial role in the information technologies in the 21st century. This book, written by a team of experts, provides an overview of emerging concepts in this rapidly developing field. The topics range from spin transport and injection in semiconductors and their heterostructures to coherent processes and computation in semiconductor quantum structures and microcavities. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a survey of the field of many-body atomic physics.The contributions encompass three major areas of study--atomic structure, atomic photoionization, and electron-atom collisions--and deal with the historical development of many-body theory, theoretical considerations, and applications.It will be a suitable introduction to the field for graduate students and researchers in atomic physics and quantum chemistry. ... Read more

Book Description

This introductory textbook explains the basic theoretical principles of magnetism, providing a broad coverage of the subject and indicating directions of future research. While the book is meant primarily as a textbook for first-year graduate students and advanced undergraduates in physics and engineering, it can also be a reference for practicing engineers and physicists who work in the field of magnetism. It explains the basic theoretical principles on which much of this type of research is based, with special attention to some of the shortcomings and drawbacks. The book emphasizes the foundations of different subfields, but also explores the directions of the most recent research. ... Read more

Book Description

The ideal supplement to the standard texts in condensed matter physics

Solving homework problems is the single most effective way for students to familiarize themselves with the language and details of solid state physics. Testing problem-solving ability is the best means at the professor's disposal for measuring student progress at critical points in the learning process. This book enables any instructor to supplement end-of-chapter textbook assignments with a large number of challenging and engaging practice problems and discover a host of new ideas for creating exam questions.

Designed to be used in tandem with any of the excellent textbooks on this subject, Solid State Physics: Problems and Solutions provides a self-study approach through which advanced undergraduate and first-year graduate students can develop and test their skills while acclimating themselves to the demands of the discipline. Each problem has been chosen for its ability to illustrate key concepts, properties, and systems, knowledge of which is crucial in developing a complete understanding of the subject, including:
* Crystals, diffraction, and reciprocal lattices.
* Phonon dispersion and electronic band structure.
* Density of states.
* Transport, magnetic, and optical properties.
* Interacting electron systems.
* And more ... Read more

Reviews (3)

For those who want to solve a lot of problems in SSP
This book compiles a large number of problems in SSP (included solutions to the problems as well). It could certainly be used as a supplement for a first course in SSP very effectively.

Modern, challenging and interesting
One rarely comes across a book, about which one can say without any qualifying adjective, that it is simply great. The book of Mihaly and Martin however does belong in this rarefied category.

As anyone teaching solid state physics knows from experience, it is always demanding to find quality examples. The problems in the previous standard books are unfortunately dated, often decades back. In contrast, Mihaly and Martin bring examples from the very latest developments in solid state physics. At the same time they find room for covering the actual workings of such must-know experimental apparatii, as the triple axis spectrometer and the Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. It is hard to find books, which adress the theoretical and experimental sides of our discipline with such balance.

When the authors cover more conventional topics, like symmetries and band structures, they make them exciting for the student by chosing fascinating applications, for instance lattices of fullerenes instead of sodium. When they cover modern areas, they devote space extensively, very much unlike similar treatises. These include optical properties, correlation effects in infinite and low dimensional models, and phase transitions in electronic systems.

The best recommendation goes beyond words; it is reflected in actions: I already adopted the book in my course, and the students cannot get enough of these inventive problems. They actually like solving the homework problems, a true satisfaction for any teacher.

Standard Problems Presented in a Mediocre Fashion
This book offers a nice set of pretty standard undergraduate to first year graduate problems in solid state physics. The answers, unfortunately, are sloppy and remarkably lack the detail you would expect from a question and answer book. Each chapter has a superficial and not too insightful introduction to the topic before asking the questions. Probably, most disappointing are the problems for which there are no answers. Isn't this supposed to be a problem and answer book? If you are looking for an insightful solution guide or a general overview as a companion for an introductory solid state course, you don't want this book. If you just want to see a result and have some stuff to jot down on homework assignments, then perhaps this book is just what you need. ... Read more

Book Description

The field of phase transitions and critical phenomena continues to be active in research, producing a steady stream of interesting and fruitful results.It has moved into a central place in condensed matter studies.
Statistical physics, and more specifically, the theory of transitions between states of matter, more or less defines what we know about 'everyday' matter and its transformations.
The major aim of this serial is to provide review articles that can serve as standard references for research workers in the field, and for graduate students and others wishing to obtain reliable information on important recent developments. ... Read more

Book Description

This unique book, written by a leading Soviet theorist, is not a textbook of quantum mechanics but rather a compendium of the "tricks of the trade"-the methods that all practicing theoretical physicists use but few have set down in writing.

Read and cited by scientists worldwide, Advanced Book Classics are works that continue to inform today's groundbreaking research efforts. Redesigned and newly released in paperback, these graduate-level texts and monographs are now available to an even wider audience. Written by the most influential physicists of the twentieth century, these Advanced Book Classics promise to enrich and inspire a new generation of physicists. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Qualitative Methods in Quantum Theory
How many times in your life have you looked at the physical formula and thought perplexedly: "What does it mean?" Remember the first time you looked at the formula E=mc2? If you are a curious freshman or even a hoary professional the question, "How did he get this result?", comes up. Now you are close to looking on the other side of the coin, at something wonderful, something fascinating. You are about to reveal the workshop of the theoretical physicists! To be honest with you, I did not see the English translation of this book, butlong time ago I read the original Russian book, "Qualitative Methods in Quantum Theory", by A. B. Migdal, and still keep it on my desk.There were about two dozen students during the semester who attended his lecture/seminar of similar name, "Qualitative Methods in Theoretical Physics."Those lecture/seminars were informal, quite unusual, unlike where lectures when a professor smoothly narrates a well-known subject. He worked on a blackboard before the audience. The subjects were the different aspects of quantum mechanics, statistical physics, and nuclear physics, with numerous examples from modern and classical physics and mathematics. We watched all movements of his mind when he discoursed some interesting problem and derived a result using several different methods. He told us, "Don't be afraid to make mistakes. The secret is to be able to find them." Sometimes he interrupted his work with a note about an analogy between an art and science: "In sculpture, as well as in theoretical physics, you have to know where you can disregard", or "Solving a real difficult problem is the rarest phenomenon, likefalling in love".The book summarizes his experience as a practical physicist and is a great collection of treasures that you can not find anywhere else. This book is the greatest resource if you want to know "the secrets" of theoretical physics. You will know about model and scale estimations and the great importance of symmetry principals, analytic properties of the physical world, the WKB approximation, variety of perturbation theories, etc.,.. Also, if you aspire to be a practical physicists or engineer, you will learn how to use these principles to get your own results. It seems to me this book is unlike his other books because it summarizes the most valuable results of his life's work. ... Read more

Book Description

This book covers many topics concerned with the man-made electronic systems called quantum dots, in particular: methods of creation, internal properties (electronic structure), directly observed properties (response to the experimental probes, e.g. light or electrodes), experimental methods and results, physical effects occuring in dots, theoretical models, computational methods, and future applications. The review part requires only basic knowledge on quantum mechanics and solid state physics. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good Intro to Quantum Dots
As an inorganic chemist who has worked with nanoparticles for a decade, but an initiate to the field of semiconductor quantum dots (QD), I found this book to be very useful.It is clearly written so that even thetheoretical physics discussions are comprehensible to a non-physicist.Itis a good introduction to this field and should be readily available to anyresearcher contemplating working with QD.The references are fairlycurrent with many from 1996 and 1997.

After a brief exposition into thehistory of work with quantum wells, quantum wires and QD, Chapters 3-4provide a good introduction to the field by describing the theoreticalproperties of few-many electron systems.The balance of the theoreticaldiscussions throughout the book were made much clearer by appropriategraphs that illustrated the physical phenomenon underdiscussion.

Chapters 5 and 6 dealing with optical transitions are ofgreatest importance to many researchers interested in the most distinctiveproperties of QD.These properties are the variation of absorption andfluorescence (photoluminescence) with QD dimensions.The book successfullyintegrates theory with physical measurements of these phenomenon.

Shortcomings:

There was no discussion of chemical syntheses of nanocolloidalQD.The examples in the book are primarily drawn from QD structures grownon semiconductor or insulator (e.g., glass) substrates by such techniquesas molecular beam epitaxy, lithography, MOCVD and self-assembly.Thecurrent explosion in research on QD is due to the ready syntheses ofCORE-SHELL nanocolloid QD.Researchers contemplating working withnanocolloid QD need to look elsewhere.

This book also needs a comparisonof semiconductor QD optical transitions with similar phenomenon observed inmetallic nanoparticle systems such as Au and Pt nanostuctures (colloids andwires) and Ag colloids (resonance light scattering).

These omissions donot detract from this small, useful book. ... Read more

Book Description

This book addresses both fundamental issues and applications in the field of x-ray and inner-shell processes induced by photons, particles, or nuclear conversion. The volume contains the invited talks and all papers have been peer reviewed. This meeting brings scientists together from different disciplines of x-ray science and technology. Focus has been given to the applications of the high brilliance synchrotron x- ray sources in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and related fields. The book is of interest to scientists in atomic, molecular and solid state physics using synchrotron radiation sources, plasma and x-ray lasers, manufacturers of x-ray equipment, electron and ion analysis apparatus, semiconductor industry chemical industry requiring advanced analytical equipment. Topics include: historical reviews; new x-ray sources and techniques; advances in x-ray optics; photoionization processes and highly charged ions; atomic and nuclear x-ray processes; x-ray scattering; x-ray applications to solids and surfaces; and biological applications. ... Read more

Book Description

This text introduces the theoretical framework for describing the quark-gluon plasma, an important new state of matter.The first part of the book is a self-contained introduction to relativistic thermal field theory. Topics include the path integral approach, the real and imaginary time formalisms, fermion fields and gauge fields at finite temperature.The author illustrates useful techniques such as the evaluation of frequency sums and the use of cutting rules. The second part of the book is devoted to recent developments, and gives a detailed account of collective excitations (bosonic and fermionic), showing how they give rise to energy scales that imply a reorganization of perturbation theory. The author also explains the relation with kinetic theory.He works out in detail applications to processes that occur in heavy ion collisions and in astrophysics. Each chapter ends with exercises and a guide to the literature.Graduate students and researchers in nuclear, particle, and astrophysics will benefit from this book. ... Read more

Book Description

This thoroughly updated and expanded edition features two new chapters on statistics for health physics and on environmental radioactivity, particularly concerning radon and radon daughters. Fresh material includes: a derivation of the stopping-power formula for heavy charged particles in the impulse approximation, a detailed discussion of beta-particle track structure and penetration in matter, an extensive description of the various interaction coefficients for photons, several new worked examples and additional end-of-chapter problems. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Radiation
This book was most useful to me in calculating dose, it has a good breadth of the subject matter and will purchase my own copy...currently using advisor's copy. ... Read more

Book Description

A collection of classic papers exploring the pivotal questions that shaped the field of physics.

The papers reprinted in this book depict a research field that is poised to answer some of the fundamental questions of twentieth-century physics and astronomy: How does the sun shine? What is the dark matter? Is there new physics beyond the "standard model"?

This book is of interest to students as well as active researchers in the scientific areas spanned by the reprinted papers, which include physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, and engineering. Historians of science, some of whom have already used the solar neutrino problem as a case study, will also find this collection a rich source of examples and insights. Solar Neutrinos gives one the special feeling of being present at the birth of a scientific field. The physical ideas are presented with a simplicity that is unusual in review of papers. By delving into the scientific landmarks reprinted here, one can see clearly how researchers-starting with a paucity of data and with conflicting hypothesis-struggled together to grope their way to a better understanding of the sun and of weak interaction physics. ... Read more

Book Description

A comprehensive introduction to the structure, properties, and applications of materials
This title provides the first unified treatment for the broad subject of materials. Authors Gersten and Smith use a fundamental approach to define the structure and properties of a wide range of solids on the basis of the local chemical bonding and atomic order present in the material. Emphasizing the physical and chemical origins of material properties, the book focuses on the most technologically important materials being utilized and developed by scientists and engineers.
Appropriate for use in advanced materials courses, The Physics and Chemistry of Materials provides the background information necessary to assimilate the current academic and patent literature on materials and their applications. Problem sets, illustrations, and helpful tables complete this well-rounded new treatment.
Five sections cover these important topics:
* Structure of materials, including crystal structure, bonding in solids, diffraction and the reciprocal lattice, and order and disorder in solids
* Physical properties of materials, including electrical, thermal, optical, magnetic, and mechanical properties
* Classes of materials, including semiconductors, superconductors, magnetic materials, and optical materials in addition to metals, ceramics, polymers, dielectrics, and ferroelectrics
* A section on surfaces, thin films, interfaces, and multilayers discusses the effects of spatial discontinuities in the physical and chemical structure of materials
* A section on synthesis and processing examines the effects of synthesis on the structure and properties of various materials
This book is enhanced by a Web-based supplement that offers advanced material together with an entire electronic chapter on the characterization of materials. The Physics and Chemistry of Materials is a complete introduction to the structure and properties of materials for students and an excellent reference for scientists and engineers. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A great resource
I am a graduate student studying in the field of nanomaterials. I picked up this book upon advice from a professor and i've thumbed through it's pages on numerous occasions on which i've found exactly what I was looking for. I would not pick this book up if you're interested in problem sets, though. There are only a handful at the end of the chapter and some of them are extremely hard.

Great Book that combines a lot of information
I thought this book was great. It combines a lot of information from "undergraduate" textbooks on material science and mechanics then adds stuff that I would consider as graduate level material. This is a good book to have around that has a wide range of information in it. ... Read more

Book Description

In its simplest manifestation, the Casimir effect is a quantum force of attraction between two parallel uncharged conducting plates. More generally, it refers to the interaction - which may be either attractive or repulsive - between material bodies due to quantum fluctuations in whatever fields are relevant. It is a local version of the van der Waals force between molecules. Its sweep ranges from perhaps its being the origin of the cosmological constant to its being responsible for the confinement of quarks.

This monograph develops the theory of such forces, based primarily on physically transparent Green's function techniques, and makes applications from quarks to the cosmos, as well as observable consequences in condensed matter systems. It is aimed at graduate students and researchers in theoretical physics, quantum field theory, and applied mathematics. ... Read more

Book Description

Semiconductor components based on silicon have been used in a wide range of applications for some time now. These elemental semiconductors are now well researched and technologically well developed. In the meantime the focus has switched to a new group of materials: ceramic semiconductors based on nitrides are currently the subject of research due to their optical and electronic characteristics. They open up new industrial possibilities in the field of photosensors, as light sources or as electronic components.
This collection of review articles provides a systematic and in-depth overview of the topic, on both a high and current level. It offers information on the physical basics as well as the latest results in a compact yet comprehensive manner. The contributions cover the physical processes involved in manufacture, from semiconductor growth, via their atomic structures and the related characteristics right up to future industrial applications. A highly pertinent book for anyone working in applied materials research or the semiconductor industry. ... Read more

Book Description

This book presents a comprehensive treatment of electromagnetic analysis and design of three critical devices for an MRI system - the magnet, gradient coils, and radiofrequency (RF) coils. Electromagnetic Analysis and Design in Magnetic Resonance Imaging is unique in its detailed examination of the analysis and design of the hardware for an MRI system. It takes an engineering perspective to servethe many scientists and engineers in this rapidly expanding field.Chapters present:oan introduction to MRIobasic concepts of electromagnetics, including Helmholtz and Maxwell coils, inductance calculation, and magnetic fields produced by special cylindrical and spherical surface currentsoprinciples for the analysis and design of gradient coils, including discrete wires and the target field method oanalysis of RF coils based on the equivalent lumped-circuit model as well as an analysis based on the integral equation formulationosurvey of special purpose RF coilsoanalytical and numerical methods for the analysis of electromagnetic fields in biological objectsWith the continued, active development of MRI instrumentation, Electromagnetic Analysis and Design in Magnetic Resonance Imaging presents an excellent, logically organized text - an indispensable resource for engineers, physicists, and graduate students working in the field of MRI. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent book for beginners.
I bought this book and found it worth the price. This book is very convenient to use. It has the basic theories, and a lot of good references which may take me so much time to find by myself.

Excellent guide to design and analysis a coil in MRI
In spite of the importance of a coil in MRI, such as gradient and RF coil, there are few books on it. So many books on MRI. But they have been focused only on the imaging method or the basic principles of MRI.

This is the only guide book on RF and gradient coil, as I have found, and deals with current topics on the analysis and design on the hardware of MRI. Also, the references on each topics are well arranged and very useful. ... Read more

Book Description

This monograph, suitable for use as an advanced text, presents thestatistical mechanics of solids from the perspective of the materialproperties of the solid state. The statistical mechanics are developedas a tool for understanding properties and each chapter includesuseful excercies to illustrate the topics covered. Topics discussedinclude the theory of the harmonic crystal, the theory of freeelcetrons in metal and semiconductors, electron transport, alloyordering, sufaces and polymers. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Filling an existing gap
This remarkable book is addressed to scientists interested in the properties of solids from the point of view of materials science. Statistical mechanics is applied to a broad set oftopics of interest in this field and the book has the virtue of filling an existing gap. An earlier book on this subject was published by L. A. Girifalco thirty years ago (Statistical Physics of Materials, 1973). The present book updates the material and adds also a substantial body of novel topics that have vigorously grown and matured meanwhile.
The book grew out of a course that the author has been teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. The broad experience of L. A. Girifalco, acquired after many years of research in materials science applying the techniques of statistical mechanics (metallic and graphitic materials, defects in solids anddiffusion represent some of the subjects investigated by the author) has provided him with the best background to make a wise selection oftopics of importance and broad interest. In addition the contact with the students has allowed the author to optimize the pedagogical aspects. So this book is highly recommended for graduate courses, and students will find it extremely useful to get a comprehensive and updated overview of the field.
The first three chapters (approximately one fifth of the book) introduce the basic concepts of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. This part is needed to make the volume self-contained. Even more, those three chapters, where the fundamental concepts are presented clearly at an accessible mathematical level, could form the core of a short course on basic statistical mechanics for physicists, chemists or engineers.The thermal properties of crystals arising from the vibration of the atomsare treated in Chapters 4 and 5, focusing on harmonic and anharmonic effects, respectively. The equilibrium and transport properties of electrons in metals and semiconductors are considered in Chapters 6 and 7, taking as a basis the free electron model.Classic examples of cooperative phenomena, as order-disorder transitions in alloys and magnetism, are treated in Chapters 8 and 9. The theory of phase equilibria and phase transformations is presented in Chapter 10. Sublimation, melting and the formation of solid solutions in alloys are some of the subjects considered. Critical exponents characterising how of physical properties vary with temperature near a phase transition are presented in Chapter 11, with its explanation by renormalization group theory.The surface of solid bodies is the region of contact with the outer medium and controls many technological properties of the solids. The statistical mechanics of surface and interface effects is treated in Chapter 12, focusing on adsorption, adhesion and segregation. The theory of the random motion ofa particle through space, treated in Chapter 13,has a variety of uses: important applications to molecular and atomic diffusion and to the statistics of long chain molecules can be highlighted.In fact, linear polymer chains are treated in Chapter 14. The last two chapters of the book then develop the statistical mechanics of point defects (vacancies and interstitials in solids, substitutional impurities in dilute alloys) and diffusion of point defects. The book also contains several useful mathematical appendixes.
In conclusion this book presents a comprehensive and original treatment of the statistical mechanics of solids that will be useful not only to graduate students and teachers, butalso to any beginner or experienced scientist interested in this subject.

Excellent Textbook for Materials Scientists and Engineers
This is an excellent, well-tested textbook on statistical mechanics for materials scientists and engineers, both graduate students and practitioners who need a refresher on how to apply useful theoretical methods,such as mean-field models of phase transitions,to the analysis of experimental data or, perhaps, want to learn something about new developments in statistical mechanics which are not often covered in materials science and engineering courses, such as critical exponents and the renormalization group. You might wonder why there is a need for yet another textbook on statistical mechanics. Well, this is a book primarily for those interested in understanding or estimating the properties of solids, rather than dwelling on the foundations of statistical mechanics, and there is not another book quite like it.It uses simple mathematics and makes much, fruitful use of simple methods like mean-field theory and simple ways of making improvements thereto.It begins with three brilliantly explained, succinctly written chapters intoducing, or reviewing, the basic principles of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, and then proceeds to cover their applications to a wide range of topics in the materials science of metals, semiconductors, and polymers. Some applications include bulk thermodynamic properties, surfaces, transport properties of electrons, phonons, and atoms,as well as phase transitions. There are eight appendices where helpful mathematical and methodological details are covered so that the expository prose in the main chapters does not get bogged down in unnecessary details. There are some useful topics covered in this book which are not easily found in other texts: for example, there are three chapters with a careful exposition of the foundations, and some applications, of the thermodynamics and kinetics of lattice defects, a topic of much importance for materials scientists and engineers; the useful and versatile Girifalco-Good method for estimating energies of interfacial adhesion is described; and the Kirkwood second-moment method for going beyond the mean-field approximation in order-disorder is derived and utilized to introduce the Landau theory of phase transitions. These are a few examples of useful topics for materials scientists not readily found elsewhere. There are also illuminating exercises at the end of each chapter. Professor Girifalco is a gifted pedagogical writer, and he has polished much of this material in his courses in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. I myself has used several chapters of this book as reference material for an advanced graduate seminar in the modeling of phase transitions in materials, and they were very successful.I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Book Description

This important book presents a unified formulation from first principles of the Hamiltonian and statistical mechanics of metallic and insulating crystals, amorphous solids, and liquids. Extensive comparison of theory and experiment provides an accurate understanding of the statistical properties of phonons, electrons, and phonon-phonon and electron-phonon interactions in elemental crystals and liquids. Questions are posed along the following lines: What is the "best" theory for a given property? How accurate is a good theory? What information is gained by a comparison of theory and experiment? How accurate is a good experiment? ... Read more

Reviews (1)

what is the purpose of this book?
Reading this book created mixed feelings.

It is nice to see books of course in the very important
but relatively little studied case of mechanical properties
of solids and liquids (as oposed to elecrical properties).

The book starts promisingly by claiming a first priciples
discussion. However the discussions following are highly
incomplete (sketchy) with continuous references to
a previous book by the author. The level of detail
is dissapointing and the author seems to address experts
in his field rather than students.

I think you can safely go over this book; the Born Huang
book is much more complete and useful.

Overall, the book misses completely its educational purpose;
it might be useful to experts in the field, but then they
can always read a plethora of reviews in research journals
(for free). ... Read more