PH5009: Condensed Matter Physics

L-T-P-C: 3-1-0-4

Prerequisites: None

Syllabus

Module 1: Introduction to condensed matter and crystal structure

( Lecture hours: 6 , Tutorial hours: 2 , Lab hours: 0 )

Length, time and energy scales in condensed matter, Order-disorder transition, long-range and short-range order, correlation functions, Soft and hard condensed matter, examples of material properties, Bonding and interactions, van der Waals interaction, hydrogen bonding, Review of crystals: lattice, basis, 2-d and 3-d crystals, point and space groups, symmetries, Experimental determination of structure, scattering, lattice with basis, Miller indices, structure factor, form factors, Defects in crystals .

Module 2: Lattice vibrations

( Lecture hours: 9 , Tutorial hours: 3 , Lab hours: 0 )

Cohesion of solids, mechanical properties, elasticity, constitutive relations, Modes of lattice vibrations, quantization and phonons, Statistical mechanics of phonon gas, Einstein and Debye models, Umklapp processes, thermal expansion, Kohn anomalies, charge density waves, Electron-phonon interactions .

Module 3: Electronic structure and band theory

( Lecture hours: 12 , Tutorial hours: 4 , Lab hours: 0 )

Single electron model, density of states, Fermi surface and quasiparticles, Specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, Electrons in periodic potentials, Bloch's theorem, Kronig-Penney model, Nearly free and tightly bound electrons, Fermi surfaces, band theory, effective mass, Wannier functions and tight binding, electronic states at surfaces, Dynamics of Bloch electrons: transport properties, Drude model, electrical conductivity, Boltzmann equation, Thermal conductivity and thermoelectric phenomena .

Module 4: Magnetism and superconductivity

( Lecture hours: 6 , Tutorial hours: 2 , Lab hours: 0 )

Atomic magnetism, Hund's rules, Curie's law, Pauli paramagnetism, Landau diamagnetism, quantum mechanics of interacting moments, Superconductivity: phenomenology including Meissner effect, type-I and type-II superconductors, BCS theory .

Module 5: Introduction to soft matter physics

( Lecture hours: 9 , Tutorial hours: 3 , Lab hours: 0 )

Introduction to soft matter physics: polymers, colloids, surfactants, liquid crystals, Brownian motion and thermal fluctuations: Brownian motion of a free particle, Brownian motion in a potential field, Fluctuation-dissipation theorem, Polymers: freely jointed model, worm-like chain (WLC) model, Flory theory, Surfaces and surfactants: surface tension, wetting, surfactants .

Study Materials

Textbooks

  1. Solid State Physics, N. Ashcroft and N. Mermin, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976, ISBN: 9780030839931
  2. Solid State Physics, M. S. Rogalski and S. B. Palmer, CRC Press, 2014, ISBN: 9789056992729
  3. Condensed Matter Physics, M. P. Marder, Wiley, ISBN: 9780470617984
  4. Soft Matter Physics, Masao Doi, Oxford, ISBN: 9780199652952
  5. An Introduction to Dynamics of Colloids, J. K. G. Dhont, Elsevier, ISBN: 9780444820099