Physics 5520 : Solid State
Physics II
(Scheduled
for spring semester)
UPDATED Thursday, August 07, 2008. -----------PLEASE BE SURE TO
PRESS THE RELOAD BUTTON! -------------
Course
outline
As you
(should) know, condensed matter physics (as it should be more appropriately
named – the name was introduced in the 70s by Anderson) is the most diverse
field of physics, covering everything from mechanics to optics, quantum
mechanics to statistical physics to quantum field theory. Condensed matter
interfaces with devices and applications on the one side and has most recently
come close to merging with biological physics. Every second (or so…) Nobel
prize (in physics/ chemistry/ physiology) is awarded to a condensed matter
physicist, so if you call yourself a physicist, you should really know as much
as possible about condensed matter physics. I expect all of you have taken 5510
somewhere along the line. This course is intended to show how much fun physics
can be. We will go over the ground work in as much detail as necessary,
focusing on concepts rather than on endless derivations, with the aim of
bringing you the ability to appreciate some of the most exciting activities at
the forefront of physics. I have not fixed the syllabus up front, but will make
what we cover dependent on what your interests are. We will discuss this in the
first lecture.
General
remarks
My goal is
for everybody in class to feel confident to ask a question in a condensed
matter colloquium in future. I expect that, depending on your interest and
motivation, the course will take up roughly 6 hours/week, 3 hours lecture, 1
hour reading/discussion with the TA, 2 hours homework (in this order!).
We’re
pretty flexible in terms of course content. On the one hand I’d like to cover
as many different things as possible, on the other hand, of course, it has got
to be fun for everyone and I really want to make sure you’ve got the core
concepts. I expect to be interrupted if you feel you’ve not understood
something. Please do not leave it to the final exam to find out that you’ve not
understood what an acoustic phonon is!
I would be
surprised if you can do OK in the exams and homeworks
if you cannot make it to class, so please let me know if there is any problem
with you attending.
Recommended
text
Everybody
should really have a copy of Kittel to refer to.
Ashcroft Mermin is the other standard book, but you
do not need to rush out and buy it. Other books I can recommend include:
Klingshirn,
Semiconductor optics
Parker, Physics
of optoelectronics (a bit on the technical side)
Marder,
Condensed matter physics
Chaikin
and Lubensky, Principles of condensed matter physics
Atkins,
Molecular quantum mechanics
Haken and
Wolf, Molecular physics
Schwoerer
and Wolf, Organic molecular solids
Rosencher
and Vinter, Optoelectronics (this has a really good
introductory overview of semiconductor optics)
Tanner,
Electrons in solids (a manageable size)
Singh,
Electronic and optoelectronic properties of semiconductor structures
You may also
want to refer to your favourite modern physics
textbook now and again.
Don’t
believe everything you read on Wikipedia. However, it’s a very handy resource
which I recommend you consult frequently.
You
are welcome to come by my office and take a look at the books.
Current
reading (April 18th):
Problem
sheets and handouts
I have two
handouts to start with: one on your prior knowledge,
the other on your interests.
I will
provide handouts of any overhead transparencies I use, as well as of the lecture
notes (please bear with me, they’re not quite complete yet).
The
problems are designed to get you thinking about the material you’ve heard about
in the lectures (and should encourage you to read along/ahead a little, too!).
There will be some repetition from 5510 in the homeworks,
just to make sure the material has sunk in. I will go over some of the homeworks in class, but it really is up to you to have the
TA (or myself) take you through whatever you do not understand. Please make as
much use of the TA as possible!
Exams
Topics
You can
have some say in which topics we cover.
I intend to
begin with a 5510 review, moving on to magnetism, superconductivity,
semiconductor band structures, electronic structure theory, tight-binding
models for the first half of the course.
Increasingly
less preliminary course content and schedule:
|
Date |
Topic |
Comment |
Suggested
reading |
|
|
Review of
5510 |
|
|
|
|
Review of
5510 |
|
|
|
|
Introduction
to crystal structures |
Homework
1 out |
Kittel,
Chapter 1 |
|
|
X-ray
diffraction |
|
Kittel,
Chapter 2 |
|
|
Phonons:
scattering |
Homework
2 out |
Kittel,
Chapter 4 |
|
|
Phonon
scattering |
|
Kittel,
Chapter 4 |
|
|
Phonon polaritons |
Homework
3 out |
Kittel,
Chapter 10 |
|
|
Polaritons / electrons in solids |
|
Kittel,
Chapter 10 |
|
|
Fermi
surface of metals |
|
Kittel,
Chapter 6 |
|
|
Properties
of Fermi surface |
Homework
4 out |
Kittel,
Chapter 9 |
|
|
Discussion
class |
Decide on essay topics |
|
|
|
Band
structure/effective masses/ Fermi surface |
|
Kittel,
Chapter 9 |
|
|
Electronic
structure / H2 molecule |
|
Ashcroft,
Chapter 17 |
|
|
Electronic
structure / Hartree Fock
/ SCF |
|
Ashcroft,
Chapter 17, and a molecular quantum mechanics book, e.g. Atkins or Haken/Wolf. |
|
|
Electronic
structure / Hückel |
Homework
4 due |
Atkins is
your best bet |
|
|
Photonic
crystals /Semiconductors |
|
If you
want more indepth info, turn to the Joannopoulos
book. |
|
|
Heterostructure/Quantum structures |
Essay due
(new!) |
This is
based on the book by J. Singh. |
|
|
Midterm
(50 minutes) ; Optoelectronics |
|
Take a look
at the Singh book – come to my office |
|
|
Optical
properties of semiconductors/quantum heterostructures |
|
Ashcroft,
Chapter 28 may also help |
|
|
Semiconductors
/ excitons |
|
Ashcroft,
Chapter 30 ; also feel free to take a look at my Schwoerer/Wolf
book |
|
|
Discuss
midterm / excitons |
We did do
a fair amount last week, while some of you were away – please look at the
notes and let me know if you want me to go over something again. |
|
|
|
Excitons/Paramagnetism |
|
Kittel 11 |
|
|
Paramagnetism |
Homework
5 out |
Kittel
14 |
|
|
Adiabatic
demagnetization |
|
Kittel
14 |
|
|
Ferromagnetism
/ mean field theory / spin waves |
Homework
6 out |
Kittel
15 |
|
|
Ferromagnetic
domains / exchange interactions |
|
Kittel
15 |
|
|
Spin
resonance / Bloch equations |
Homework
7 out |
Kittel
16 |
|
|
Superconductivity |
|
Kittel
12 |
|
|
Superconductivity |
|
Kittel
12 |
Important
dates
– let me know your essay topic
– Essay due
– Midterm
exam
– Final
exam (2 hours)
Some
(helpful?) links
You may
like to try this Hyperphysics
website
The MIT open
course ware website is pretty good (Fall/Spring).
Information on diamagnetism and levitation
(with some fun movies).
Forgotten the periodic table?
Office hours
TA: office hours Tuesdays 12:00 – 1:00
pm (in the library), and at your discretion! Please make use of this fantastic
resource!
These office hours are only suggestions!
Let us know if there are any scheduling conflicts.
Homework
There will be 7 sets of homework, typically consisting
of 2-3 problems. There may be the odd extra problem (i.e. extra points) labeled
by an asterisk. You will probably find it helpful to chat to the TA now and
again. Problems are handed out and to be
returned on Wednesdays. If you can’t make it to class, make sure your solutions
are in Kipp’s letter box by 4 pm.
Exams
There will be one midterm exam and one final exam. We
will decide in class whether you’re allowed to take a piece of paper with you for
reference or not.
There will be no resit exams
– please make sure you make it to the exams. Let me know of any scheduling
conflicts immediately!
Essay
The most important skill you can acquire as a graduate
student is the ability to assimilate and disseminate information efficiently.
We will miss two weeks of homeworks so that you can
prepare a 2-3 (max!, preferably 2) page essay (~1000 words, plus diagrams,
equations, whatever) on a solid state physics topic of your choice. Your essay
should provide an introduction/background, a bit of a historical perspective, a
comment on implications and applications, and must, most importantly, highlight
the fundamental physics of whatever you are describing. You should aim at not
spending more than six hours on this exercise. You will not get any credit for
flashy cartoons/pictures, but for a convincing, compelling and concise written
presentation (i.e. don’t beat about the bush). I can give you some examples of
the kind of stuff we’re looking for.
Handy resources: Nature, Science, Physics Today, New
Scientist (within reason), Scientific American, Physics World, Web of Science (www.isiknowledge.com)
You will also have the opportunity to present your
essay in a talk (10 minutes+5 minutes discussion). You will get extra points
for this (counting towards an extra 5 % of your grade).
The essay is
due on Mar. 5th.
Please let me know by Feb. 13th which topic
you want to work on (it does not have to be from the list below, but I must
approve it). I can point you in the direction of some suitable articles if you
come and see me.
Examples of possible topics include:
Giant magnetoresistance,
fractional quantum hall effect, microfluidics,
surface acoustic waves, solid state laser cooling, graphene,
negative refraction, molecular magnetism, photomagnetism,
spin hall effect, Brownian ratchets, heat transport in carbon nanotubes, quantum cascade lasers, photorefractive effect,
molecular photoswitches, neutron scattering, liquid
crystals, thermoelectric effect, molecular selfassembly,
Kondo effect, spin glasses, Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons, Mössbauer spectroscopy, quasi crystals, optical lattices in
BE condensates – tunable “Hubbard” labs.
Evaluation of the essays
I went through the main points in class. Big “no-no”s include lifting other peoples’ words verbatim, and
inappropriate or insufficient referencing. A few ideas for the future:
* Use Word, or at least try out the Tex spell checker
– typos are entirely avoidable, but such things may cost you a successful job
application one day!
* Read your work out ALOUD to yourself (or someone
else). You will immediately spot funny sentences and repetitions. Unless you’re
Steinbeck, every sentence has a verb. Make sure you know where your verbs are!
Don’t double up words, and make yourself sensitive to bootstrapping arguments
(usually a risk in long sentences).
* Avoid using first person singular, unless you’re the
Pope or the Queen. Some people and journals react very sensitively to this.
* Make sure you explain figures. At the very least put
in a figure caption. Linking the text to the figure by a hand waving “(fig. 1)”
may make things easier for you, but it will make it harder for the reader.
* Usually you want something from the reader, i.e. you
are not providing something in writing out of pure charity. You cannot make it
too comfortable for the reader. The more comfortable you make it, the more likely
the reader will take you seriously.
A few of you have very kindly agreed to let me post your essays.
If your grade didn’t quite meet your expectation, please do take the time to
look through these examples and figure out how you can improve in the future.
In fact, I’d strongly recommend everybody takes a look at these 5 examples, as
they are quite distinct. I’ll give the password in the lecture (or email me).
I also really recommend you take a quick look at this pamphlet,
a brief set of instructions on writing from George Whiteside’s group.
Grading Scheme
I will also
take your participation in class into account, i.e. if you are just at the
boundary between grades, active participation may help to push you up!
The (very)
preliminary grading scheme is A-: 80 %, B-: 60 %, C-: 40 % of available points.
Favourite past user comments
“I think
it would really be better to print them (the notes) into your own book and make
the students buy the typed up version”
“If the
lectures […] (don’t) prepare us for success on the exam, then what are we doing
all that work for???”
Academic Integrity
The policy on academic integrity (Student Behavior
Code) can be found on the University web site at http://www.admin.utah.edu/ppmanual/8/8-1.html.
The student is responsible for reading and understanding this policy. The
Student Behavior Code will be strictly followed in this class.
Students with Disabilities
The University of Utah Department of Physics seeks to
provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with
disabilities. If you will need accommodations in this course, reasonable prior
notice must be given to the instructor and to the Center for Disability
Services, 162 Olpin Union Bldg, 581-5020 (V/TDD) (http://disability.utah.edu/) to make
arrangements for accommodations. You are strongly encouraged to come and talk
to the instructor about your disability and necessary accommodations within the
first two weeks of the semester.
If you have any concerns or whatever DO NOT wait until
AFTER the exam to inform us.