Eleftherios N. Economou Knihy

This book takes the reader for a short journey over the structures of matter showing that their main properties can be obtained even at a quantitative level with a minimum background knowledge. The latter, besides some high school physics and mathematics, consists of the three cornerstones of science presented in chapters 1 to 3, namely the atomic idea, the wave-particle duality, and the minimization of energy as the condition for equilibrium. Dimensional analysis employing the universal constants and combined with “a little imagination and thinking”, to quote Feynman, allows an amazing short-cut derivation of several quantitative results concerning the structures of matter. This book is expected to be of interest to physics, engineering, and other science students and to researchers in physics, material science, chemistry, and engineering who may find stimulating the alternative derivation of several real world results, which sometimes seem to pop out the magician’s hat.

Focusing on the structures of matter, this book presents a quantitative approach accessible with basic calculus and physics knowledge. It emphasizes dimensional analysis and core scientific concepts like atomic theory and wave-particle duality. The second edition enhances clarity with new material and detailed derivations, making it more student-friendly. It includes multiple-choice questions and problems, making it suitable as a textbook for students in physics, engineering, and related fields, as well as researchers seeking innovative derivations of real-world results.

Solid State Physics emphasizes a few fundamental principles and extracts from them a wealth of information. This approach also unifies an enormous and diverse subject which seems to consist of too many disjoint pieces. The book starts with the absolutely minimum of formal tools, emphasizes the basic principles, and employs physical reasoning („ a little thinking and imagination“ to quote R. Feynman) to obtain results. Continuous comparison with experimental data leads naturally to a gradual refinement of the concepts and to more sophisticated methods. After the initial overview with an emphasis on the physical concepts and the derivation of results by dimensional analysis, The Physics of Solids deals with the Jellium Model (JM) and the Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals (LCAO) approaches to solids and introduces the basic concepts and information regarding metals and semiconductors.

This book will be of interest to advanced students wishing to become familiar with the method of Green's functions for obtaining simple and general solutions to basic problems in quantum physics.