Offering a thorough introduction to solid-state physics, this textbook combines clear explanations with a unique teaching approach to engage readers. It not only covers fundamental concepts but also highlights the historical context of key figures in the field. Designed to motivate students, it serves as both a primer for advanced study and a quick refresher for exam preparation, making it an ideal resource for undergraduates seeking to deepen their understanding of the subject.
How do superconductors function? What's unique about semiconductors? A look at developments over the past 50 years of solid state physics and material science, written comprehensibly even for non-scientists. The author presents pioneering works by researchers in the fields of chemistry, physics and material science, drawing on authentic quotations and extracts from partly unpublished records to create an entertaining, descriptive and exciting expedition through the world of solid state physics.
The physics of vortices in classical fluids has long been significant in both fundamental science and engineering. Approximately 50 years ago, vortices emerged as quantum mechanical entities derived from a macroscopic wavefunction, with key contributions from R. Feynman, L. Onsager, L. D. Landau, F. London, V. L. Ginzburg, and A. A. Abrikosov. Recently, the study of vortices has expanded into unconventional superconductors and superfluids, characterized by anisotropic and complex order parameters. This book addresses this latest evolution in vortex physics. It comprises 20 chapters, each authored by experts in their respective fields, focusing on the microscopic structure and dynamics of vortices across various systems, including superfluids, superconductors, and neutron stars. Each chapter offers an introduction and overview, highlighting both theoretical and experimental work, and includes references to recent and foundational studies. This approach ensures that non-expert readers can also gain insights from the material. Consequently, the book serves as a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students interested in vortex physics in unconventional superconductors and superfluids, and it may also be used as supplementary material for graduate courses in low-temperature solid-state physics.
The first edition of this book provided an introduction to the many static and dynamic features of magnetic flux structures in what are now called classical or low-temperature superconductors. It went out of print not long after the discovery of high-temperature superconductors in 1986 by J. G. Bednorz and K. A. Miiller, a discovery which resulted worldwide in an explosive growth of research and development in the field of superconductivity. Because of this upsurge of activities, a strong demand for this book clearly continued. Since the contents of the fourteen chapters of the first edition are still valid and continue to represent a useful introduction into the various subjects, it was felt that a reprinting of these chapters in this second edition would be highly attractive. In this way, the reader is also able to trace the earlier scienti fic developments, themselves constituting important ideas sometimes forgot ten by the new community dealing with high-temperature superconductivity. However, because of the exciting and important recent progress in the field of high-temperature superconductivity, an extensive chapter has been added in this second edition. It provides a summary of the new developments and a discussion of the highlights. Here keywords such as vortex matter, vortex imaging, and half-integer magnetic flux quanta describe surprising new issues.
