Condensed Matter Theory

Lecturer: Prof. dr. M. I. Katsnelson

M.Katsnelson@science.ru.nl

Room HG03.062, phone 52995

♦ 30 hours lecture, 30 hours tutorial

♦ Required knowledge: Bachelor Courses “Quantum Mechanics” and “Statistical Physics”

♦ Goals: The course is focused on the concept of quasiparticles and many-body effects in condensed matter theory (including magnetism, superconductivity, superfluidity, metal-insulator transitions, etc.).

♦ Subjects

• Types of condensed matter. General quantum-mechanical problem of a crystal. Adiabatic approximation.

• Lattice dynamics. Phonons as prototype quasiparticles. Scattering by the lattice and correlation functions. Anharmonic phenomena.

• Conduction electrons in solids. The effect of external electric and magnetic fields on the Bloch states. Zener breakdown. Quantum oscillation phenomena (de Haas-van Alphen, Shubnikov-de Haas effects). Quantum Hall effect.

• Plasma phenomena in solids. Plasmons as an example of collective excitations. Landau theory of Fermi liquids. Mott transitions and the restrictions of the band theory of crystals.

• Magnetism, exchange interactions, spin waves. Types of magnetic ordering, quantum theory of ferro- and antiferromagnets. Interaction of conduction electrons with spins. Kondo effect.

• Superconductivity. Phenomenological theory of superconductivity. Flux quantization. Josephson effect. Cooper pairing and the BCS theory.

• Bose-Einstein condensation and superfluidity. The model of nonideal Bose gas. Feynman variational approach to the superfluidity of He⁴.

♦ Literature

• S. V. Vonsovsky and M. I. Katsnelson. Quantum solid state physics.

• C. Kittel. Quantum theory of solids.

• R. P. Feynman. Statistical mechanics.