Course program

Classical Drude theory for the conductivity of metals. Fermi-Dirac distribution and the Drude-Sommerfeld theory of metals.
Crystals and crystal lattices. Bravais lattices, with and without poly-atomic basis, notable examples.
The reciprocal lattice of a Bravais lattice, notable examples. Miller indices for denoting crystal faces.
Elements of X-ray diffraction theory for the determination of crystal structures. Structure factor and form factor for poly-atomic based crystals.
Electronic energy bands in the presence of periodic potentials: Bloch theorem, Fermi surface, density of states and Van Hove singularities.
The nearly-free electron model and resulting electronic energy bands, the tight-binding model for the determination of the electronic band structure. Elements of density-functional theory for the electronic band structure.
The semi-classic theory of motion of electrons in crystal solids. Classification of metals, semi-metals, semi-conductors and insulators.
Semi-classical theory of conductivity in metals. Landau levels for electrons in a uniform magnetic field; the de Haas – van Alphen effect and measurement of the Fermi surface of metals.
Elementary theory of the electron-electron interaction in a solid; the Hartree and Hartree-Fock approximations, electronic correlations, electron screening, Thomas-Fermi theory and Lindhard theory for the electron screening. Elements of Landau theory of Fermi liquids and of the theory of the Mott transition.
Classical and quantum theory of lattice vibrations, the heat capacity of crystal insulators and the Debye-Einstein theory of lattice vibrations. An-harmonic effects in crystals.
Elements of the dielectric properties of insulators and the optical properties of solids.
General theory of semi-conductors, statistics of carriers (electrons and holes), conductivity, doping, impurity levels and conductivity. Doped semi-conductors, theory of the p-n junction.
Diamagnetism and paramagnetism in solids: insulators and metals. Electron interaction and magnetic structure of the magnetic solids, Heisenberg model for the exchange interaction between the elementary magnetic spin moments. Ferromagnetism and anti-ferromagnetism.
Superconductivity: phenomenology, London’s two-fluid model, type-I and type-II superconductors, the Cooper pair problem and elements of BCS and Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconductivity. The Josephson effects, theory of the Josephson junction and of SQUID magnetometry. Brief introduction to copper- and iron-based high-temperature superconductors.

Type of teaching activities

Classroom lectures, including both illustration of theory and applications/examples. Handout of lecture notes.