This book is the first of a three-volume series written by the same author. It aims to deliver a comprehensive and self-contained account of the fundamentals of the physics of solids. In the presentation of the properties and experimentally observed phenomena together with the basic concepts and theoretical methods, it goes far beyond most classic texts. The essential features of various experimental techniques are also explained. The text provides material for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses. It will also be a valuable reference for researchers in the field of condensed matter physics.
This ground-breaking new book is the first of a three-volume series written by the same author that plugs a real gap in the literature. It delivers a comprehensive account of the fundamentals of the physics of solids and is thus unique in the field.
The reader is holding the ?rst volume of a three-volume textbook on sol- state physics. This book is the outgrowth of the courses I have taught for many years at E?tv?s University, Budapest, for undergraduate and graduate students under the titles Solid-State Physics and Modern Solid-State Physics. The main motivation for the publication of my lecture notes as a book was that none of the truly numerous textbooks covered all those areas that I felt should be included in a multi-semester course. Especially, if the course strives to present solid-state physics in a uni?ed structure, and aims at d- cussing not only classic chapters of the subject matter but also (in more or less detail) problems that are of great interest for todays researcher as well. Besides, the book presents a much larger material than what can be covered in a two- or three-semester course. In the ?rst part of the ?rst volume the analysis of crystal symmetries and structure goes into details that certainly cannot be included in a usual course on solid-state physics. The same applies, among others, to the discussion of thl%