Condensed Matter Theory (PHY411)
Course schedule:
- Lectures: Thu 10:15 - 12:00, room Y36-K-08 (from 23.02 until 24.05)
- Exercises: Wed 10:15 - 11:00, room Y36-K-08 (from 29.02 until 30.05)
Course program:
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1 Electrons in metals: methods and approximations.
- 1.2 Non-interacting fermions: specific heat, electrical and thermal
conductivities, Wiedemann-Franz law.
- 2. Symmetries of electronic states in crystals.
- 2.1 Groups and their representations.
- 2.2 Crystal symmetries and degeneracies of energy bands.
- 3. Electron-electron interactions.
- 3.1 Second quantization, introduction to diagrammatic methods.
- 3.2 Hartree-Fock approximation.
- 3.3 Random-phase approximation and screening of Coulomb interactions.
- 3.4 Landau Fermi liquid theory.
- 3.5 Numerical approaches: density functional theory, local density approximation.
- 4. Phonons and electron-phonon interactions.
- 4.1 Phonons. Specific heat of phonons.
- 4.2 Resistivity due to phonons.
- 4.3 Attraction between electrons mediated by phonons.
- 5. BCS theory of superconductivity.
- 5.1 BCS Hamiltonian and mean-field approximation.
- 5.2 BCS ground state, Cooper pairs, quasiparticles.
- 5.3 Relation between the transition temperature and the zero-temperature gap.
Recommended books:
- [AM] N.W.Ashcroft and N.D.Mermin, Solid State Physics.
- [Mar] M.P.Marder, Condensed Matter Physics.
Course organization:
- Final exam: oral.
- Requirement: completed 8 out of 12 problem sets.
