Designed to sit alongside more conventional established condensed matter physics textbooks, this compact volume offers a concise presentation of the principles of solid state theory, ideal for advanced students and researchers requiring an overview or a quick refresher on a specific topic. The book starts from the one-electron theory of solid state physics, moving through electron-electron interaction and many-body approximation schemes, to lattice oscillations and their interactions with electrons. Subsequent chapters discuss transport theory and optical properties, phase transitions and some properties of low-dimensional semiconductors. This extensively expanded second edition includes new material on adiabatic perturbation theory, kinetic coefficients, the Nyquist theorem, Bose condensation, and the field-theoretical approach to non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics. Throughout the text, mathematical proofs are often only sketched, and the final chapter of the book reviews some of the key concepts and formulae used in theoretical physics. Aimed primarily at graduate and advanced undergraduate students taking courses on condensed matter theory, the book serves as a study guide to reinforce concepts learned through conventional solid state texts. Researchers and lecturers will also find it a useful resource as a concise set of notes on fundamental topics.

Autorentext

Ladislaus-Alexander Banyai obtained his PhD in Theoretical Physics at the Institute of Physics of the Academy in Bucharest in 1967. Since 1984 he has been at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of Frankfurt, and in 1997 became APl Professor. His research interests are in elementary particle physics, quantum field theory, non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, confined systems, ultrafast spectroscopy in semiconductors, quantum kinetics and Bose-Einstein condensation. He has written or edited four books, including Semiconductor Quantum Dots (World Scientific, 1993, with Stephan Koch) and Non-Equilibrium Theory of Condensed Matter (World Scientific, 2006).

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