PHZ 7427 Solid State 2 — Spring 2010
| Class Meetings | Monday, Wednesday, Friday period 7 (1:55–2:45 p.m.) in NPB 1011 |
| Instructor | Prof. Kevin Ingersent, NPB 2162 (392-8748, ingersent@ufl.edu) |
| Office Hours | Mon, Wed, Fri 3:00–4:00 p.m.; Tue, Thu 2:00–4:00 p.m.; or any time the door to NPB 2162 is open |
| Web Page | www.phys.ufl.edu/~kevin/teaching/7427/ |
| Required Text | none |
Summary: PHZ 7427 is the second course in the graduate condensed matter physics curriculum. It is aimed at students who already have a working knowledge of the single-particle properties of electrons (band structure) and of harmonic lattice vibrations (phonons). The course introduces collective phenomena in solids, including electron-electron interactions, magnetism, electron-phonon interactions, superconductivity, and transport in disordered and low-dimensional systems.
The course will begin with a presentation of second quantization, the language used to describe almost almost all "hard" (quantum-mechanical) condensed matter systems. The ideas of scaling and the renormalization group will be introduced during the semester. However, Green's functions and field theoretical techniques will not be used. Theoretical concepts and their experiment manifestations will be closely tied.
Aim: On completion of this course, you should have a sound understanding of key concepts in contemporary condensed matter physics, and be better prepared to participate in seminars and conduct experimental or theoretical research in the field.
Prerequisites: You should have successfully completed (1) quantum mechanics at the level of PHY 6645 and PHY 6646, and (2) introductory solid-state state physics at the level of PHZ 6426. If you have any doubt about your preparation, you should consult the instructor as early as possible in the semester.
Text: There is no required text for this course. There are a number of books that may provide useful amplification of, or alternatives to, the presentation of material in class:
- Advanced Solid State Physics, P. Phillips (Westview Press, 2002). This was the required text for PHZ 7427 in Spring 2009, but it currently has limited availability. The course will generally (but not invariably) follow the order of topics in Phillips. However, the book does not cover standard topics in magnetism.
- Solid State Physics, N. W. Ashroft and N. D. Mermin (Thompson Learning, 1976). Since this is the PHZ 6426 text, you likely have access to it. Covers the main topics in magnetism.
- Interacting Electrons and Quantum Magnetism, A. Auerbach (Springer-Verlag, 1994). Covers some topics in magnetism in greater depth than Ashcroft and Mermin, but still at a level appropriate for the course.
- A Quantum Approach to Condensed Matter Physics, P. L. Taylor and O. Heinonen (Cambridge University Press, 2002). More qualitative than Phillips, but provides a nice introduction to the quantum Hall effect.
Homework: Five homeworks will be assigned during the course of the semester. You will have at least two weeks to complete each assignment. No credit will be awarded for any assignment submitted after the solutions have been made available to the class.
You will get the most from the course if you start out by making a good-faith effort at tackling each homework problem on your own. However, if you get stuck, feel free to discuss your conceptual or technical difficulties with other students or with the instructor.
Collaboration plays an essential role in science. You are encouraged to work with other members of the class to understand how to solve the homework problems, and you are likely to learn more by studying cooperatively. However, there are two strict requirements for each homework set: (1) You must list all your collaborators, just as you would on a scientific paper. For this purpose, a "collaborator" is anyone (other than the course instructor) who assisted you or with whom you worked on the homework set in question. Listing many collaborators will not reduce your homework score, but it is important to acknowledge everyone who contributed. (2) You must write up the final version of each problem yourself, presenting the solution in your own words. Blind copying of another student's solution is plagiarism, a form of academic dishonesty.
Your submitted homework solutions should explain your reasoning clearly but concisely, cite the source of any results given without proof, and be legible and reasonably neat. Deficiencies in any of these areas may result in deductions from the score you receive. You will receive credit, not for what you know, but rather for what you demonstrate you know by writing it in your solution.
Student presentation: Towards the end of the course, each student will give a 20–25 minute talk to the class on a topic chosen by the student (subject to approval of the instructor). It is planned to hold these talks outside regular class hours. More details will be provided nearer the time.
Exams: There will be no exams in this course.
Grades: The overall course score will be composed 80% from the homework scores and 20% from the student presentation. There will be no rigid point scale or grade curve used to assign letter grades for the course. A competent performance on all assignments will earn an "A" grade.
Attendance Policy: Attendance at class is strongly recommended. If you miss a lecture, you are responsible for staying informed of the material covered and any announcements made in class. (Many announcements will also be posted on the Web, and may be accessed by following the Announcements link from the course Web page.)
Accommodations: Students requesting classroom accommodations must first register with the Disabilities Resources Center, 0001 Reid Hall. The Disabilities Resources Center will provide documentation to the student, who must then deliver this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodations.
Academic Honesty: All University of Florida students are required to abide by the University's Academic Honesty Guidelines and by the Honor Code, which reads as follows:
We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: "On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment."
Cheating, plagiarism, or other violations of the Academic Honesty Guidelines will not be tolerated and will be pursued through the University's adjudication procedures.