PHYSICS 601-602
SOLID STATE PHYSICS
BOOK LIST
2009-2010

Required texts for Physics 601 (Fall Semester) and Physics 602 (Spring Semester)

L. M. Sander Advanced Condensed Matter Physics (Cambridge, 2009)

A very new and untested book. Appears to be well written with good motivations for well selected topics, but often with rather concise treatments.

Marder, Condensed Matter Physics (2000).

A good general text, which covers a large number of topics.

Older graduate-level or near-graduate-level texts

Ashcroft and Mermin, Solid State Physics (1976).

This is one of the best-known books in the field. But it has two important drawbacks. (i) It was originally designed to be somewhere between undergraduate and graduate levels. (ii) It has never been updated, and has become out-of-date in some respects. Still, a very good book.

Ziman, Principles of the Theory of Solids (2nd Edit., 1972).

An older book, with only a few topics. These are done with elegance, but often rather concisely.

Madelung, Introduction to Solid-State Theory (1978).

This book has positive features including (i) its emphasis on elementary excitations, and (ii) the mathematical level including second quantized notation but not Greens functions. However, I find that the author does not give good motivations for what is to be presented, which makes it difficult for many students and others to appreciate its value.

Callaway, Quantum Theory of the Solid State (2nd Edit., 1974).

An older book, rather dry in style, but with many advanced topics treated carefully in a way that is hard to find elsewhere.

Altmann, Band Theory of Solids: An Introduction from the Point of View of Symmetry (1991).

A shorter, more elementary, and more pedagogical treatment of the topics listed in the title.

Older undergraduate-level texts

Kittel, Introduction to Solid-State Physics.

Probably the best-known text in the field. There are many editions; the newest editions are not necessarily the best. The second edition is one of my favorites.

Ibach and Lüth, Solid State Theory (1991).

More modern; good on experimental methods; not very thorough coverage of material.

Newer texts

Kaxiras, Atomic and Electronic Structure of Solids (2003).

A good text, with coverage of many unusual topics, but some gaps in the coverage of standard ones. Many useful and detailed appendices.

Grosso and Parravicini, Solid State Physics (2000).

A good general-purpose text. Chapter 3 gives a good account of free electron theory, and Chapter 4 gives a treatment of electron-electron interactions at about the same level as the 601 class lectures this year.

O'Reilly, Quantum Theory of Solids (2002).

A nice shorter, lighter, paperback text; not very thorough.

Taylor and Heinonen, A Quantum Approach to Condensed Matter Physics (2002).

A good text that includes a mix of important topics. The chapters important for Physics 601 are 4 (One electron theory), 5 (Density functional theory), and 8 (Semiclassical theory of conductivity in metals). Chapters 3, 6, 7 & 11 will be important for Physics 602. Second quantization is used for some of the Physics 602 topics.

Books covering more specialized or advanced topics

Pines, Elementary Excitations in Solids (1963).

An older presentation by an author who has made important contributions to the field. Emphasizes many-particle aspects. Still quite useful.

Martin, Electronic Structure (2004).

This is an advanced presentation of modern computational methods for treating the electronic structure of solids, but with a careful and often nicely pedagogical treatment of the theoretical background needed to understand these methods.

Kittel, Quantum Theory of Solids (1963)

An advanced text of solid state theory by one of the pioneers. Not to be confused with the undergraduate Kittel series by the same author. Contains material that is still to this day useful, and hard to find elsewhere.

Bassani and Parravicini, Electronic States and Optical Transitions in Solids (1975).

A much older book on the theory of electronic bandstructure and optical properties of crystals, with an excellent and quite thorough treatment of symmetries.

Harrison, Electronic Structure and the Properties of Solids: The Physics of the Chemical Bond (1980).

A book on the electronic structure of crystals, emphasizing simple models that give correct qualitative and semiquantitative descriptions of the physics and chemistry.

Philips, Advanced Solid State Physics (2003).

Similar to Taylor and Heinonen, but focuses even more exclusively on electron many-body problems.

Chaiken and Lubensky, Principles of Condensed Matter Physics (2003).

Emphasis is almost entirely on structural, thermodynamic, and dynamical properties; good coverage of theory of "soft matter". Essentially no coverage of electronic properties.

Dove, Structure and Dynamics; An Atomic View of Materials (2003).

Emphasis is on crystal structures, crystal symmetry, lattice dynamics, and structural phase transitions.

Ziman, Models of Disorder (1979).

Focuses on ways to treat disordered and amorphous materials.

Kohanoff, Electronic Structure Calculations for Solids and Molecules (2006).

A nicely written modern introduction to computational electronic structure theory.

Ziman, Electrons and Phonons

An excellent, but dated, treatise on transport properties of real solids.

Books on Superconductivity

Tinkham, Introduction to Superconductivity (2nd edition, paperback, 2004).

Emphasizes experimental aspects.

Schrieffer, Theory of Superconductivity (Reprinted 1983).

Emphasizes the microscopic theory.

Lynton, Superconductivity (1971).

Emphasizes the phenomenological Landau theory.

Parks, Superconductivity (1969).

Early two-volume set of review papers.

Rickayzen, Theory of Superconductivity (1965).

More advanced and formal.

DeGennes

Good treatment of type II superconductivity.