course-details-portlet

FY8917 - Solid State Physics, Advanced Course

About

Examination arrangement

Examination arrangement: School exam
Grade: Passed / Not Passed

Evaluation Weighting Duration Grade deviation Examination aids
School exam 100/100 4 hours C

Course content

Electrodynamics, superconductivity, dielectric and magnetic properties, piezoelectricity, ferroelectricity, dia- and paramagnetism, ferro- and antiferromagnetism, magnetic resonance, reduced dimensionality, structure, phase transitions, critical phenomena, mean field theory, linear response theory, fields and susceptibilities, microscopic dynamics.

Learning outcome

Knowledge which should be acquired from the course:

  • Basic understanding of governing interactions of solids and external fields (electromagnetic, mechanical and thermal)
  • Electrodynamics in conducting materials, including electrostatic screening, metal-insulator transitions, electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions.
  • Exchange mechanisms between external electric fields and internal response variables in solids, including phonon-photon coupling and plasma oscillations.
  • Knowledge of various experimental methods for studying band structure, phonons and magnons.
  • Knowledge of first and second order phase transitions and critical phenomena in non-conducting, conducting and magnetic materials.
  • Landau theory and coupling of external fields and internal response through solid state thermodynamics
  • Piezo, pyro- and ferroelectricity, ferroelectric domains and hysteresis
  • Basic knowledge of (low temperature) superconductivity in type I and type II superconductors, and basic introduction to theoretical models of superconductivity (Ginzburg-Landau, BCS).
  • Understanding of dia- and paramagnetic response in solids through a semi-classical approach.
  • Understand magnetic phase transitions and magnetic structures (ferro-, ferri- and anti-ferro magnetism) through mean field and spin wave models
  • Understand phenomena related to magnetic phase transitions, such as domain formation and hysteresis
  • Basic knowledge of magnetic resonance (NMR)

Skills that should be acquired through the course:

  • Ability to perform quantitative calculations on electromagnetic, mechanical and thermodynamic properties of solids.
  • Mastering of the semi-classical approach and mean field models
  • Mastering the use of Fourier transforms and wave-based descriptions of dynamical response in solids.

General competence developed through the course:

  • Knowledge of established models in condensed matter physics
  • Knowledge on some of the most central and active research areas in condensed matter physics
  • Basic understanding of critical phenomena in solids

Learning methods and activities

Lectures and written problems. The course will be given in English if students on the international master program in Physics are attending the course.

Further on evaluation

Exam registration requires course registration same semester. A re-sit examination may be changed from written to oral. When lectures and lecture material are in English, the exam may be given in English only.

Specific conditions

Admission to a programme of study is required:
Physics (PHFY)

Course materials

Charles Kittel: Introduction to Solid State Physics, Wiley 2005.

Supporting literature: Stephen Elliott: The Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Wiley, 1998; Neil W. Ashcroft and N. David Mermin: Solid State Physics, HRW intl. ed, 1976. Gert Strobl: Condensed Matter Physics, Springer, 2003. Giuseppe Grosso and Giuseppe P. Parravicini, Solid State Physics, Academic Press, 2000.

Credit reductions

Course code Reduction From To
TFY4245 7.5 AUTUMN 2017
More on the course

No

Facts

Version: 1
Credits:  7.5 SP
Study level: Doctoral degree level

Coursework

Term no.: 1
Teaching semester:  SPRING 2025

Language of instruction: English

Location: Trondheim

Subject area(s)
  • Physics
  • Technological subjects
Contact information
Course coordinator: Lecturer(s):

Department with academic responsibility
Department of Physics

Examination

Examination arrangement: School exam

Term Status code Evaluation Weighting Examination aids Date Time Examination system Room *
Autumn ORD School exam 100/100 C INSPERA
Room Building Number of candidates
Spring ORD School exam 100/100 C INSPERA
Room Building Number of candidates
  • * The location (room) for a written examination is published 3 days before examination date. If more than one room is listed, you will find your room at Studentweb.
Examination

For more information regarding registration for examination and examination procedures, see "Innsida - Exams"

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