Electronic Structure: Basic Theory and Practical Methods

by Richard M. Martin

The study of the electronic structure of materials is at a momentous stage, with the emergence of new computational methods and theoretical approaches. This volume provides an introduction to the field and describes its conceptual framework, the capabilities of present methods, limitations, and challenges for the future. Many properties of materials can now be determined directly from the fundamental equations of quantum mechanics, bringing new insights into critical problems in physics, chemistry, and materials science.

Genres: Physics, Chemistry

650 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Professor Richard Martin obtained his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1969, after earning a S.B. in engineering physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1964. He worked as a member of the technical staff at Bell Labs (1969-71) and then as a principal scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center and a consulting professor at Stanford University. He joined the physics faculty at the University of Illinois in 1988. In 2007 he retired from the University of Illinois. He now lives in Palo Alto, CA and is a consulting professor in the Department of Applied Physics at Stanford.
A distinguished theorist who has made seminal contributions to our understanding of the electronic properties of solids, Professor Martin has used complicated formal analyses, novel computational techniques, phenomenological analyses, and the interpretation of experiments to elucidate the electronic structure of complex materials.

Reviews

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[William Wenborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly a note: I am a theoretical physicist who does DF(P)T, no other condensed matter codes or techniques are very known to me so understand this review from that standpoint:
I've had to reconsider my rating and give it 4 stars. While the book is great at giving you as much information as possible, it does so usually with little explanation in some sections, while giving a lengthy derivation in others.
This is to be expected as the second edition has 762 pages. However, I do want to stress that the references are always given, and I strongly suggest the reader to look up these publications and read them themselves, especially in chapter 1-3 where the fundamentals are explained. Alongside the book it will give a strong foundation upon which a person can understand DF(P)T.

Lastly, it's makes (very) good reference material, if one want to look something up quickly to refresh memory or get a basic grasp on some concepts, this is a very good book for it.