Condensed Matter Physics: Crystals, Liquids, Liquid Crystals, and Polymers by Gert Strobl and S.P. Brown

Condensed Matter Physics: Crystals, Liquids, Liquid Crystals, and Polymers

Features

Cover Type: Paperback with 381 pages

Published by: Springer

Edition: 1st Edition September 29, 2003

Written in: English

ISBN 10 Number: 3540003533

ISBN 13 Number: 978-3540003533

Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches

Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Product Review

From the reviews:

From "Applied Rheology", Vol. 14/2, 2004, p. 81:

" 'Condensed Matter Physics' is one of few books covering both hard and soft condensed matter on a graduate studies level. Strobl's book provides an excellent, well organized introduction to the basics of condensed matter physics. Although the topic is approached from a physicist's point of view and ca. one half is devoted to crystals, the book will not only be of high value for physics students. Other scientists and engineers who need to learn about hard or soft condensed matter will find it very helpful as well."

"This is a translation of the original German edition. It is a textbook covering the lectures given by the author at the University of Freiburg. The presentation is very concise with due insistence on the interrelations between the various phenomena and concepts. As such it provides a good introduction to the physics of condensed matter which will be of value to a broad audience of scientists." (Marc Baus, Physicalia, Vol. 57 (3), 2005)

"The underlying aim of the book is to cover the whole of condensed matter in a form which is concise enough to be the basis of an undergraduate course. As someone who has worked in solid state physics I found the book quite stimulating. an admirable book which fully succeeds in its basic aim and would be of interest to many already working in the field . would integrate well into the course structure of many Physics Departments." (Dr. M. Blamire, Contemporary Physics, Vol. 46 (2), 2005)

"Even though exciting new fields open up in bio- and polymer physics, few textbooks so far cover soft matter adequately. In this sense, Strobl follows a very modern approach for undergraduate teaching by trying a unified treatment of "condensed matter" properties. This is a tribute to the increasing importance of life sciences and modern materials sciences, which do no more focus on simple structures such as perfect crystals, but handle a continious spectrum of pure liquids, solutions, liquid crystals, amorphous rubbers and glasses, nanocrystals, and finally perfect solids. As is intended by the author, the book distinguishes from similar volumes by putting emphasis on polymers and liquid crystals, and especially by combining elementary physics with modern and ambitious thematic."Condensed Matter Physics" is a clearly structured and well-written textbook which may certainly be recommended for undergraduate students not only in experimental physics but also in materials and engineering sciences. Like many other good textbooks, it benefits from the great experience of the lecturer in presentation and, last but not least, from valuable exercises at the end of the parts with corresponding solutions in the appendix." (Walter Langel, Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry, 2006)

Product Description

Derived from lectures at the University of Freiburg, this textbook introduces solid-state physics as well as the physics of liquids, liquid crystals and polymers. The five chapters deal with the key characteristics of condensed matter: structures, susceptibilities, molecular fields, currents, and dynamics. The author strives to present and explain coherently the terms and concepts associated with the main properties and characteristics of condensed matter, while minimizing attention to extraneous details. As a result, this text provides the firm and broad basis of understanding that readers require for further study and research.

Reader Reviews
Gert Strobl provides a comprehensive and coherent presention of ideas on structure, susceptibilities, molecular fields and phase transitions, charge and currents and on dynamics of condensed matter physics. Like the text by Chaikin and Lubensky, this text best serves the interests of Physicists, though Strobl manages to present things more simply. This also means it is less exhaustive, and less mathematically intensive. What is most remarkable about the book is the way it allows the reader to make connections between the behavior of liquids, crystals, polymers and liquid crystals. The analogies between these seemingly distinct classes of matter are extremely insightful. Each chapter selectively treats one aspect of condensed matter, say like chapter on phase transitions or on moduli and susceptibility brings out the role of underlying structure in determining the response of a range of materials. This is one of the very few books on condensed matter that talk about charges and currents, and solid state physics in the same vein as polymer and liquid crystal physics. Though the conductivity in polymers is not covered, the basics discussed would be helpful to reader in making meaningful analogies. The greatest utility of the book is that it can act as a bridge that a physicist or a theorist can use to learn about other areas of condensed matter and how his understanding translates to other systems. For an experimentalist or an engineer the description allows him to learn the language that his peers doing theory or working in related topics, different materials speak in. While I will prefer the text by Daoud and Williams as introductory text, and the one by Chaikin and Lubensky is unparalleled in its content, Strobl's book is a good treatise to be read on its own merit. Comment | | (Report this)

List Price: $59.95
Available from Amazon
Price: $59.95
Updated on 6-4-2008.