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  Books for Condensed Matter Physics

+ 5 like - 0 dislike
3779 views

What are some good condensed matter physics books that can fill the gap between Ashcroft & Mermin and research papers? Suggestions for any specialized topics (such as superconductivity, CFT, topological insulators) are welcomed.


This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2014-03-24 05:11 (UCT), posted by SE-user leongz

asked Mar 8, 2012 in Resources and References by leongz (70 points) [ revision history ]
recategorized Apr 24, 2014 by dimension10

4 Answers

+ 4 like - 0 dislike

To cover that gap you will have to study many-body physics.

Similar level than Ashcroft-Mervin (although modern and complete)

Many-Body Physics (General)

A good introduction, it covers lots of topics although notation is a bit old-fashioned. Some chapters are not very good (skip the quantum Hall effect chapter!).

Very good and cheap, specially if you want to learn Feynman diagrams applied to condensed matter physics problem.

A russian classic by one of the masters. Also a bit old fashioned and not very easy for beginners but covers all the basics.

Already mentioned in the other answer. For a path-integral approach to condensed matter physics.

Very well-written and easy reading. Similar to the first one (Mahan).

Quantum Hall Effects

I don't like it very much, very sloppy with notation.

The first chapters are a good overview of quantum Hall effects. Also it is obviously biased towards Jain's theory of composite fermions (as its title reflects!) and so full of hand-waving arguments to try to justify it.

Not easy to find, I like it though because it covers all the experimental stuff you need to know.

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2014-03-24 05:11 (UCT), posted by SE-user DaniH
answered Mar 8, 2012 by DaniH (60 points) [ no revision ]
+ 3 like - 0 dislike

http://www.amazon.com/Condensed-Matter-Theory-Alexander-Altland/dp/0521769752/ref=pd_sim_b_3 Has a lot of example systems to be explored.

Classic book on superconductivity http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Superconductivity-Second-Dover-Physics/dp/0486435032/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331176528&sr=1-1

enjoy =)

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2014-03-24 05:11 (UCT), posted by SE-user pcr
answered Mar 8, 2012 by pcr (65 points) [ no revision ]
+ 2 like - 0 dislike
This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2014-03-24 05:11 (UCT), posted by SE-user Vijay Murthy
answered Mar 8, 2012 by Vijay Murthy (90 points) [ no revision ]
+ 2 like - 0 dislike

General Condensed Matter

In some areas a successor to Ashcroft & Mermin

Condensed matter at low temperatures

Magnetism

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2014-03-24 05:11 (UCT), posted by SE-user Alexander
answered Mar 8, 2012 by Alexander (20 points) [ no revision ]
I recently discovered Marder and must say it's marvelous. I hope it will someday replace Ashcroft & Mermin in standard condensed matter education.

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2014-03-24 05:11 (UCT), posted by SE-user Lagerbaer

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