Physics 4304-5309 Announcement Page

Major Calendar Items; A. Thanksgiving Break: Wednesday, November 25-Sunday, November 29 (Yes, there is class Mon., Nov. 23!); B. Last Class: Wednesday, December 9!! Final Exam (take home) will be distributed. Qualitative over the material from the mid-term to the Homework #5 material (see below). Quantitative (problems) on material after that.; C. Final Exam Week: Friday, December 11 - Wednesday, December 16; Presentations will take place. I want to put the schedule on the calendar right after Thanksgiving!; Take Home Final Exam Due: Wednesday, December 16!; Paper is due: Wednesday, December 16!; Topics to the End of the Course; A. Electronic Bands (Ch. 7 of Kittel + other sources): Fri., Nov. 20 & Finish Mon., Nov. 23!!; B. Semiconductors (Overview! Ch. 8 of Kittel + other sources): Mon., Nov. 30 + Wed., Dec. 2 + Fri., Dec. 4? For more details on Semiconductors, take Semiconductor Physics, Physics 5335, to be offered Fall, 2010. Look at the webpage for that course Here.; C. Fermi Surfaces & Metals? (Overview! Ch. 9 of Kittel + other sources): Mon., Dec. 7 + Wed., Dec. 9; OR (Class choice)!; D. Superconductivity? (Overview only! Ch. 10 of Kittel + other sources): Mon., Dec. 7 + Wed., Dec. 9 (last class!); 1. Homework # 5: The assignment is Here. Since the time in the semester is now short, this is the last homework. It covers material from both Phonons II. Thermal Properties topics (Kittel, Ch. 5) & Free Electron Fermi Gas (Kittel, Ch. 6) topics. It is about twice as long as the other assignments, but it also will be weighted twice as much in the homework grade as the others & it is not due until the last class day, Wednesday, December 9.; 2. ASAP!!! Read Ch. 7 (Energy Bands) of Kittel!!! For this chapter, I'm bringing in a considerable amount of material from outside of Kittel. I want to finish this Monday, November 23!; 3. ASAP!!! Read Ch. 8 (Semiconductors) of Kittel!!! For this chapter, I'll bring in a considerable amount of material from outside of Kittel. This will be an overview only! We'll spend about 3 lectures on it: Mon., Nov. 30 + Wed., Dec. 2 + Fri., Dec. 4? For more details on Semiconductors, take Semiconductor Physics, Physics 5335, to be offered Fall, 2010. Look at the webpage for that course Here.; 4. Final Exam: This will be a take home exam. It will be qualitative & similar in format for material from the mid-term to the Homework #5 material (see above). It will also have quantitative problems on material after Ch. 6 of Kittel. I'll give it to you Wednesday, December 9 & it will be due Wednesday, December 16.
: 5. Semester Project: A Library Research Project (for Graduate Students in Physics 5304!) is due near semester's end. See Syllabus. This is a Library Research Paper plus a Presentation on the same subject. It should be on an advanced topic or application of Solid State Physics that we don’t have time for in class.; The paper is due at 5pm, Wednesday, December 16!; Presentations will take place during Final Exam Week: Friday, December 11 - Wednesday, December 16; I want to put the schedule on the calendar right after Thanksgiving!; 6. Textbooks: Primary: Introduction to Solid State Physics, by Charles Kittel. The 8^th Edition is REQUIRED!!; 8^th Edition Webpage. (John Wiley & sons, 2005). ISBN-10: 047141526X, ISBN-13: 9780471415268.; Major portions of the lectures come from it. Topics will be discussed in approximately the order as the table of contents. Material from the supplemental books & from many other sources will be used. Numerous sources exist. [A Google search on "Introduction to Solid State Physics" gives ~135,000 hits! Click Here.] This book has been the world standard introductory solid state physics text for 50+ years! It emphasizes physics rather than formal mathematics. It's available at bookstores & on-line, in hardbound or paperback. New, used, & "international" versions are possible. The "official" on-line publisher price is $131.95! [Shopping on-line, it's lower! Amazon has it for $98.44. A quick search finds prices of $5 (used) to $186!] I urge you to shop around & find the best price. Given the cost, wouldn't it be worthwhile to READ IT???; Supplemental Books: Having these is optional. Portions of the course will use some of the information in them.; A. Elementary Solid State Physics: Principles and Applications, by M. Ali Omar. 4^th Edition Webpage.; (Addison-Wesley, 1994). ISBN-10: 0201607336, ISBN-13: 9780201607338.; B. Solid State Physics, by Neil W. Ashcroft & N. David Mermin. Book Webpage.; (Thomson, 1976). ISBN-10: 0030839939, ISBN-13: 978-0030839931.; 7. EMAIL: A distribution list exists! If you are on my list & don't receive my messages, something's wrong. Possibilities are that it went to your junk (spam) box or that your mailbox is full. An announcement Here gives further discussion. I make announcements by email!! It's vital that I have your correct email address, that you tell me if it changes, & that you check your email DAILY!!

8. ATTENDANCE: The weekend DOESN'T start Friday! I don't take roll & have no specific attendance policy. But, isn't it obvious that (unless you're a genius!) attendance is REQUIRED to get a good grade (or to LEARN SOMETHING!)? There is a

correlation between class attendance & grades.

Miscellaneous Topics

1. Dr. Myles: Do you want to know more about him (education, experience, research, personal, etc.)? See his Homepage & Research Page.

A page about his Future Teaching is Here.

2. Physics Contributions of 20^thCentury Women! Did you ever wonder why there aren't more women physicists?

Actually, a number of women made very important contributions to many areas of physics in the 1900's.

Here is a website which discusses this in detail!

3. Some Solid State (& Semiconductor) Physics Pioneers Web Pages:

I. Nobel Prize in Physics, 1956 for the invention of the transistor!

a. John Bardeen, Bardeen Tribute

b. Walter Brattain, Brattain Tribute

c. William Shockley, Shockley Tribute , Shockley Wierdness

II. Nobel Prize in Physics, 2000 for the invention of the integrated circuit!

a. Zhores I. Alferov, Alferov Tribute

b. Jack S. Kilby, Kilby Tribute

c. Herbert Kroemer, Kroemer Tribute

4. Click Here for a link to solid state physics java applets.

These are interactive animations which can teach you some basics about solid state physics.

5. Click Here for a link to the "Britney Spears' Guide to Semiconductor Physics" (no kidding!).

6. Physics News: a. Physics Central (for the public). b. Focus News (advanced level) from the APS.

8. Click Here to see the Top 10 most influential people of the last 1000 years. 4 of them made contributions to physics!

(Borrowed from Dr. Tom Gibson!).

9. Click Here to see that Physics can be Fun!