Electronic Structure of Alloys, Surfaces and Clusters (Advances in Condensed Matter Science) (v. 3) [Hardcover]

Abhijit Mookerjee (Editor), D.D. Sarma (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415272491 | ISBN-13: 978-0415272490 | Publication Date: November 28, 2002 | Edition: 1st

Understanding the electronic structure of solids is a basic part of theoretical investigation in physics. Application of investigative techniques requires the solid under investigation to be "periodic." However, this is not always the case. This volume addresses three classes of "non-periodic" solids currently undergoing the most study: alloys, surfaces and clusters. Understanding the electronic structure of these systems is fundamental not only for the basic science, but also constitutes a very important step in various technological aspects, such as tuning their stabilities, chemical and catalytic reactivities and magnetism. Expert practitioners give an up-to-date account of the field with enough detailed background so that even a newcomer can follow the development. The theoretical framework is discussed in addition to the present status of knowledge in the field. Electronic Structure of Alloys, Surfaces and Clusters also includes an extensive bibliography which provides a comprehensive reading list of work on the topic.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Abhjit Mookerjee is from the S.N. Bose National Center for Basic Sciences in Calcutta, India and D.D. Sharma is of the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, located in Bangalore, India

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press; 1st edition (November 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415272491
• ISBN-13: 978-0415272490
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,736,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book on advanced modeling subjects, July 3, 2005

By 

Newton Ooi (Phoenix, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Electronic Structure of Alloys, Surfaces and Clusters (Advances in Condensed Matter Science) (v. 3) (Hardcover)

This is one of the better books on the use of first-principles calculations to examine solid-state properties. The emphasis of this book is the analysis of non-periodic systems such as free surfaces, clusters, and both ordered and disordered alloys. The book is worth reading for several reasons.

1. There is good coverage of the various ab initio techniques used in electronic structure calculations: tight-binding, plane-wave psuedopotentials, LMTO, LAPW, KKR, Green's Functions, and Car - Parinello molecular dynamics. This coverage includes a thorough listing of important equations without too much math, and comparisons between different methods. The book does assume a basic knowledge of quantum mechanics, specifically operator algebra, so reader beware.

2. There are thorough definitions of the various properties that can be obtained by ab intio calculations. These include good descriptions of the density of states, cohesive energy, and configurational entropy.

3. The book is written more like a textbook than a publication of results. Each chapter focuses on a fairly narrow subject, but includes a thorough overview of the science involved, before getting into the simulation results.

4. The references given at the end of each chapter are very comprehensive, and often include other books written on materials simulations, electronic structure.

The only drawback I could find was in the chapter on recursion methods. This method is not used as often in quantum calculations, and was extremely difficult to understand.

Overall, this was a good book to read, though it is fairly expensive for 370 pages.