Conceptual Foundations of Materials
Author | : Steven G. Louie |
Publisher | : Elsevier Science Limited |
Total Pages | : 234 |
Release | : 2006 |
ISBN-10 | : 0444509763 |
ISBN-13 | : 9780444509765 |
Rating | : 4/5 (63 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Although some of the basics and models for solids were developed in the early part of the last century by figures such as Bloch, Pauli, Fermi, and Slater, the field of electronic structure theory went through a phenomenal growth during the past two decades, leading to new concepts, understandings, and predictive capabilities for determining the ground- and excited-state properties of real, complex materials from first principles. For example, theory can now be used to predict the existence and properties of materials not previously realized in nature or in the laboratory. Computer experiments can be performed to examine the behavior of individual atoms in a particular process, to analyze the importance of different mechanisms, or just to see what happen if one varies the interactions and parameters in the simulation.-