Introduction to Condensed Matter Physics (2018-19)

Instructor Name: Sumiran Pujari

Course Type: Theory (Core)

No. of credits: 6


Course Code: PH 310

Semester: Spring

Pre-requisites:

Formal: None

Informal: QM 1, QM 2, it also uses a lot of concepts from statistical mechanics which is done along the course

Course Content:

• Specific Heats of Solids, Electrons in Metals (Drude and Sommerfield Theory)
• 1D Toy Models (Vibrations and Tight Binding Models)
• Crystal Structures, Reciprocal Lattices, Brillouin Zones
• Diffraction from Solids, Bloch's Theorem, Semiconductor Physics
• Berry Phases and it's application in Condensed Matter Sytems

Other topics covered:

Books:

1. The Oxford Solid State Basics (By Steven H. Simon)

This book is beyond amazing. The author describes everything in the exact amount of detail that the first course of CMP requires. There are solutions available to the problem sets in the book which are also useful to understand the concepts. The books are also complemented by a lecture series available online. (However, the book covers much more than lectures). The only problem is that the exam papers are not based on this book or the problem set therein.
2. Quantum Mechanics by JJ Sakurai.
Useful for understanding Berry Phase. 

Lectures (attendance policy, slides/blackboard, quality, etc):

No attendance policy. 

Prof only used the board and very rarely uploaded supplementary articles (which were way too advanced and mostly not needed for course). 

The lectures were a bit unclear in the sense that the professor only did partial calculations in class. 

Also, doubts when asked usually went into parallel long discussions. 

Assignments/Tutorials (grading policy, difficulty level):

There is a 25 % cutoff for passing the course. Above that the grading is relative and typically top two get a 10. Full statistics can be checked on Asc. 

The exams were pretty difficult in the sense that they were made of questions outside those discussed in reference book and required a thorough understanding of the subject and also had some reference to stuff discussed in class. 

Exams and Grading (No. of quizzes considered, weightage etc):

Quiz 1 - 15%

Midsem - 22.5%
Quiz 2 - 22.5 %
Endsem - 40%

Online material: Feynmann lectures on physics (some questions were directly from the concepts built up in the lectures)

Follow-up Courses:

PH 522: Theoretical CMP

EP 409: Applied Solid State Physics
EP 431: Semiconductor Physics
PH 413: Adv. Stat. mech

Pro-tips:  

Do attend the lectures. It becomes difficult to follow if you have not understood the previous concept, however, it is important to at least know what has been done in the class as it will be useful in the exams.

As you can see from the follow-up courses possible, this course is very important for other topics. Many concepts in theoretical physics originate/have some relation to some theory in Condensed Matter Physics. 

Do not underestimate this course.

Personal Comments: Tutorials make all the difference in this course. Also, a slow and thorough reading of the textbook will take you not more than 4 hrs per chapter but you'll understand almost everything. 

Respondent: Keshav Janyani