Fundamentals of Condensed Matter Physics

Abstract

[evdate 2011-09-05] IAS Distinguished Lecture.

Abstract: Prof Cohen begins with an introduction to the background of the development of the conceptual basis for the field. For example, one view of solids is to regard them as a collection of interacting atoms. A second view is an 'emergency approach.' A system is probed, elementary excitations are produced, and then the condensed matter system is described in terms of a response function. He goes on to discuss the total Hamiltonian for a solid, and describes approximations such as the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and the Hartree approximation to reduce the problem to a soluble level. Periodicity, symmetries, Bloch's theorem, and the like bring the problem to a state where one can solve for electronic energy bands and wavefunctions.

Prof Cohen's current and past research covers a broad spectrum of subjects in theoretical condensed matter physics. He is a recipient of the US National Medal of Science, the APS Oliver E. Buckley Prize for Solid State Physics, the APS Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize, the Foresight Institute Richard P. Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology, and the Technology Pioneer Award from the World Economic Forum along with numerous other honors and a Doctorat Honoris Causa, University of Montreal.

Duration: 93 min.