Gateway to Condensed Matter Physics and Molecular Biophysics Concepts and Theoretical Perspectives

This new volume provides the necessary background material and brings into focus the fundamental concepts essential for advanced research in theoretical condensed matter physics and its interface with molecular biophysics. It is the outcome of the author’s long teaching and research career in theoretical condensed matter physics and related interdisciplinary fields.The author aims to motivate students to take up research in condensed matter physics and march toward new frontiers. He writes: “My long understanding of students’ attitude and orientation brings me to the conclusion that many of them are quite excited about the developments in the frontier research areas at the beginning of their career; however, a sizeable fraction of them start losing interest gradually as they are often unable to connect these developments with the basic physics they have studied. I have tried to fill this gap in this book.”To this end, special care has been taken to balance the physical concepts and mathematical expressions as well as proper mixing of theoretical and experimental aspects. He starts with the very well-known elementary ideas or basic concepts and goes forward so as to remove the apparent conceptual and technical gap between the known laws and various interesting, challenging, and novel experimental results and effects, some of which are amongst the latest discoveries.Key features:• Introduces a new way of looking at various important and fundamental phenomena in condensed matter from the perspective of microscopic theory• Explores a new interface of quantum condensed matter physics and molecular biophysics, highlighting research potentialities• Addresses the crucial questions surrounding these phenomena when they are mutually coexisting or competing in real condensed matter systems or materials, from both theoretical and experimental angles• Deals with biological molecules and some of their properties and processes and discusses the modeling of these with the help of condensed matter physics and statistical physics• Emphasizes fundamental concepts, particularly in condensed matter physics and making proper use of them

1. Introduction to Electronic Properties of Solids: Band Theory and Consequences 2. Magnetism 3. Lattice Dynamics, Phonons, and Some Applications for Optical Properties of Solids 4. Electrons in Solids and Surface States 5. Superconductivity 6. Interface of Molecular Biophysics with Condensed Matter Physics

Ranjan Chaudhury, PhD, has been a professor at S.N. Bose National Centre, Kolkata, India, since 1994 and is at present attached there as a Superannuated Full Professor in the Condensed Matter Physics and Material Sciences Department. He was also an Adjunct Professor in the Physics Department at the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (Belur) during 2017–2018 and is now a full professor in the department there as well. Professor Chaudhury has done extensive theoretical work in the areas of superconductivity and magnetism in low-dimensional systems and also in the few areas of theoretical molecular biophysics. He has about 70 publications to date, which include publications in international journals as well as research reports and international conference papers.