Syllabus of PHZ5492 Condensed Matter Physics II, Spring 2008

Description and Goals for the Course: This is the second semester of a two-semester graduate level sequence on the fundamental concepts and phenomenology of modern condensed matter physics; three graduate credit hours. Condensed matter physics is the most active area of research in modern physics, whose scope is extremely broad. The ultimate goal of this course is to introduce its central ideas and methodology to the students, and get them prepared for thesis research in both experimental and theoretical condensed matter physics. 

Course Objectives: By the end of the semester the students are expected to have become familiar with a broad range of phenomena in condensed matter physics, learned to use a number of approximation schemes to calculate physical properties of various condensed matter systems based on quantum mechanics, and appreciate the physical ideas behind these approximation schemes, as well as their limitations.

Prerequisites: PHZ5491, or other equivalent introductory Condensed Matter/Solid State Courses.

Textbook:  There is no required textbook for this course. Instead copies of lecture notes will be distributed to the students.

Grading: Final Exam: 40%; Homework/Class Attendance: 60%. Tentative Grade Dividing Lines: A/A-: 80; A-/B+: 75; B+/B: 70; B/B-: 60; B-/C+: 55; C+/C: 50; C/D: 40.

Student Responsibilities: Active student participation is crucial to the success of this course. Specifically, they are expected to:

• Attend lectures on time, and contribute to class discussions.
• Finish and submit homework in time. Unless approved by the instructor in advance, late homework will not be accepted.
• Participate in the final exam. 

ADA Statement: Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should: (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center; (2) bring a letter to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. Please do this during the first week of classes.

Honor Code: Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in the Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook. The Academic Honor Systems of Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility to (1) uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work, (2) refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the university community, and (3) foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the university community.

Course Topics:

• Semiclassical Transport Theory.
• Nonlocal Transport in Mesoscopic Systems.
• Anderson Localization.
• The Quantum Hall Effect.
• Interacting Electrons and Fermi Liquid Theory.
• Superconductivity.
• Quantum Magnetism (time permits).

Logistic Information:

• Lectures: Tu., Th. 9:30 – 10:45, HCB 0317.
• Lecturer: Kun Yang; Office: 404 Keen and A306 Magnet Lab; Tel.: 4-5373 (magnet lab); 4-5208 (physics department); Homepage: magnet.fsu.edu/~kunyang; E-mail: kunyang@magnet.fsu.edu
• Office hours:  Thursday 11:00 am - 12:00 pm, and by appointment. I am usually available on Tu. and Th. in my Keen Building office and in my Maglab office on other days. The students are strongly encouraged use the office hours to discuss issues that are related to the course, or physics in general, with the instructor.
• Course home page: http://www.physics.fsu.edu/courses/spring08/phz5492 . Announcements related to the course, homework assignments and their solutions will be posted here.
• Home Work: There will be approximately six homework problem sets, and the students will be given at least two weeks to work on each set. Solutions to problem sets will be available for pick up when they are due, and also on the course webpage. Grader: Mr. Yi Cheng; Email: yc02@garnet.acns.fsu.edu.
• Final Exam: The final exam of this course will be on Friday, Apr. 25, 2008, from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm.

Suggested Further Reading (not required): The following are textbooks that are widely used for graduate courses similar to this one. We may refer to materials in them, and use some of their problems for homework:

• Michael P. Marder, Condensed Matter Physics, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000.
• N.W. Ashcroft and N.D. Mermin, Solid State Physics, Holt, Rinegart and Winston, 1976.
• Charles Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics, 8th Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005.