The following questions are meant to sum up key points of the lectures and to make the reading of the course content easier. They will be used to base the quizes on.

1. Give some important examples of the physics of materials is affecting our lives.
2. What is the role of materials theory in materials science?
3. What is the major difference between materials theory 50 years ago and now?
4. Give some examples of qualitative and quantitative accounts, respectively, of materials.
5. How far can one go today in building materials atom by atom?
6. How do materials-theory applications to molecules and solid surfaces differ?
7. On what three pillars does Materials Science stand today?
8. Mention three examples where the individuality of atoms matters in molecules and materials.
9. Describe material theory from some different perspectives.
10. Are there any reasons to like materials theory ?
11. Why is it so good to have density-functional theory as a basis?
12. Are there any effects of the quantum-mechanical particle-wave duality for materials?
13. Where in materials theory can one use experience from the quantum-mechanical problem of a particle in a box?
14. Where in materials theory can one use experience from the quantum-mechanical problem of two-level systems?
15. What is meant by quantum states, energy levels, and density of states?
16. What is the tight-binding approximation, and how can it be used?
17. Why are ionization energy and electron affinity key atomic parameters for molecules and materials?
18. What is a short description for (a) the covalent bond, (b) the ionic bond, (c) the metallic bond, (d) the van der Waals bond, and (e) the hydrogen bond?
19. What is meant by s-, p-, d-, and f-electrons, and how can they have different properties in materials? Give examples!
20. What is Bloch's theorem, and why has that lead to a better understanding today of crystalline solids than of liquids?
21. Albert Einstein should have said "As simple as possible but not simpler". Why are simple models important in materials theory even today, when computers are so powerful?
22. What is meant by sp-, sp²-, and sp³-hybridization? Give examples!
23. Why, in electronic terms, are water and ice so interesting and important?
24. What is ultimately determining the most stable structure of a substance?
25. What three pillars that Materials Theory rests on today?
26. In the density-functional theory (DFT), where is the account of the details of the electronics interactions? Is there a way for systematic improvement of this quantity?
27. In what way is DFT simplifying the computational problem of many-electron systems?
28. To what kind of materials properties is DFT limited?
29. What do the terms exchange and correlation of electrons mean?
30. What is the local-density approximation (LDA)?
31. What is the general-gradient approximation (GGA)?
32. Are nonlocal correlations, like the van der Waals forces, included in the exact DFT?
33. Give some examples of the useful accuracy of DFT with GGA for molecules and dense materials!
34. How can the Monte-Carlo method be used for materials?
35. How can the Molecular-Dynamics method be used for materials?
36. How can the Car-Parrinello method be used for materials?
37. What classes of materials are there?
38. How can model potentials be used for molecules and materials?
39. What is the pseudopotential planewave (PP-PW) method?
40. How can the PP-PW method be used for materials?
41. What is a supercell, and what does one have to worry about when using it for, e.g., a molecule?
42. Give some examples of hard and soft matter, respectively!
43. How can one use second-order perturbation theory to discuss properties of materials? Give some explicit examples!
44. Give some examples of trends in materials properties related to the d band of transition metals!
45. What is time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT)?
46. Give some examples of excitation properties of materials!
47. What are the roles of temperature and pressure for materials?
48. What are the temperature (T) dependences of the specific heats of (a) phonons, (b) conduction electrons of metals, and (c) ferromagnetic magnons?
49. Give some examples of important phase transitions of materials!
50. What is the full-potential LAPW method?
 
 
 

.... MORE TO COME

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Senast ändrad: 03-02-21

Ansvarig: lundqvist@fy.chalmers.se