With an approach that stresses the fundamental solid state behaviour of minerals, this 1995 text surveys the physics and chemistry of earth materials.

This book delivers a comprehensive account of the main features and possibilities of LCAO methods for the first principles calculations of electronic structure of periodic systems. The first part describes the basic theory underlying the LCAO methods applied to periodic systems and the use of wave-function-based, density-based (DFT) and hybrid hamiltonians. The second part deals with the applications of LCAO methods for calculations of bulk crystal properties.

The field of Physical Chemistry has developed through the application of theories and concepts developed by physicists to properties or processes of interest to chemists. Physicists, being principally concerned with the basic ideas, have generally restricted their attention to the simplest systems to which the concepts applied, and the task of applying the techniques and theories to the myriad substances and processes that comprise chemistry has been that of the physical chemists. The field of Solid State Chemistry has developed with a major impetus from the synthetic chemists who prepared unusual, novel materials with the principal guid ing ideas growing out of an understanding of crystal structure and crystal structure relationships. The novel materials that pour forth from this chemical cornucopia cry out for further characterization and interpretation. The major techniques for the characterization and interpretation of crystalline solids have been developed in the fields of Solid State Physics and Crystallography. Thus, the need arose for expanding the realm of Physical Chemistry from its traditional concern with molecules and their properties and reactions to include the physics and chemistry of crystalline solids. This book deals with the applications of crystallography, group theory and thermodynamics to problems dealing with non molecular crystalline solids.

In the new edition of this widely praised textbook, all the chapters have been revised and the authors have brought the work completely up to date by the addition of new material on numerous topics. In recent years, solid state chemistry has emerged as a very important element of mainstream chemistry and materials science. Students, teachers and researchers need to understand the chemistry of solids because of the crucial role this plays in determining the properties of materials. An understanding of solid state chemistry is also essential in materials design, and many fascinating relationships between the structure and properties of solids have been discovered by chemists. This text requires only an understanding of basic physics, chemistry and crystallography, and is enhanced with the most recent examples, case studies and references. It will be of value to advanced students and researchers studying solid state chemistry and materials science as a text and reference work.

"The book also presents the MO properties of f band ferromagnetic materials: Tm, Nd, Sm, Ce and La monochalcogenides, some important Yb compounds, SmB6 and Nd3S4, UFe2, U3X4 (X=P, As, Sb, Bi, Se and Te), UCu2P2, UCuP2, UCuAs2, UAsSe, URhA1, UGa2 and UPd3. Within the total group of alloys and compounds, we discuss their MO spectra in relationship to: the spin-orbit coupling strength, the magnitude of the local magnetic moment, the degree of hybridization in the bonding, the half-metallic character, or, equivalently, the Fermi level filling of the bandstructure, the intraband plasma frequency, and the influence of the crystal structure."--BOOK JACKET.

This text describes the technique of optical spectroscopy applied to problems in condensed matter physics. It relates theoretical understanding to experimental measurement, including discussion of the optical spectroscopy of inorganic insulators, with many illustrative examples. Symmetry arguments are developed from a formal group theoretical basis and are frequently used, and a special effort is made to treat the subject of lattice vibrations and to show how these can affect the spectroscopic properties of solids. The elements of laser theory are developed, and the authors also explore the use of optically detected magnetic resonance techniques for the investigation of semiconducting materials.