Back cover text from
Electronic Structure: Basic Theory and Practical Methods
Book resources
The study of the electronic structure o
f materials is at a momentous stage, with
new algorithms and computational methods, and rapid advances in basic theory.
Many properties of materials can now be determined directly from the fundamental
equations for the electrons, providing new insights in
to critical problems in physics,
chemistry, and materials science. This book provides a unified exposition of the
basic theory and methods of electronic structure, together with instructive examples
of practical computational methods and real-world applic
ations. The book is
appropriate for both graduate students and practicing scientists. It describes the
approach most widely used today--density functional theory--with emphasis upon
understanding the ideas, practical methods, and limitations. Many referen
ces are
provided to original papers, pertinent reviews, and widely available books. Included
in each chapter is a short list of the most relevant references and a set of exercises
that reveal salient points and challenge the reader.
Richard M. Martin received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1969,
followed by post-doctoral research at Bell Laboratories. In 1971 he joined the Xerox
Palo Alto Research Center in California where he became Principle Scientist and
a consu
lting professor at Stanford University. Since 1987 he has been Professor of
Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has organized
courses, workshops, and schools on electronic structure as well as founding the Materials
Computa
tion Center. He has made important contributions to many areas
of modern electronic structure, with over 200 published papers. He is a fellow of
the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, and he is a recipie
nt of the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist
Award. He has served on editorial boards of the American Physical Society, including
Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and has recently been associate editor
for condensed matter t
heory for the Reviews of Modern Physics.