"Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms."
A subfield that studies the properties and behavior of materials in their condensed phase, such as solids and liquids.
Crystal Structure: The arrangement of atoms, ions or molecules within a crystal.
Lattice Vibrations: The quantization of the vibrational energy of atoms within a crystal lattice.
Band Theory: The study of the arrangement of the electronic energy levels of electrons in solids.
Fermi Surface: The surface in the reciprocal space that separates the filled and empty electronic states.
Phonons: The quantized lattice vibrations associated with sound or thermal energy in solids.
Electron-Phonon Coupling: The interaction between electrons and phonons in solids.
Superconductivity: The complete loss of electrical resistance and expulsion of magnetic field in some materials at low temperatures.
Magnetic Materials: Materials that exhibit magnetic properties, including ferromagnetism, antiferromagnetism, and paramagnetism.
Topological Insulators: Materials that conduct electricity on their surface but are insulators in their interior due to their unique electronic structure.
Solid state physics: Focuses on the properties of solids, such as their electronic, magnetic, and mechanical properties.
Low-temperature physics: Explores the behavior of materials at extremely low temperatures, often close to absolute zero.
Polymer physics: Concerns the study of polymers, which are large molecules made up of many repeated units.
Soft matter physics: Focuses on the properties of materials that are soft and deformable, such as gels, foams, and liquids.
Surface physics: Examines the properties of surfaces and interfaces of materials, which play a critical role in determining the behavior of materials on a larger scale.
Semiconductor physics: Concerns with the study of semiconductors, materials that have properties that lie between those of conductors and insulators.
Magnetism and magnetic materials: Focuses on the properties of magnetic materials, such as their magnetic fields and behavior under external magnetic fields.
Superconductivity: Explores the behavior of materials that can conduct electricity with zero resistance at low temperatures.
Nanomaterials: Focuses on the properties of materials at a very small scale, often on the order of nanometers.
Mesoscopic physics: Concerns with the behavior of materials at an intermediate length scale between that of individual atoms and the macroscopic scale of solids.
Topological materials: Explores the properties of materials that have non-trivial topology, which means that their properties are not affected by small deformations or imperfections in their structure.
Quantum fluids and solids: Focuses on the properties of materials at extremely low temperatures, where quantum mechanics plays a dominant role in determining their behavior.
"More exotic condensed phases include the superconducting phase exhibited by certain materials at extremely low cryogenic temperature, the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases of spins on crystal lattices of atoms, and the Bose–Einstein condensate found in ultracold atomic systems."
"Condensed matter physicists seek to understand the behavior of these phases by experiments to measure various material properties, and by applying the physical laws of quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, and other physics theories to develop mathematical models."
"The diversity of systems and phenomena available for study makes condensed matter physics the most active field of contemporary physics: one third of all American physicists self-identify as condensed matter physicists, and the Division of Condensed Matter Physics is the largest division at the American Physical Society."
"The field overlaps with chemistry, materials science, engineering and nanotechnology, and relates closely to atomic physics and biophysics."
"A variety of topics in physics such as crystallography, metallurgy, elasticity, magnetism, etc., were treated as distinct areas until the 1940s, when they were grouped together as solid-state physics. Around the 1960s, the study of physical properties of liquids was added to this list, forming the basis for the more comprehensive specialty of condensed matter physics."
"According to founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, physics professor Manuel Cardona, it was Albert Einstein who created the modern field of condensed matter physics starting with his seminal 1905 article on the photoelectric effect and photoluminescence which opened the fields of photoelectron spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy..."
"Later his 1907 article on the specific heat of solids introduced, for the first time, the effect of lattice vibrations on the thermodynamic properties of crystals, in particular the specific heat."
"Theoretical physics of condensed matter shares important concepts and methods with that of particle physics and nuclear physics."
"A variety of topics in physics such as crystallography, metallurgy, elasticity, magnetism, etc., were treated as distinct areas until the 1940s when they were grouped together as solid-state physics."
"Condensed matter physicists seek to understand the behavior of these phases by experiments to measure various material properties."
"Condensed matter physicists... [apply] the physical laws of quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, and other physics theories to develop mathematical models."
"The field overlaps with chemistry, materials science, engineering and nanotechnology."
"More exotic condensed phases include the superconducting phase exhibited by certain materials at extremely low cryogenic temperature, the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases of spins on crystal lattices of atoms, and the Bose–Einstein condensate found in ultracold atomic systems."
"The Bell Telephone Laboratories was one of the first institutes to conduct a research program in condensed matter physics."
"The Division of Condensed Matter Physics is the largest division at the American Physical Society."
"One third of all American physicists self-identify as condensed matter physicists."
"The field overlaps with chemistry, materials science, engineering and nanotechnology, and relates closely to atomic physics and biophysics."
"The theoretical physics of condensed matter shares important concepts and methods with that of particle physics and nuclear physics."
"Around the 1960s, the study of physical properties of liquids was added to this list, forming the basis for the more comprehensive specialty of condensed matter physics."