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An introduction to the role of Berry phases in our modern understanding of the physics of electrons in solids.
List of contents
Preface; Acronyms; Introduction; 1. Invariance and quantization of charges and currents; 2. Review of electronic structure theory; 3. Berry phases and curvatures; 4. Electric polarization; 5. Topological insulators and semimetals; 6. Orbital magnetization and axion magnetoelectric coupling; Appendix A. Fourier transform conventions; Appendix B. Optimal alignment and the singular value decomposition; Appendix C. Gauge transformation of the Chern-Simons axion coupling; Appendix D. The PythTB package; References; Index.
About the author
David Vanderbilt is Board of Governors Professor of Physics at Rutgers University, New Jersey, where he has made significant contributions to computational condensed matter physics. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and was awarded the prestigious Rahman Prize in Computational Physics of the American Physical Society in 2006.
Summary
A pedagogical introduction to a set of mathematical ideas associated with Berry phases that have revolutionized understanding of key aspects of the behavior of electrons in solids. Including practical examples and exercises throughout to test understanding, this book covers electric polarization, orbital magnetization and topological insulators.
