Courses
Physics II
Electric charge and electric field. Gauss law. Electric potential. Capacitance and dielectrics.
Current, resistance and electromotive force. Constant current circuits. Magnetic fields and magnetic forces.
Origin of the magnetic field. Electromagnetic inductance. Self-inductance. Alternating currents.
Electromagnetic waves. Nature and propagation of light. Geometrical optics. Interference, diffraction.
The course consists of: 4h/week theory
(2nd semester, 4 ECTS units)
Atomic and Electronic Structure of Solids
Introduction. Basic elements of quantum mechanics. Study of solids within the Jellium model: Jellium model,
basic elements of solid materials, electron motion (wavenumber and Fermi energy). Periodicity and crystal
structure: definitions and theorems, classification of Bravais lattices and complex crystal structures,
reciprocal lattice and Brillouin zones. Introduction to the method of Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals (LCAO).
The hydrogen molecular ion, ionic bonding (NaCl), and the benzene molecule. The LCAO method in simplistic models of "solids":
infinite one-dimensional elemental "solid", one-dimensional ionic "solid" with one or two orbitals per atom. Semiconductors I:
characteristics, direct and indirect band-gap semiconductors, optical absorption, exitons. Lattice vibrations in a
one-dimensional periodic medium. Coupled oscillators, dispersion relations, vibrations in real lattices, phonons.
The course consists of: 4h/week theory
(5th semester, 4 ECTS units)
Applications of Information Technology
Software for static and dynamic visualization of atomic and molecular structures using basic principles of
crystallography and of the atomic structure. Basic stages of organizing and preparing a successful oral presentation.
Introduction to Mathematica and solutions to simple problems (integrals, differential equations, curve fitting to
experimental data, 2D, 3D and contour plots, optimization).
The course consists of: 1h/week theory 2h/week labwork
(6th semester elective, 4 ECTS units)
Computational Methods in Materials Science
Determination of basic material properties (temperature, pressure, diffusion coefficient, viscosity, heat diffusion,
phonon dispersion, radial function distribution and Debye-Waller coefficient) using numerical integration,
differentiation, solution of linear and nonlinear equations, solution of differential and integro-differential equations.
Introduction to simulation methods such as Monte-Carlo, Molecular Dynamics and Finite Difference methods, with the main
emphasis on the study of simple nanoscopic systems (e.g. nanoparticles, nanowires and simple molecules).
The course consists of: 2h/week theory 1h/week labwork
(7th semester elective, 4 ECTS units)
Introduction to Advanced Computational Methods in Materials Science
Introduction to ab-initio quantum computations: Hartree and Hartree-Fock methods, Density Functional Theory, Augmented Plane Wave method,
and to Semi-empirical computations: Tight Binding method and Density Functional Tight Binding method. Applications atomic and electronic
structure computations, as well as of macroscopic properties of periodic systems, biological molecules and nanoscopic materials.
The course consists of: 2h/week theory 1h/week labwork
(9th semester elective, 4 ECTS units)