Deriving optical- and acoustical branches

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the derivation of optical and acoustical branches from the equation presented in "Introduction to Solid State Physics" by Kittel. The roots of the equation, given by M_1 M_2 ω^4 - 2C(M_1 + M_2)ω^2 + 2C^2(1 - cos(Ka)) = 0, are identified as ω² = 2C(1/M_1 + 1/M_2) and ω² = (1/2C)(K²a²)/(M_1 + M_2). The derivation relies on the approximation cos(Ka) ≈ 1 - (1/2)K²a² for the limiting case of Ka << 1, leading to a quadratic equation in ω².

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Elekko
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On the book "Introduction to Solid State Physics" by Kittel, on page 98 he derived the roots for optical and acoustical branches for the equation:

M_1 M_2 \omega^4-2C(M_1+M_2)\omega^2+2C^2(1-cos(Ka))=0

where the roots are:

\omega^2=2C(\frac{1}{M_1}+\frac{1}{M_2}) and
\omega^2=\frac{\frac{1}{2}C}{M_1+M_2}K^2 a^2

I'm wondering how he actually found these roots since he skipped the details? He only mentions the trigonometric identity can be set to zero... how are the roots found?
 
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Note that these are the roots only for the limiting case of ##Ka << 1##. As Kittel states, in this case you can let ##\cos(Ka) \approx 1-\frac{1}{2}K^2a^2##.

Make this approximation and note that you have a quadratic equation in ##\omega^2##.
 

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