Looking for Solid State Physics Textbooks? Check Out These Top Picks!

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around recommendations for solid-state physics textbooks and lecture notes, focusing on the needs of students seeking clearer and more effective resources for their studies.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest well-known textbooks such as Kittel and Ashcroft & Mermin as standard references in solid-state physics.
  • One participant expresses dissatisfaction with Kittel, describing it as vague compared to their professor's lectures, and seeks alternatives that might offer clearer explanations.
  • Another participant recommends "Elementary Solid State Physics: Principles and Applications" by Omar, claiming it is superior to Kittel and Ibach's textbook due to its clarity and thorough explanations.
  • Walter Harrison's series of solid-state books is mentioned as a cost-effective option, with a specific text noted for its coverage of the Boltzmann transport equation.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the popularity of certain textbooks like Kittel and Ashcroft, but there is disagreement regarding their effectiveness, with some expressing a preference for alternatives like Omar's textbook.

Contextual Notes

Participants have not provided a detailed description of their specific needs or prior experiences with textbooks, which may limit the relevance of the recommendations.

MMS
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Hi everyone,

I was hoping you guys could recommend some good solid-state physics textbooks or lecture notes.

Thanks in advance.
 
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I wish you could have elaborated a bit more on what you are looking for and what you have already found and not "suitable" to be considered as "good".

Almost everyone who studied Solid State Physics is familiar with the Kittel book. Do you have this already?

And Ashcroft&Mermin is another widely popular text.

Walter Harrison has a series of Solid State books, now published on Dover (meaning: they are CHEAP!). One of this texts (I forget which one, but probably "Electronic Structure and Properties of Solids") has the best coverage of Boltzmann transport equation of any books that I own.

Zz.
 
Elementary Solid State Physics: Principles and Applications by Omar the 4th edition is pretty amazing.
Imho it is much better than Kittel and the textbook we were using that of Ibach. Much clearer, with explanations not with hand waving and you understand why he's doing all that. Definitely worth looking
 
ZapperZ said:
I wish you could have elaborated a bit more on what you are looking for and what you have already found and not "suitable" to be considered as "good".

Almost everyone who studied Solid State Physics is familiar with the Kittel book. Do you have this already?

And Ashcroft&Mermin is another widely popular text.

Walter Harrison has a series of Solid State books, now published on Dover (meaning: they are CHEAP!). One of this texts (I forget which one, but probably "Electronic Structure and Properties of Solids") has the best coverage of Boltzmann transport equation of any books that I own.

Zz.

Hi ZapperZ,

The first two you mentioned (Kittel and Ashcroft) are our course's textbooks. I have Kittel and it is more vague than my professor's lectures (and he's one of the worst, if not the worst, professors I've had so far). I still haven't tried Ashcroft (I believe at one point he even mentioned to consider it as an extra) but if Kittel was like that and my professor set these two as our textbooks, I do not expect it to be any better.
I do not want to let this (important) course slip right out of my hands and really, any book or lecture notes that were useful to you when you had the course would be great help.
If needed, I can upload a syllabus here.
 
dsatkas said:
Elementary Solid State Physics: Principles and Applications by Omar the 4th edition is pretty amazing.
Imho it is much better than Kittel and the textbook we were using that of Ibach. Much clearer, with explanations not with hand waving and you understand why he's doing all that. Definitely worth looking

Great!
I'll make sure to get it ASAP.

Thanks for the recommendation.
 

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