Discover the Best Solid State Physics Textbooks for Beginners

[Bevels]

Hi I am looking for some good solid state physics textbooks. Can anyone who has taken courses in solid state physics direct me to a good introductory book?

 

[ansgar]

I can atleast say "stay away from Kitell" :)

 

[xepma]

Standard texts are:
Kittel -- Introduction to Solid State physics
Ashcroft, Mermin -- Solide State Physics

But not everyone appreciates these books, and they are a bit dated (so no treatment of modern research topics). Some books which might be worth checking out as well:

Omar -- Elementary Solid State Physics (introductory)
Chaikin, Lubensky -- Principle of Condensed Matter Physics (introductory)
Marder -- Condensed Matter Physics (introductory)
Philips, Phillips -- Advanced Solid State Physics (bit more advanced)

After that you either need turn to books that cover a subfield (e.g. magnetism, transport theory, superconductivity, semiconductors) or take on a more technical approach (Green's functions)

Just for clarity: solid state physics is a subbranch of condensed matter physics, so you probably get a little more than you bargained for.

 

[physiker_192]

Kittel is abstract and not so gentle, I was able to use it after learning the basics of crystallography from another book (a large number of books cover the basics).

Aschroft & Mermin would be suitable for the basics.

For more specialized treatment of specific topics, there is this new series from Springer (translated from Hungarian, Vol. I & Vol.II are already published, Vol.III is yet to come):

Vol.II: http://books.google.com/books?id=XSo-a2n43xEC&lpg=PR2&dq=jeno solyom&pg=PR2#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[Dr Transport]

Chaikin, Lubensky -- Principle of Condensed Matter Physics (introductory)

I would not call Chaikin and Lubensky an introductory text... They say in the preface that the problems range from elementary to too advanced for a seasoned professional. Any text dealing with the renormalization group isn't for a rookie.

 

[xepma]

Yes, you're right.. I was a bit hasty on that part.

 

[med17k]

Why are there too many textbooks on quantum field theory and they are no good book on solid state physics ?

 

[6eecs]

I've also found it very frustrating that the best solid state books are very outdated. On one hand, you have a plethora of QFT books, or some version thereof for condensed matter systems (Fradkin, Wen, Tsevelik). But I don't know of good modern solid state books that gap well the bridge between a QM book like Sakurai and those QFT for many-body books. In particular, I found it very hard myself to find good treatments of second-quantization, entanglement entropy, QHE and FQHE, tight-binding in second quantized notation, Peirls substitution, Berry phase/Polarization, Wannier function in tight-binding lattices in second quantized notationconstruction in solid state books. And those topics always show up in research papers.

 

[pillow47]

The Physics of Solids---Essentials and Beyond by Economou. I've read some of Kittel and A&M, nothing compared to this book. Crystal clear and very systematic in its exposition. Very new (2010). Lots of physical intuition. Starts with estimations of physical quantities with the most basic QM. An extremely nice pedagogical work. I'm surprised this book has gone unnoticed by the solid state professors.