The subject of this book is the Casimir effect, a manifestation of zero-point oscillations of the quantum vacuum resulting in forces acting between closely spaced bodies. For the benefit of the reader, the book assembles field-theoretical foundations of this phenomenon, applications of the general theory to real materials, and a comprehensive description of all recently performed measurements of the Casimir force with a comparison between experiment and theory. There is an urgent need for ...

Nanoscience is not physics, chemistry, engineering or biology. It is all of them, and it is time for a text that integrates the disciplines. This is such a text, aimed at advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students in the sciences. The consequences of smallness and quantum behaviour are well known and described Richard Feynman's visionary essay 'There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom' (which is reproduced in this book). Another, critical, but thus far neglected, aspect of nanosci...

Modern experimental developments in condensed matter and ultracold atom physics present formidable challenges to theorists. This book provides a pedagogical introduction to quantum field theory in many-particle physics, emphasizing the applicability of the formalism to concrete problems. This second edition contains two new chapters developing path integral approaches to classical and quantum nonequilibrium phenomena. Other chapters cover a range of topics, from the introduction of many-bo...

Hydrogen bond (H-bond) effects are known: it makes sea water liquid, joins cellulose microfibrils in trees, shapes DNA into genes and polypeptide chains into wool, hair, muscles or enzymes. Its true nature is less known and we may still wonder why O-H...O bond energies range from less than 1 to more than 30 kcal/mol without apparent reason. This H-bond puzzle is re-examined here from its very beginning and presented as an inclusive compilation of experimental H-bond energies and geometries...

The book deals with the development of continual models of turbulent natural media. Such models serve as a ground for the statement and numerical evaluation of the key problems of the structure and evolution of the numerous astrophysical and geophysical objects. The processes of ordering (self-organization) in an originally chaotic turbulent medium are addressed and treated in detail with the use of irreversible thermodynamics and stochastic dynamics approaches which underlie the respectiv...

In this book, a modern unified theory of dispersion forces on atoms and bodies is presented which covers a broad range of different aspects and scenarios. Macroscopic quantum electrodynamics is applied within the context of dispersion forces. In contrast to the normal-mode quantum electrodynamics traditionally used to study dispersion forces, the new approach allows to consider realistic material properties including absorption and is flexible enough to be applied to a broad range of geome...

This book gives a detailed overview of the theory of electromagnetic wave scattering on single, homogeneous, but nonspherical particles. Beside the systematically developed Green’s function formalism of the first edition this second and enlarged edition contains additional material regarding group theoretical considerations for nonspherical particles with boundary symmetries, an iterative T-matrix scheme for approximate solutions, and two additional but basic applications. Moreover, to dem...

A concise description of models and quantitative parameters in structural chemistry and their interrelations, with 280 tables and >3000 references giving the most up-to-date experimental data on energy characteristics of atoms, molecules and crystals (ionisation potentials, electron affinities, bond energies, heats of phase transitions, band and lattice energies), optical properties (refractive index, polarisability), spectroscopic characteristics and geometrical parameters (bond distances...

The unique electronic band structure of graphene gives rise to remarkable properties when in contact with a superconducting electrode. In this thesis two main aspects of these junctions are analyzed: the induced superconducting proximity effect and the non-local transport properties in multi-terminal devices. For this purpose specific models are developed and studied using Green function techniques, which allow us to take into account the detailed microscopic structure of the graphene-supe...

This book is a course-tested primer on the thermodynamics of strongly interacting matter – a profound and challenging area of both theoretical and experimental modern physics. Analytical and numerical studies of statistical quantum chromodynamics provide the main theoretical tool, while in experiments, high-energy nuclear collisions are the key for extensive laboratory investigations. As such, the field straddles statistical, particle and nuclear physics, both conceptually and in the metho...

This Briefs volume describes the properties and structure of elementary excitations in isotope low-dimensional structures. Without assuming prior knowledge of quantum physics, the present book provides the basic knowledge needed to understand the recent developments in the sub-disciplines of nanoscience isotopetronics, novel device concepts and materials for nanotechnology. It is the first and comprehensive interdisciplinary account of the newly developed scientific discipline isotopetroni...

This book provides the reader with an introduction to the physics of complex plasmas, a discussion of the specific scientific and technical challenges they present and an overview of their potential technological applications.Complex plasmas differ from conventional high-temperature plasmas in several ways: they may contain additional species, including nano meter- to micrometer-sized particles, negative ions, molecules and radicals and they may exhibit strong correlations or quant...