The Metal Nonmetal Transition Revisited

This text surveys the various aspects of the fundamental problem related to the metallic and non-metallic states of matter, a question physicists have been studying for almost 100 years. The book poses questions and challenges in this area, as well as highlighting present understandings of the topic. Topics covered by the book include physics of dense ionized metal plasmas; metallic hydrogen; pressure-induced metallization; the M-I transition in doped semiconductors; transport studies in doped semiconductors near the metal-insulator transition; new results in old oxides; metal-insulator transition in 3d transition metal perovskite oxides investigated by high-energy spectroscopies; alkali metal-alkali halide melts; hopping conductivity in granular metals revisited; superconductor-insulator transition in cuprates; molecular metals and superconductors; shear induced chemical reactivity; shear, co-ordination and metallization; quantum diffusion and decoherence; the Mott transition; recent results, more and surprises; Mott-Hubbard-Anderson models.

Metal-to-Nonmetal Transitions presents the current research in the field from both physical and chemical perspectives. Discussions of the macroscopic, microscopic and quantum aspects of these transitions make this a useful reference for researchers and students.

When many particles come together how do they organize themselves? And what destroys this organization? Combining experiments and theory, this book describes intriguing quantum phases - metals, superconductors and insulators - and transitions between them. It captures the excitement and the controversies on topics at the forefront of research.

Crystal engineers need an understanding of bonding theory, computational chemistry, applied spectroscopy, structural methods, synthesis strategies, and applications of custom-designed solids. This book contains chapters on all these topics, written by internationally recognized experts, plus contributions from leading researchers in the field.

In this volume, the authors present theoretical explanations for a few basic problems connected with the propagation of extra wide band, short impulses in linear media, and with the propagation of whistlers and megawhistlers in plasmas. In addition, the book provides an overview of ground and space based measurements, digital processing and signal analysis. The theoretical treatment in this volume is original in the sense that, unlike former solutions, the authors present a fundamentally non-monochromatic approach. A key feature of this approach is the application of the `Laplace Transformation' and the `Method of Inhomogeneous Basic Modes' to solve Maxwell's equations. It is shown that when the obtained theoretical results are applied to digital recordings, the wave analysis process becomes so flexible that it can also be used to investigate other wave propagation problems. These are both terrestrial phenomena (like atmospheric and seismic activity, buried target detection, etc.) and phenomena in space (planetary, interplanetary, plasmaspheric, whistler and megawhistler propagation). The book is aimed at a technical and professional audience working on whistler science and/or wave propagation problems.

The properties of strongly correlated electrons confined in two dimensions are a forefront area of modern condensed matter physics. In the past two or three decades, strongly correlated electron systems have garnered a great deal of scientific interest due to their unique and often unpredictable behavior. Two of many examples are the metallic state and the metal–insulator transition discovered in 2D semiconductors: phenomena that cannot occur in noninteracting systems. Tremendous efforts have been made, in both theory and experiment, to create an adequate understanding of the situation; however, a consensus has still not been reached. Strongly Correlated Electrons in Two Dimensions compiles and details cutting-edge research in experimental and theoretical physics of strongly correlated electron systems by leading scientists in the field. The book covers recent theoretical work exploring the quantum criticality of Mott and Wigner–Mott transitions, experiments on the metal–insulator transition and related phenomena in clean and dilute systems, the effect of spin and isospin degrees of freedom on low-temperature transport in two dimensions, electron transport near the 2D Mott transition, experimentally observed temperature and magnetic field dependencies of resistivity in silicon-based systems with different levels of disorder, and microscopic theory of the interacting electrons in two dimensions. Edited by Sergey Kravchenko, a prominent experimentalist, this book will appeal to advanced graduate-level students and researchers specializing in condensed matter physics, nanophysics, and low-temperature physics, especially those involved in the science of strong correlations, 2D semiconductors, and conductor–insulator transitions.

Ionic liquids have attracted considerable interest in recent years. In this book the bulk and interfacial physico-chemical characteristics of various fluid systems dominated by Coulomb interactions are treated which includes molten salts, ionic liquids as well as metal-molten salt mixtures and expanded fluid metals. Of particular interest is the comparison of the different systems. Topics in the bulk phase concern the microscopic structure, the phase behaviour and critical phenomena, and the metal-nonmetal transition. Interfacial phenomena include wetting transitions, electrowetting, surface freezing, and the electrified ionic liquid/ electrode interface. With regard to the latter 2D and 3D electrochemical phase formation of metals and semi-conductors on the nanometer scale is described for a number of selected examples. The basic concepts and various experimental methods are introduced making the book suitable for both graduate students and researchers interested in Coulombic fluids.

Advances in nanoscale science show that the properties of many materials are dominated by internal structures. In molecular cases, such as window glass and proteins, these internal structures obviously have a network character. However, in many partly disordered electronic materials, almost all attempts at understanding are based on traditional continuum models. This workshop focuses first on the phase diagrams and phase transitions of materials known to be composed of molecular networks. These phase properties characteristically contain remarkable features, such as intermediate phases that lead to reversibility windows in glass transitions as functions of composition. These features arise as a result of self-organization of the internal structures of the intermediate phases. In the protein case, this self-organization is the basis for protein folding. The second focus is on partly disordered electronic materials whose phase properties exhibit the same remarkable features. In fact, the phenomenon of High Temperature Superconductivity, discovered by Bednorz and Mueller in 1986, and now the subject of 75,000 research papers, also arises from such an intermediate phase. More recently discovered electronic phenomena, such as giant magnetoresistance, also are made possible only by the existence of such special phases. This book gives an overview of the methods and results obtained so far by studying the characteristics and properties of nanoscale self-organized networks. It demonstrates the universality of the network approach over a range of disciplines, from protein folding to the newest electronic materials.