While group theory and its application to solid state physics is well established, this textbook raises two completely new aspects. First, it provides a better understanding by focusing on problem solving and making extensive use of Mathematica tools to visualize the concepts. Second, it offers a new tool for the photonics community by transferring the concepts of group theory and its application to photonic crystals. Clearly divided into three parts, the first provides the basics of group theory. Even at this stage, the authors go beyond the widely used standard examples to show the broad field of applications. Part II is devoted to applications in condensed matter physics, i.e. the electronic structure of materials. Combining the application of the computer algebra system Mathematica with pen and paper derivations leads to a better and faster understanding. The exhaustive discussion shows that the basics of group theory can also be applied to a totally different field, as seen in Part III. Here, photonic applications are discussed in parallel to the electronic case, with the focus on photonic crystals in two and three dimensions, as well as being partially expanded to other problems in the field of photonics. The authors have developed Mathematica package GTPack which is available for download from the book's homepage. Analytic considerations, numerical calculations and visualization are carried out using the same software. While the use of the Mathematica tools are demonstrated on elementary examples, they can equally be applied to more complicated tasks resulting from the reader's own research.

This book is devoted to the construction of space group representations, their tabulation, and illustration of their use. Representation theory of space groups has a wide range of applications in modern physics and chemistry, including studies of electron and phonon spectra, structural and magnetic phase transitions, spectroscopy, neutron scattering, and superconductivity. The book presents a clear and practical method of deducing the matrices of all irreducible representations, including double-valued, and tabulates the matrices of irreducible projective representations for all 32 crystallographic point groups. One obtains the irreducible representations of all 230 space groups by multiplying the matrices presented in these compact and convenient to use tables by easily computed factors. A number of applications to the electronic band structure calculations are illustrated through real-life examples of different crystal structures. The book's content is accessible to both graduate and advanced undergraduate students with elementary knowledge of group theory and is useful to a wide range of experimentalists and theorists in materials and solid-state physics.

While group theory and its application to solid state physics is well established, this textbook raises two completely new aspects. First, it provides a better understanding by focusing on problem solving and making extensive use of Mathematica tools to visualize the concepts. Second, it offers a new tool for the photonics community by transferring the concepts of group theory and its application to photonic crystals. Clearly divided into three parts, the first provides the basics of group theory. Even at this stage, the authors go beyond the widely used standard examples to show the broad field of applications. Part II is devoted to applications in condensed matter physics, i.e. the electronic structure of materials. Combining the application of the computer algebra system Mathematica with pen and paper derivations leads to a better and faster understanding. The exhaustive discussion shows that the basics of group theory can also be applied to a totally different field, as seen in Part III. Here, photonic applications are discussed in parallel to the electronic case, with the focus on photonic crystals in two and three dimensions, as well as being partially expanded to other problems in the field of photonics. The authors have developed Mathematica package GTPack which is available for download from the book's homepage. Analytic considerations, numerical calculations and visualization are carried out using the same software. While the use of the Mathematica tools are demonstrated on elementary examples, they can equally be applied to more complicated tasks resulting from the reader's own research.

"Extreme Photonics & Applications" arises from the 2008 NATO Advanced Study Institute in Laser Control & Monitoring in New Materials, Biomedicine, Environment, Security and Defense. Leading experts in the manipulation of light offered by recent advances in laser physics and nanoscience were invited to give lectures in their fields of expertise and participate in discussions on current research, applications and new directions. The sum of their contributions to this book is a primer for the state of scientific knowledge and the issues within the subject of photonics taken to the extreme frontiers: molding light at the ultra-finest scales, which represents the beginning of the end to limitations in optical science for the benefit of 21st Century technological societies. Laser light is an exquisite tool for physical and chemical research. Physicists have recently developed pulsed lasers with such short durations that one laser shot takes the time of one molecular vibration or one electron rotation in an atom, which makes it possible to observe their internal electronic structure, thereby enabling the study of physical processes and new chemical reactions. In parallel, advances in micro- and nano-structured photonic materials allow the precise manipulation of light on its natural scale of a wavelength. Photonic crystals, plasmons and related metamaterials - composed of subwavelength nanostructures - permit the manipulation of their dispersive properties and have allowed the experimental confirmation of bizarre new effects such as slow light and negative refraction. These advances open a vista on a new era in which it is possible to build lasers and engineer materials to control and use photons as precisely as it is already possible to do with electrons. http://www.photonics.uottawa.ca/nato-asi-2008/

Computational Physics is now a discipline in its own right, comparable with theoretical and experimental physics. Computational Materials Science concentrates on the calculation of materials properties starting from microscopic theories. It has become a powerful tool in industrial research for designing new materials, modifying materials properties and optimizing chemical processes. This book focusses on the application of computational methods in new fields of research, such as nanotechnology, spintronics and photonics, which will provide the foundation for important technological advances in the future. Methods such as electronic structure calculations, molecular dynamics simulations and beyond are presented, the discussion extending from the basics to the latest applications.

manipulating the inherent properties of quantum mechanics to develop a wide variety of novel technologies. Photons are nearly ideal carriers of quantum information (flying quantum bits), due to their weak interaction with environments and relatively long coherence time. Owing to these outstanding characteristics, they are widely implemented not only in constructing quantum computing, but also in developing quantum communication. Quantum technologies based on photons will potentially require integrated optical architecture for improved performance, such as easy miniaturization and good scalability. Although plenty of experiments on quantum information have been performed with bulk optics, for those complicated schemes, they will inevitably suffer from severe drawbacks, such as poor stability, quite limited operation precision and rather bulky physical size etc. One promising candidate on conquering these weaknesses is to adopt miniaturized optical integrated devices. Until today, a large number of great researches on this aspect have been issued on different platforms.

This comprehensive compendium provides information on nearly every U.S. doctoral program in physics and astronomy, plus data on most major master's programs in these fields. Information on many major Canadian programs is also included. In addition, the Graduate Programs directory lists a substantial number of related-field departments, including materials science, electrical and nuclear engineering, meteorology, medical and chemical physics, geophysics, and oceanography. This twenty-seventh annual edition contains information valuable to students planning graduate study and faculty advisors, including each program's research expenditures and sources of support. A number of helpful appendices make navigating the directory a simple task.

This comprehensive compendium provides information on nearly every U.S. doctoral program in physics and astronomy, plus data on most major master's programs in these fields. Information on many major Canadian programs is also included. In addition, the Graduate Programs directory lists a substantial number of related-field departments, including materials science, electrical and nuclear engineering, meteorology, medical and chemical physics, geophysics, and oceanography. This twenty-eighth annual edition contains information valuable to students planning graduate study and faculty advisors, including each program's research expenditures and sources of support. A number of helpful appendices make navigating the directory a simple task.