• Lectures: Mon Wed 9.30-11, TH254, starting Wed Sept.9, 2026. [Check Timetable]
• This course uses Brightspace .
• Be sure to review this statement on academic integrity
• To help you plan, the important dates of the current academic year are listed here.

What Brock calendar entry says:

• Crystal Structure and crystal Binding; the vibration of atoms in solids and the thermodynamics of solids; introduction to the transport properties of solids

What do I need to bring into the course?

• Prerequisites: PHYS 3P41 (Statistical Physics I), PHYS 3P70 (Intro to Quantum Mechanics)

Course Goals

• to use the four main areas of physics (classical, quantum and statistical mechanics and electromagnetic theory) to understand solid state materials
• to survey some of the main ideas and experimental techniques in condensed matter physics;
• to gain experience in problem solving;

Textbook - Free access available through Brock library

• The Oxford Book of Solid State Physics, by Steven H. Simon. Oxford University Press. 2013

This is an approximate list, based on previous experience. As the course progresses, some of topics may be removed and some others may get added.

• Crystal Structure
• Bonding
• Lattice Vibrations
• Thermodynamics of Solids
• Transport Properties