Introduction to the Electron Theory of Metals

Book Preface

The electron theory of metals describes how electrons are responsible for the bonding of metals and subsequent physical, chemical and transport properties. This textbook gives a complete account of electron theory in both periodic and non-periodic metallic systems.

The author presents an accessible approach to the theory of electrons, comparing it with experimental results as much as possible. The book starts with the basics of one-electron band theory and progresses to cover up-to-date topics such as high-Tc superconductors and quasicrystals. The relationship between theory and potential applications is also emphasized. The material presented assumes some knowledge of elementary quantum mechanics as well as the principles of classical mechanics and electromagnetism.

This textbook will be of interest to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in physics, chemistry, materials science and electrical engineering. The book contains numerous exercises and an extensive list of references and numerical data.

UICHIRO MIZUTANI was born in Japan on March 25, 1942. During his early career as a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie–Mellon University from the late 1960s to 1975, he studied the electronic structure of the Hume-Rothery alloy phases. He received a doctorate of Engineering in this field from Nagoya University in 1971. Together with Professor Thaddeus B. Massalski, he wrote a seminal review article on the electron theory of the Hume-Rothery alloys (Progress in Materials Science, 1978). From the late 1970s to the 1980s he worked on the electronic structure and transport properties of amorphous alloys. His review article on the electronic structure of amorphous alloys (Progress in Materials Science, 1983) provided the first comprehensive understanding of electron transport in such systems. His research field has gradually broadened since then to cover electronic structure and transport properties of quasicrystals and high-Tc superconductors. It involves both basic and practical application-oriented science like the development of superconducting permanent magnets and thermoelectric materials. He became a professor of Nagoya University in 1989 and was visiting professor at the University of Paris in 1997 and 1999. He received the Japan Society of Powder and Powder Metallurgy award for distinguished achievement in research in 1995, the best year’s paper award from the Japan Institute of Metals in 1997 and the award of merit for Science and Technology of High-Tc Superconductivity in 1999 from the Society of Non-Traditional Technology, Japan.