The Quantum Mechanics of Materials

Abstract

In the past 25 years, new quantum-mechanical methods have been developed for predicting the configuration of the valence electrons in an atom or an aggregate of many atoms, within the range of energy excitations in which the atoms form interatomic bonds. A theory specifying the configuration of the valence electrons has much to say about the bulk properties of matter that depends on the nature of the interatomic bonds. The new method regards the core electrons and the atomic nucleus as if they constituted a single particle without internal structure. The method is called the pseudopotential theory. A general quantum-mechanical prediction of the properties of a substance in terms of the additive properties of separate chemical bonds is not yet feasible for molecules. However, there is one realm where prediction is now practical: crystalline solids. The regularity of the lattice into which the atoms are organized in a crystal makes it possible to calculate the properties of a macroscopic solid. In other words, many properties of an elemental solid such as lead or a simple binary solid such as gallium arsenide can not be deduced from energy considerations alone. (SC)