About the book

Over the past 15-20 years, experimental crystal physics has expanded beyond research laboratories and into practical applications in fields like quantum electronics, optics, semiconductor production, and piezotechnology. These advancements have highlighted the need for comprehensive textbooks on crystal physics. This book aims to fill that gap, offering a more detailed work to complement Nye’s 1967 textbook. It focuses on combining general physical principles with the symmetry approach characteristic of the Soviet crystal physics school founded by A.V. Shubnikov. The content is based on lectures and courses delivered at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys and Moscow State University.

The book focuses on the anisotropy of crystal properties, particularly in areas such as diffusion, dielectric permittivity, magnetostriction, and piezooptical effects. It includes illustrations like representation surfaces and stereographic projections to explain the anisotropy of physical properties. The authors also provide a novel description of phase transitions with a double change of symmetry, illustrating how crystal properties change during phase transitions. The appendices include reference data, enhancing the book’s practical utility.

Contents

 Preface to the Second Russian Edition 
 Excerpts from the Preface to the First Russian Edition 
 List of Notation 

Chapter I. Basic Information on Crystallography 

Chapter II. Coordinate Systems, Vectors and Tensors 

Chapter III. Introduction to Crystal Physics. Electrical and Thermal Properties of Crystals 

Chapter IV. Optical Properties of Crystals 

Chapter V. Symmetry of Higher-Rank Tensors 

Chapter VI. Elasticity of Crystals 

Chapter VII. Thermodynamics of Crystals

Chapter VIII. Magnetic Symmetry in Crystal Physics

Chapter IX. Effects of the Higher Orders

Chapter X. Some General Problems of Crystal Physics

References 
Index