Department of Physics and Astrophysics

University of Delhi

Tutorial sheet 1: Solid State Physics M.Sc. / Sem II.

1. Suppose, in Drude’s model λ represents probability per unit length of collision of an electron
with an ion-core. Show that, the probability that an electron picked at random, had no
colission in moving a prceeding length ` given by e−`/λ . Find out the probability of a
collision between ` and ` + d`. Consequently show that the mean length between two
successive collision is equal to λ

2. Consider a metal subjected to a spatially uniform electric field which has a sinusoidal
dependence on time with a frequency ω. Following Drude’s theory write down the equation
of motion of such an electron. Find an expression for AC conductivity in this case.

3. Consider the propagation of electromagnetic field through a metal.

(a) Obtain the wave equations for the electric and magnetic fields.
(b) Assuming the wave length of the electromagnetic field to be larger than the mean free
path of the electrons in the metal, show that the dielectric constant of the metal is a
complex quantity.
(c) If the frequency of the electromagnetic field is high enough to satisfy ωτ >> 1, find
the condition when the metal is transparent to the propagating wave.

4. A metal has resistivity of 0.16 × 10−5 ohm-cm and atomic density of 9 × 1022 atoms/cm3 .
If each atom contributes two valance electrons, what is the relaxation time of the metal?

5. Suppose at time t = 0, a charge density ρ(~r) is kept inside a metal at position ~r. What
will happen to the charge distribution at another time t. Interpret the results physically.

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 Department of Physics and Astrophysics
University of Delhi

Tutorial sheet 2: Solid State Physics, PH-CT 409, M.Sc./II Sem,

1. Consider free electron gas in two dimension.

(a) Find a relation between electron density n and kF

(b) Prove that in two dimensions the free electron density of levels g() is a constant
independent if  for  > 0, and 0 for  < 0. Find that constant.
(c) With g() as given in (b), show that

µ + kB T ln(1 + e−µ/kB T ) = F

2. The density of copper is 8.96 gm/cm3 , and its atomic weight is 63.5 gm/mole. Calculate the
Fermi energy of copper and using that determine if the motion of the electrons in copper
is relativistic or non-relativistic.

3. The thermodynamic relation of pressure p = −∂E/∂V , where E is the internal energy of

a system of particles occupyig a volume V . Show that for a free electron gas containing N
electrons at 0K
2 N EF
p= ,
5 V
where EF is the Fermi energy. Also express the bulk modulus in terms of EF .

4. In each of the following cases indicate whether the structure is a primitive Bravais lattice.
If so, provide the three primitive vectors. If not, then describe it as a Bravais lattice with
as small a basis as possible.

(a) Base centered cubic lattice (simple cubic with two additional lattice points at the
center of the horizontal faces).
(b) Side centered cubic lattice (simple cubic lattice with additional lattice points at the
center of four vertical faces).
(c) Edge centered cubic lattice (simple cubic lattice with additional points of the lines
joining nearest neighbors).

1
5. Consider a two-dimensional triangular lattice described by the two primitive vectors (in an
orthogonal coordinate system)
√ 
1 3

~a1 = a(1, 0) ; ~a2 = a , . (1)
2 2

Find the two primitive lattice vectors ~b1 , ~b2 describing the reciprocal lattice.

6. Determine the number of atoms present in an unit cell of NaCl and CsCl crystal.

7. Suppose the centers of identical solid spheres lie on the points of the lattice and spheres
of the neighboring points just touch, without overlapping (such arrangement of spheres
is called a close-packing arrangement.) The packing fraction is the the ratio of spheres
volume over the total volume. Find the packing fraction for the hexagonal closed pack
(HCP), face centered cubic(FCC), and diamond lattices.

2
 Tutorial 3
Solid State Physics (Core): Sem II
Date: 21/05/2021

1. Problem 5.1 of Ashcroft and Mermin

2. Problem 5.2 of Ashcroft and Mermin
3. Problem 5.3 of Ashcroft and Mermin
4. Problem 5.4 of Ashcroft and Mermin
5. Sodium chloride (NaCl) has a FCC structure. Will the (111), (200), and (100) reflections
be observed?
6. Show that the permissible rotational symmetries in crystals are limited to 1,2,3,4,and 6-fold.
7. Construct the Wigner-Seitz cell for a centered rectangular lattice
8. Prove that the rotoreflection axis is an improper axis.
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 Tutorial 4
Solid State Physics (Core): Sem II (PHYs0CT-409
Date: 05/06/2021

1. Ashcroft and Mermin, 6.3

2. Show the equivalence between the Laue and Bragg formulation of diffraction.

3. The potential energy of a diatomic molecule is given by

𝐴 𝐵
𝑈(𝑅) = − 𝑚
+ 𝑛
𝑅 𝑅

where R is the interatomic distance.

(a) Derive the expression for the equilibrium spacing of the atoms (Re) and obtain the dissociation energy
(D).
(b) or m=2 and n=10, find the values of Re and the dissociation energy D, when =1.44x10-39 Jm2 and
B=2.19x10-115 Jm2

4.(a) Show that the Madelung constant for a infinite one-dimensional chain of ions of alternating unit
charge (e.g. Na+ and Cl-) at an equilibrium separation is 2ln2.
𝐵
5(b). Find the compressibility of Nacl assuming a repulsive potential of the form 𝑅9 acting between the
nearest neighbours. The nearest neighbour distance is 2.81 A.

6. Kittel Ch.3 Problem 5

7. Calculate the Debye’s specific heat of Cu at 10 K and 300 K, given that  = 6.55 x 1015 Hz.
 Tutorial 5
Solid State Physics (Core): Sem II
Date: 14/07/2021

3. In the first BZ of a SC lattice, M: Centre of and edge and R : Corner point. Find out the coordinates of
the of the Points M and R. Draw the First BZ of a SC lattice and mark all the symmetry points. Following
the above definition, draw the symmetry points (with their co-ordinates in the reciprocal space) of the first
BZ of a 2D square lattice.

4. Energy bands of Simple cubic lattice are calculated in the class along [100] direction. Try to
calculate the band energies along [111] direction within the first BZ.

5. For the sake of completeness, as a related exercise to 3D lattice, compute energy bands for 2D
square lattice under the approximation of Empty Lattice Model.

6. At very low temperatures, the specific heat of rock salt varies according to Debye’s law. How much
heat is required to raise the temperature of 2kmol of the substance from 10K to 50 K?
[This document contains three pages]

Department of Physics & Astrophysics,

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
M.Sc. (Physics), 2nd Semester
PH-CT 409: Solid State Physics
INTERNAL ASSESSMENT,
Date & Time: 6th July. 2021, 4 p.m.
Total Marks: 30 Time: 1.5 hours

There are three sections A, B and C. All questions are compulsory. Symbols carry their usual meaning.

Section A: This section has 5 questions numbered 1 to 5, each carrying 02 marks

1. Consider the following crystals with underlying Bravais structure as simple cubic lattice. What
kind of symmetry do both of these crystals have with the basis associated with them? [2 marks]

2. If a function f(r) is periodic in the lattice generated by the primitive translation vectors a1, a2, a3
then its Fourier series contains only components associated with vectors

Where, bi are the primitive vectors in reciprocal space and hi are integers. Write the expression for k,
with same lattice constants, if the crystal under study is a quasi-crystal. [2 marks]

3. Assume that electrons are completely free to move in a solid with a simple cubic (SC) lattice structure.
If 𝐸𝑘⃗ (𝑞) represents the energy of an electron at some point q in the first Brillouin zone (BZ). If 𝛤, 𝑀, 𝑋, 𝑅
etc. represent the usual symmetry points in the 1st BZ of the SC lattice, then find out the ratio
𝐸𝑘⃗ (𝑀): 𝐸𝑘⃗ (𝑋): 𝐸𝑘⃗ (𝑅). [2 marks]
4. Consider a SC lattice. Following the tight binding approximation find out the width of the energy band
at the zone boundary of the 1st BZ along the [110] directions. [2 marks]

5. Consider two reciprocal lattice planes (100) and (110) of a simple cubic lattice. Determine the angle
between these two planes. [2 marks]

Section B: This section has 2 questions numbered 6 and 7, each carrying 2.5 marks

6. Consider a one-dimensional diatomic lattice. The masses of the atoms are M1 and M2, with M2>M1.
Considering travelling wave solutions and under the harmonic approximation, the dispersion relation of
the vibration frequencies are given by

where C is the force constant and q is the wavevector. Plot the frequencies and the amplitude ratio of
the acoustic and optical vibrations in the first Brillouin zone. Explain the behaviour of both in the long
wavelength limit. [2.5 marks]

7. The length of the edge of the unit cell of a metal M is 0.3524 nm. Its density is 8.90 g/cm 3, atomic
weight=58.7 gms/mole. Determine if it crystallizes in the simple cubic, fcc, or bcc structure. [2.5 marks]

Section C: This section has 3 questions numbered 8-10, each carrying 05 marks

8. Consider a one-dimensional half-infinite ionic crystal which extends from 𝑥 = 0 to +∞ and having a
lattice constant a. You can neglect the end effects of the infinite crystal. The interaction energy of the ion
present at 𝑥 = 0 with all other ions can be represented as
𝑟 𝑞2
𝑈0𝑖 = 𝜆 exp( 𝜌0𝑖 ) ± where, 𝜆 and 𝜌 are two constants with proper dimensions, 𝑟0𝑖 represents the
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟0𝑖
distance of any i-th ion from the ion at 𝑥 = 0, q is the charge on each ion and the other symbols have
their usual significance.

(i) Find the value of the Madelung constant (𝛼) for the ion at 𝑥 = 0 [0.5 marks]

(ii) Assume only the nearest and the next nearest neighbour interaction for the first part (repulsive part)
of 𝑈0𝑖 . 𝑈0 represents the equilibrium total interaction energy, of the ion at 𝑥 = 0 with all other ions in
the crystal. Using the value of 𝛼 find an expression for 𝑈0 in terms of a and other constants. Mention the
repulsive and the attractive part of 𝑈0 . [2.5 marks]
(iii) If 𝜆 = 10 𝑒𝑉 , each ion carries a magnitude of one unit electronic charge and 𝜌 = 𝑎/2 = 1Å then
find out 𝑈0 in eV. 𝜖0 = 8.85 × 10−12 Farad/m. [2 marks]

9. Estimate the magnitude of the Hall voltage for a specimen of sodium in the form of a rod of
rectangular cross-section 5 mm by 5 mm carrying a current of 1 A down its long axis in a magnetic field of
1 T perpendicular to the long axis. The density of sodium atoms is roughly 1 gm/cm3. Sodium has atomic
mass of roughly 23. Assume that there is one free electron per sodium atom (sodium has valency 1).
[5 marks]

10. For a crystal with two atoms of the same type per unit cell positioned at x,y,z and x+1/2, y+1/2,
z+1/2, determine the diffracted intensity for all possible values of h, k, and l. Explain if it depends on the
absolute positions of the atoms. [5 marks]
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