Mesoscopic Physics

The course is taught every second year, the next time spring 2009. The course is a combination of self study and student presentations. The self study covers the theoretical foundation, and the presentations are based on experimental literature. The following topics might be covered, depending on the interest of the students: Transport theory: Buttiker-Landauer formalism, ballistic conductance, conductance quantization. Semiconductors: Two-dimensional, one-dimensional, and zero-dimensional systems, integer quantum Hall effect, fractional quantum Hall effect. Superconductors: Andreev scattering, DC Josephson effect. Ferromagnets: Giant magnetoresistance (GMR), spintronics. Organic materials: Carbon nanotubes, Luttinger liquids.

The student is expected to obtain a general insight into mesoscopic physics, which describes the behavior of systems that are in between macroscopic systems and the microscopic atomic world. The course aims to introduce simple physical models and descriptions of mesoscopic systems. Special emphasis is on the transport properties of such systems. The theoretical models will be compared with recent experimental results.

This is a guided self study, with student presentations.