Excitons and Cooper Pairs

M. Combescot is a former student of the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, France (Mathematics and Physics majors). In 1973, she obtained her Ph.D. in condensed matter many-body theory from the University of Paris, France (adviser Prof. Ph. Nozières). After two years of postdoc at Cornell University, USA, she returned as a research member at CNRS in Paris, permanently. Yet, she likes teaching very much --- she has been first at the "Aggregation de Physique", a competitive exam for high school teachers. For many years, she taught undergraduate courses at universities and engineering schools in Paris. Over the last two decades, she also gave various courses at the graduate level, in Paris and in many other places in the world. This book is based on one of these lectures.Dr. Shiue-Yuan Shiau obtained his B.S. in 1998 and M.S. in 2002 from National Taiwan University. In 2007, he received his Ph.D in condensed matter physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. After postdocs in INAC/SPSM, CEA at Grenoble, France and in RCAS, Academia Sinica at Taipei, Taiwan, he is currently assistant research fellow at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan.

• PART I: EXCITONS; PART II: COOPER PAIRS; PART III: PARTICLES RELATED TO EXCITONS; PART IV: BOSONIC CONDENSATION; APPENDIX A : SOME MATHEMATICAL RESULTS; APPENDIX B : THE SECOND QUANTIZATION FORMALISM; APPENDIX C : THE HAMILTONIAN FOR WANNIER EXCITONS; APPENDIX D : THE VALENCE ELECTRON OPERATOR VERSUS THE HOLE OPERATOR; APPENDIX E : "THE COBOSON BIBLE"; APPENDIX F : DIRECT COULOMB SCATTERING FOR WANNIER EXCITONS; APPENDIX G : CONCERNING N GROUND-STATE WANNIER EXCITONS; APPENDIX H : PHOTON-SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION; APPENDIX I : PHOTON-EXCITON INTERACTION; REFERENCES; INDEX

In this book a new and fascinating light is shined on an old question. It is must reading for anyone interested in this subject. Leon Cooper, Brown University This new book provides a thorough and interesting account of the microscopic theories behind superconductors, excitons and Bose condensates, drawing parallels between all three areas. It promises to be a useful textbook for postgraduates as well as a stimulating monograph for current practitioners in the fields of condensed matter physics. Derek Lee, Imperial College London I strongly recommend this clear, accessible book gathering for the first time two aspects of pair formation in condensed matter, namely excitons in semiconductors and Cooper pairs in superconductors. Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Ecole Normale Superieure Composite bosons consist of two fermions and hence do not obey the usual bosonic commutation relations. The authors here develop comprehensive techniques and diagrams to describe such systems, focusing on two important examples: particle-hole excitons in semiconductors and two-particle Cooper pairs in superconductors. Future work will doubtless illuminate the important and relatively new field of BCS-BEC crossover involving paired fermions in ultra-cold dilute atomic gases. Alexander Fetter, Stanford University ... full of insight and clarity, combining deep theoretical insight with a demand for intuitive and comprehensible behaviours. This link between excitons and Cooper pairs brings together two fields where there is fertile ground for connection and new ideas. Jeremy Baumberg, University of Cambridge The book by the noted many-body theorist Monique Combescot and Shiue-Yuan Shiau presents a novel theory of interacting excitons based on the fermion character of their constituent electron and hole and a unique unification of the concepts of Wannier and Frenkel excitons and Cooper pairs. L. J. Sham, University of California San Diego The topic is timely and interesting - in particular the similarities and differences between exciton condensates and condensation of Cooper pairs. There are books on excitons and there are books on superconductivity - this combination is rather unique and worth reading. Pawel Hawrylak, University of Ottawa