Thermodynamic Properties of Solids Experiment and Modeling

Recent years have seen a growing interest in the field of thermodynamic properties of solids due to the development of advanced experimental and modeling tools. Predicting structural phase transitions and thermodynamic properties find important applications in condensed matter and materials science research, as well as in interdisciplinary research involving geophysics and Earth Sciences. The present edited book, with contributions from leading researchers around the world, is aimed to meet the need of academic and industrial researchers, graduate students and non-specialists working in these fields. The book covers various experimental and theoretical techniques relevant to the subject.

Samrath Chaplot, Ph.D., is a Senior Professor and the Head of the Solid State Physics Division at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India. He was a Research Associate at the University of Edinburgh, U. K., from 1979 to 1981, and a Humboldt Fellow at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany, from 1992 to 1993. His research is focused on neutron scattering experiments, lattice dynamics and molecular dynamics computer simulations to investigate the structures and dynamics of condensed matter. Professor Chaplot has published over 180 papers in scientific journals, and over 280 conference publications and book contributions. He has received numerous fellowships and awards including the prestigious Homi Bhabha Award for Science and Technology, presented by DAE, India. He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, and an "Outstanding Referee" of Physical Review Letters and Physical Review, as selected by the American Physical Society.

Ranjan Mittal, Ph.D., is a senior scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. He was a visiting scientist at the J?lich Centre for Neutron Research, Germany, from 2007 to 2009. He has carried out intensive studies in lattice dynamics and inelastic neutron scattering of a wide variety of materials, including novel negative thermal expansion materials, minerals, advanced oxide ceramics, etc. These studies involved experiments at various international facilities. Dr. Mittal has won numerous awards including the Best Thesis award.

Narayani Choudhury, Ph.D., was a senior scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai until 2009. From 1992 to 1994, she was a visiting researcher at the University of Washington, and from 2003 to 2004 at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Currently, she holds a post as a researcher at the Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, USA. Dr. Choudhury's research has provided microscopic insights into various novel phenomena of technologically important materials studied via lattice dynamics and computer simulation techniques. She has also been involved in the application of first principles simulations of multifunctional materials.