Condensed Matter Physics: The Goldilocks Science

I have the privilege of telling you about the wonders of condensed matter physics (CMP), also known as solid state physics. CMP is the largest branch of physics, and it can be argued that because of the technological and medical applications it generated, this field has had the largest influence on our everyday life of any physical science field except for chemistry. The transistor, solar battery, MRI, and other solid-state devices such as lasers, are a few of the many applications. However, I will mainly focus on this field's intellectual and conceptual contributions to science and on some of the fascinating phenomena studied in CMP. It can be argued that physics is the central science, and CMP is in the center of physics with many links to other areas of science and engineering. The latter fact results from the nature of CMP where the focus is on energies, sizes, and time scales that are not extremely big or extremely small. Hence, it is an area of science that reminds us of Goldilocks who said, "Ahhh, this porridge is just right," and she happily ate it all up.

Speaker: Marvin L. Cohen, Professor Emeritus, UC Berkeley