The Physics of Phonons

This fully updated second edition of The Physics of Phonons remains the most comprehensive theoretical discussion devoted to the study of phonons, a major area of condensed matter physics. It contains exciting new sections on phonon-related properties of solid surfaces, atomically thin materials (such as graphene and monolayer transition metal chalcogenides), in addition to nano- structures and nanocomposites, thermoelectric nanomaterials, and topological nanomaterials, with an entirely new chapter dedicated to topological nanophononics and chiralphononics.Although primarily theoretical in approach, the author refers to experimental results wherever possible, ensuring an ideal book for both experimental and theoretical researchers. The author begins with an introduction to crystal symmetry and continues with a discussion of lattice dynamics in the harmonic approximation, including the traditional phenomenological approach and the more recent ab initio approach, detailed for the first t