Phys 445 Condensed Matter Physics

Homework 1
Due to October 1st 2010, Friday 9:40 in class

1) Tetrahedral angles: The angles between the tetrahedral bonds of diamond structure
are the same as the angles between the body diagonals of a cube. Use elementary
vector analysis to find the value of the angle.

2) HCP structure:
(a) Prove that the ideal (c/a) ratio for the hexagonal close-packed structure is
8 / 3 = 1.633 .
(b) Sodium transforms from bcc to hcp at about 23K (the martensitic transformation).
Assuming that the density remains fixed through this transition, find the lattice
constant a of the hexagonal phase, given that a = 4.23 Å in the cubic phase and tha
the c/a ratio is indistinguishable from its ideal value.

3) (a) Prove that any Bravais lattice has inversion symmetry in a lattice point. (Hint:
Express the lattice translation as linear combinations of primitive vectors with integral
coefficients.)
(b) Prove that the diamond structure is invariant under an inversion in the midpoint of
any nearest neighbor bond.

4) (a) Show that there is a family of lattice planes perpendicular to any n-fold rotation
axis of a Bravais lattice, n ≥ 3 . (Actually, this is also true for n=2, but proof is more
tedious.)
(b) Deduace from (a) that an n-fold axis cannot exist in any three-dimensional Bravais
lattice unless it can exist in some two-dimensional Bravais lattice.
(c) Prove thet no two-dimensional Bravais latticecan have an n-fold axis with n=5 or
n≥7.