Phonon

In physics, a phonon is a quasiparticle characterized by the quantization of the modes of lattice vibrations of periodic, elastic crystal structures of solids. The study of phonons is an important part of solid state physics, because phonons play a major role in many of the physical properties of solids, including a material's thermal and electrical conductivities. A phonon is a quantum mechanical description of a special type of vibrational motion, known as normal modes in classical mechanics, in which a lattice uniformly oscillates at the same frequency. These normal modes are important because any arbitrary lattice vibration can be considered as a superposition of these elementary vibrations (cf. Fourier analysis). While normal modes are wave-like phenomena in classical mechanics, they have particle-like properties in the wave–particle duality description of quantum mechanics. The name phonon comes from the Greek word φων? (phon?), which translates as voice, as the properties of long-wavelength phonons give rise to sound in solids. The concept of phonons was introduced by Russian physicist Igor Tamm.

Further information

1. Физический энциклопедический словарь. - М.: "Большая Российская энциклопедия", 1995. - 928 с.
2. Krauth, Werner (2006-04). Statistical mechanics: algorithms and computations. International publishing locations: Oxford University Press. pp. 231–232.
3. A.Lindenberg et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84 (2000) 111-114 -
4. М.И.Каганов, И.М.Лифшиц "Квазичастицы", М., Наука, 1976.
5. М.И.Каганов "Электроны, фононы, магноны", М., Наука, 1979
6. Article Phonon from Wikipedia, the Free Enciclopedia. Available under the license Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike.

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