Atomic Structure, Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Materials

MSN 501 builds the solid-state foundation that the rest of the materials science program rests on: starting from how atoms pack into crystals and how that geometry — through reciprocal space, diffraction, and symmetry — dictates everything mechanical, thermal, and electronic that follows. You'll work through Kittel chapter by chapter, with two written midterms (one take-home), a final, and weekly problem sets that push you from lattice arithmetic into phonons, free-electron gases, and band theory. It's the gateway graduate course — without it the later electives on semiconductors, nanomaterials, and transport won't have a vocabulary to stand on.