Webster's dictionary defines panacea as a “remedy for all ills or difficulties; a cure‐all.” A pseudopotential is an approximation to the real potential an electron feels in a solid. In what sense can it be called a cure‐all? What are the ills it cures, the difficulties it overcomes or the problems it solves? And how does it help solve problems? Our object here will be to supply some answers to these questions and to describe the growing influence of theories involving pseudopotentials on solid state or condensed matter physics.
REFERENCES
1.
A review of pseudopotential research is given in:
M. L.
Cohen
, V.
Heine
, Solid State Physics
24
, 37
(1970
), as well as in references 2, 3 and 4.2.
W. A. Harrison, Pseudopotentials in the Theory of Metals, Benjamin, New York (1966).
3.
C. Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics, 5th ed., Wiley, New York (1976).
4.
J. C. Phillips, Bonds and Bands in Semiconductors, Academic, New York (1973).
5.
6.
7.
8.
M.
Schluter
, J. R.
Chelikowsky
, S. G.
Louie
, M. L.
Cohen
, Phys. Rev.
B12
, 4200
(1975
).9.
J. R.
Chelikowsky
, M. L.
Cohen
, Phys. Rev.
B14
, 556
(1976
).
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© 1979 American Institute of Physics.
1979
American Institute of Physics
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