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Introduction to Condensed Matter Physics
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Recommended: Introduction to Condensed Matter Physics
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Definition
Condensed Matter Physics is branch of physics that deals with the physical properties of condensed matter such as liquids and solids. This branch of study seeks to understand the behavior of condensed phases of matter by using established laws of physics. [Taylor, Philip L. 2002]
Liquids and solids are the most well-known forms of condensed matter but there are others particularly as a result of quantum physics. Condensed matter physics asserts to atoms as closer together and more closely bounded together and more closely bounded together than in a gas. As a result condensed matter tends to be some form of liquids or solids. [Taylor, Philip L. 2002]
1.2. Forms of Condensed Matter Physics
Liquids: are forms
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Importance of Condensed Matter Physics
Physicstoday.org regards condensed matter physics as the most active field of contemporary physics. The field overlaps with chemistry, material science and nanotechnology and relates closely to atomic physics and biophysics. Theoretical condensed matter physics shares important concepts and techniques with theoretical particles and nuclear physics. [Physics Today Jobs, 2009-03-27].
Condensed matter physics is very important in understanding the electrical and magnetic properties of solids and liquids – the center for modern society and technology. For example: The world of technology and electronics is based on tuning of a special class of material, the semiconductor. In 1980, IBM had made their first 2.52 GB Hard disk drive which weighed 250 kg at $100 000.00; comparing this size and cost to nowadays hard disk drives – available on the market today is 1 Terrabyte at a price of less than $100.00.
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4.1. Neuroimaging
MRI is the most favoured investigative tool neurological cancers, as it is more sensitive than CT for small tumors and offers better visualization. [www.acr.org/~/MRI_Brain.pdf].
4.2. Cardiovascular
Cardiac MRI is complementary to other imaging techniques, such as echocardiography, cardiac CT and nuclear medicine. [https://dx.doi.org]
4.3. Muscoloskeletal
Application in the muscoskeletal system include spinal imaging assessment of joint disease and soft tissue tumors. [Helms, 2008].
4.3. Liver and gastrointestinal MRI
Hepatobiliary MR is used to detect and characterize lesions of the liver, pancreas and bile ducts. 4.4. Functional MRI
Functional MRI (fMRI) is used to understand how different parts of the brain respond to external stimuli. Functional MRI has applications in behavioral and cognitive research and in preparation of neurosurgery of certain brain areas.
4.5. Oncology
In oncology, can be used for preoperative setting of rectal and prostate cancer, and in the diagnosis, staging and monitoring of other tumors.
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My interest in MRI started when I first read the book “MRI, The Basics” written by the author Ray Hashemi. By the time I successfully finished my MRI clinical placement in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, I knew for sure that MRI would be the field I would be choosing to take on. What attracts me most about MRI is how beautifully scientist could create a technology that can take advantage of the magnetic moments of human body for imaging it without any harms of ionizing radiation. Although there are drawbacks to MRI, combining it with other modalities would be a more effective approach to an accurate diagnosis.
On conventional MR images, elliptic areas hypointense on fat-suppressed T1-weighted images and iso- or hyperintense on T2-weighted images were recorded as testes in the aforementioned locations. On the combined DW and conventional MR images, conventional MRI was used for anatomic localization of hyperintense elliptic areas on the DW images. On DWIs, testes were recorded for focal areas of hyperintensity that did not represent T2 shine through from fluid-containing
Matter exists in three basic states: solid, liquid, or gas. A substance experiences a phase change when the physical characteristics of that substance change from one state to another state. Perhaps the most recognizable examples of phase changes are those changes from a solid to a liquid or a liquid to a gas. When a substance goes through a phase change, there is a change in the internal energy of the substance but not the temperature of the substance (Serway, et al. 611).
Other testing procedures that are commonly employed, in order to gain a better visual image of the excitatory activity in the brain are the PET scan and the MRI. According to Kalat (2004), these methods are non-invasive, meaning that they don’t require the insertion of objects into the brain, yet they yield results that allow researchers to record brain activity. The PET scan (positron emission tomography) involves the researcher injecting a radioactive chemical into the patient’s body, which is then absorbed mainly by the brain’s most active cells. With the use of radioactive detectors, placed around the patient’s head, a map is produced that shows which areas of the brain are most active.
Recently, new advances have been made in PET technology. A pair of American scientists working in Switzerland came up with a combination PET/CT scanner, which effectively pairs the two techniques. This new combination will be very useful in cancer diagnosis. With the PET/CT, both anatomical and functional imaging can be done and reproduced on the same image. This will be helpful in pinpointing the location of tumors, and also for the early identification of tumors too small to be of concern in CT scanning.
A Growing Concern." Internet Journal of Radiology 5.2 (2007): 4. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI),which is one of the most exciting recent developments in biomedical magnetic resonance imaging, allows the non-invasive visualisation of human brain function(1).
One of the most recently new advances in radiology is the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI has been around for the past century. It was at first called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and then it changed to MRI once there was an available image. Walter Gerlach and Otto Stern were the first scientists to start experimenting with the magnetic imaging. Their very first experiment was looking at the magnetic moments of silver by using some type of x-ray beam. The scientists then discovered this was by realizing that the magnetic force in the equipment and in the object itself. In 1975, the first image was finally created using and MRI machine. The scientists used a Fourier Transformation machine to reconstruct images into 2D. The first images ever use diagnostically was in 1980. This is when hospitals began to use them. At first the images took hours to develop and were only used on the patients that needed it most. Even though MRI has been around for a long time, it has advanced and has been one of the best imaging modalities recently (Geva, 2006).
Quantum Mechanics is a branch of physics that describes the structure and behavior of matter.
The molar specific heats of most solids at room temperature and above are nearly constant, in agreement with the Law of Dulong and Petit. At lower temperatures the specific heats drop as quantum processes become significant. The Einstein-Debye model of specific heat describes the low temperature behavior.
Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), similar to CT, uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to provide pictures of blood vessels inside the body. A dye is often used during the procedure to make blood vessels appear clearer. Lastly, a cerebral angiogram may be done. This is an x-ray test, where a catheter is inserted into a blood vessel, usually in the groin or arm, and moved from the vessel into the brain. A dye is also injected.
Since the brain is extremely fragile and difficult to access without risking further damage, imaging techniques are used frequently as a noninvasive method of visualizing the brain’s structure and activity. Today's technology provides many useful tools for studying the brain. But even with our highest technology out there we do not know everything definitely. We do have fallbacks at times and these fallbacks can lead to serious problems.
Since the days of Aristotle, all substances have been classified into one of three physical states. A substance having a fixed volume and shape is a solid. A substance, which has a fixed volume but not a fixed shape, is a liquid; liquids assume the shape of their container but do not necessarily fill it. A substance having neither a fixed shape nor a fixed volume is a gas; gases assume both the shape and the volume of their container. The structures of gases, and their behavior, are simpler than the structures and behavior of the two condensed phases, the solids and the liquids
1 David Halliday, Robert Resnick, and Jearl Walker, Fundamentals of Physics, Extended, 5th ed. (NewYork:Wiley, 1997) 361
Mann, M., 2013. Mind Action Series Physical Sciences 12 Textbook and Workbook. Sanlamhof: Allcopy Publishers.