This volume includes twelve solicited articles which survey the current state of knowledge and some of the open questions on the mathematics of aperiodic order. A number of the articles deal with the sophisticated mathematical ideas that are being developed from physical motivations. Many prominent mathematical aspects of the subject are presented, including the geometry of aperiodic point sets and their diffractive properties, self-affine tilings, the role of $C*$-algebras in tiling theory, and the interconnections between symmetry and aperiodic point sets. Also discussed are the question of pure point diffraction of general model sets, the arithmetic of shelling icosahedral quasicrystals, and the study of self-similar measures on model sets. From the physical perspective, articles reflect approaches to the mathematics of quasicrystal growth and the Wulff shape, recent results on the spectral nature of aperiodic Schrödinger operators with implications to transport theory, the characterization of spectra through gap-labelling, and the mathematics of planar dimer models. A selective bibliography with comments is also provided to assist the reader in getting an overview of the field. The book will serve as a comprehensive guide and an inspiration to those interested in learning more about this intriguing subject.

Quasicrystals: The State of the Art has proven to be a useful introduction to quasicrystals for mathematicians, physicists, materials scientists, and students. The original intent was for the book to be a progress report on recent developments in the field. However, the authors took care to adopt a broad, pedagogical approach focusing on points of lasting value. Many subtle and beautiful aspects of quasicrystals are explained in this book (and nowhere else) in a way that is useful for both the expert and the student. In this second edition, some authors have appended short notes updating their essays. Two new chapters have been added. Chapter 16, by Goldman and Thiel, reviews the experimental progress since the first edition (1991) in making quasicrystals, determining their structure, and finding applications. In Chapter 17, Steinhardt discusses the quasi-unit cell picture, a promising, new approach for describing the structure and growth of quasicrystals in terms of a single, repeating, overlapping cluster of atoms.

This first-ever detailed account of quasicrystal geometry will be of great value to mathematicians at all levels with an interest in quasicrystals and geometry, and will also be of interest to graduate students and researchers in solid state physics, crystallography and materials science.

Quasicrystals form a new state of solid matter beside the crystalline and the amorphous. The positions of the atoms are ordered, but with noncrystallographic rotational symmetries and in a nonperiodic way. The new structure induces unusual physical properties, promising interesting applications. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review and presents most recent research results, achieved by a collaboration of physicists, chemists, material scientists and mathematicians within the Priority Programme "Quasicrystals: Structure and Physical Properties" of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). Starting from metallurgy, synthesis and characterization, the authors carry on with structure and mathematical modelling. On this basis electronic, magnetic, thermal, dynamic and mechanical properties are dealt with and finally surfaces and thin films.

From tilings to quasicrystal structures and from surfaces to the n-dimensional approach, this book gives a full, self-contained in-depth description of the crystallography of quasicrystals. It aims not only at conveying the concepts and a precise picture of the structures of quasicrystals, but it also enables the interested reader to enter the field of quasicrystal structure analysis. Going beyond metallic quasicrystals, it also describes the new, dynamically growing field of photonic quasicrystals. The readership will be graduate students and researchers in crystallography, solid-state physics, materials science, solid- state chemistry and applied mathematics.

This book is the first volume of the SpringerBriefs in the Mathematics of Materials and provides a comprehensive guide to the interaction of mathematics with materials science. The anterior part of the book describes a selected history of materials science as well as the interaction between mathematics and materials in history. The emergence of materials science was itself a result of an interdisciplinary movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Materials science was formed by the integration of metallurgy, polymer science, ceramics, solid state physics, and related disciplines. We believe that such historical background helps readers to understand the importance of interdisciplinary interaction such as mathematics–materials science collaboration. The middle part of the book describes mathematical ideas and methods that can be applied to materials problems and introduces some examples of specific studies—for example, computational homology applied to structural analysis of glassy materials, stochastic models for the formation process of materials, new geometric measures for finite carbon nanotube molecules, mathematical technique predicting a molecular magnet, and network analysis of nanoporous materials. The details of these works will be shown in the subsequent volumes of this SpringerBriefs in the Mathematics of Materials series by the individual authors. The posterior section of the book presents how breakthroughs based on mathematics–materials science collaborations can emerge. The authors' argument is supported by the experiences at the Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR), where many researchers from various fields gathered and tackled interdisciplinary research.