This book is a wide-ranging survey of the physics of out-of-equilibrium systems of correlated electrons, ranging from the theoretical, to the numerical, computational and experimental aspects. It starts from basic approaches to non-equilibrium physics, such as the mean-field approach, then proceeds to more advanced methods, such as dynamical mean-field theory and master equation approaches. Lastly, it offers a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in experimental investigations of complex quantum materials by means of ultrafast spectroscopy.

​​This is the first book that provides a detailed summary of one of the most successful new condensed matter theories - dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) - in both static and dynamical cases of systems of different sizes. DMFT is one of the most successful approaches to describe the physical properties of systems with strong electron-electron correlations such as bulk materials, multi-layers, surfaces, 2D materials and nanostructures in both metallic and insulating phases. Strongly correlated materials usually include partially-filled localized d- or f-orbitals, and DMFT takes into account crucial for these systems time-resolved interaction between electrons when they “meet” on one atom and occupy one of these orbitals. The First Part of the book covers the general formalism of DMFT as a many-body theory, followed by generalizations of the approach on the cases of finite systems and out-of-equilibrium regime. In the last Chapter of the First Part we discuss generalizations of the approach on the case when the non-local interactions are taken into account. The Second Part of the book covers methodologies of merging DMFT with ab initio static Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time-Dependent DFT (TDDFT) approaches. Such combined DFT+DMFT and DMFT+TDDFT computational techniques allow one to include the effects of strong electron-electron correlations at the accurate ab initio level. These tools can be applied to complex multi-atom multi-orbital systems currently not accessible to DMFT. The book helps broad audiences of students and researchers from the theoretical and computational communities of condensed matter physics, material science, and chemistry to become familiar with this state-of-art approach and to use it for reaching a deeper understanding of the properties of strongly correlated systems and for synthesis of new technologically-important materials.

This book sets out modern methods of computing properties of materials, including essential theoretical background, computational approaches, practical guidelines and instructive applications.

This introductory level text addresses the broad range of nonequilibrium phenomena observed at short time scales. It focuses on the important questions of correlations and memory effects in dense interacting systems. Experiments on very short time scales are characterized, in particular, by strong correlations far from equilibrium, by nonlinear dynamics, and by the related phenomena of turbulence and chaos. The impressive successes of experiments using pulsed lasers to study the properties of matter and of the new methods of analysis of the early phases of heavy ion reactions have necessitated a review of the available many-body theoretical methods. The aim of this book is thus to provide an introduction to the experimental and theoretical methods that help us to understand the behaviour of such systems when disturbed on very short time scales.

This book provides a pedagogical introduction to the concepts and methods of quantum field theory necessary for the study of condensed matter and ultracold atomic gases. After a thorough discussion of the basic methods of field theory and many-body physics (functional integrals, perturbation theory, Feynman diagrams, correlation functions and linear response theory, symmetries and their consequences, etc.), the book covers a wide range of topics, from electron gas and Fermi-liquid theory to superfluidity and superconductivity, magnetic instabilities in electron systems, and dynamical mean-field theory of Mott transition. The focus is on the study of model Hamiltonians, where the microscopic physics and characteristic energy scales are encoded into a few effective parameters, rather than first-principle methods which start from a realistic Hamiltonian at the microscopic level and then make material-specific predictions. The reader is expected to be familiar with elementary quantum mechanics and statistical physics, and some acquaintance with condensed-matter physics and ultracold gases may also be useful. No prior knowledge of field theory or many-body problem is required.

The main topics covered by this fascinating book, Materials in Transition, are the manifold aspects of transient phenomena in condensed matter, the kinetics of phase transitions, catalysis, solid-state reactions, self-organization, etc.