Emeritus ProfessorAngus MacKinnon

A typical course in Solid State Physics starts with crystallography and discusses most of the properties of materials in terms of crystals. Bloch's theorem is typically the most important mathematical tool. Yet, if we look around us we see lots of solids, but very few crystals. Even the metals are probably random alloys. All this leaves the impression that the existence of a band gap, and hence of any transparency, depends on crystallinity. Look through the nearest window. Glass is a random covalent material, not a crystal.

Research Interests
Theoretical and Computational Physics of

Nano-mechanical (NMS) and nano-electro-mechanical systems
Disordered systems and the metal-insulator transition
Education/Qualifications
PhD in Physics from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
BSc in Physics from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh