Introduction to Elasticity Theory for Crystal Defects

“This is a wonderful book on the elastic foundations of point, line and surface defects in crystals. It is well written by a master experimental and theoretical craftsman who has spent a long professional life in this field. The mathematical coverage of crystal defects and their interactions unfolds in classic style.” – Johannes Weertman, Northwestern University

“Professor Balluffi has had a long and distinguished career in physics and materials science as a researcher and educator and made numerous landmark contributions to the theory of crystal defects and diffusion mechanisms. He taught discipline oriented graduate lecture courses on these subjects at both Cornell University and at MIT. In his present book he provides a detailed and comprehensive presentation of the Elasticity Theory of Crystal Defects in full anisotropic form. While mechanistic understanding of complex mechanical phenomena in crystalline solids can generally be had with isotropic elasticity, a full understanding of the ranges of applicability of mechanisms often necessitates the use of anisotropic elasticity employing advanced mathematical methodology. Such methodology is presently available only in scattered journal publications going back many years or in special treatises using advanced mathematical language of a large variety of forms and often involve frustrating statements of “it can be shown that”. In his book Balluffi provides detailed and compassionate developments, that skip little detail, permitting the reader to obtain a rare and penetrating view into complex methodology with a uniform mathematical language that is familiar to most advanced students and professionals. This is certain to make this book as a standard reference for years to come to physicists, materials scientists and practitioners in applied mechanics.” – Ali Argon, MIT