Dear Students,

We start this module with few Exercises on Brilluoin zone (BZ) and how to calculate the
energies of different bands for 3D and 2D lattices under the Empty lattice approximation.
Please follow the attached PDF file. The exercises show the importance of Empty Lattice
model. Although Empty lattice approximation is a zero-th order approximation of Nearly Free
Electron model (NFE) we can analytically calculate band energies of metals for different
lattice structures.

Next important concept we would like to take up is the Fermi surface or constant energy
surfaces. The definition of Fermi surface and related concepts are discussed in THE FERMI
SURFACE, P-141 [Ashcroft & Mermin]. Next issue to address is how to construct these
Fermi surfaces. For this, I refer CONSTRUCTION OF FERMI SURFACES, P-238 to P-242
[ Kittel, 7th edition]. We have already discussed construction of Brillouin zone in 2D lattice, in
the class. Here the focus is how to represent Fermi surface in a reduced zone scheme.