Topical monograph on the electronic and optical processes in conjugated polymers
Describes how the three key effects of electron-electron interactions, electron-nuclear couping, and disorder determine the type and energies of the electronic states
Explains the photo-physical properties of conjugated polymers in terms of the theory of electronic states
Includes an up-to-date survey of the experimental and theoretical developments, with a comprehensive literature list
Provides numerous technical details (mainly as appendices) as theoretical tools
New to this edition

Includes a more extended discussion of excitons in conjugated polymers.
Includes new chapter on the static and dynamical localization of excitons.
Conjugated polymers have important technological applications, including solar cells and light emitting devices. They are also active components in many important biological processes. In recent years there have been significant advances in our understanding of these systems, owing to both improved experimental measurements and the development of advanced computational techniques.

The aim of this book is to describe and explain the electronic and optical properties of conjugated polymers. It focuses on the three key roles of electron-electron interactions, electron-nuclear coupling, and disorder in determining the character of the electronic states, and it relates these properties to experimental observations in real systems.

A number of important optical and electronic processes in conjugated polymers are also described. The second edition has a more extended discussion of excitons in conjugated polymers. There is also a new chapter on the static and dynamical localization of excitons.


Readership: Postgraduate students and researchers working in the field of the electronic properties of conjugated polymers.

1: Introduction to conjugated polymers
2: ?-electron theories of conjugated polymers
3: Noninteracting electrons
4: Electron-nuclear coupling I: Noninteracting electrons
5: Interacting electrons
6: Excitons in conjugated polymers
7: Electron-nuclear coupling II: Interacting electrons
8: Linear polyenes and trans-polyacetylene
9: Light emitting polymers
10: Exciton localization in disordered polymers
11: Optical processes in conjugated polymers
12: Excitonic processes in conjugated polymers
13: Epilogue
Appendix A: Dirac bra-ket operator representation of one-particle Hamiltonians
Appendix B: Electron-hole symmetry and average occupation number
Appendix C: Single-particle eigensolutions of a periodic polymer chain
Appendix D: The Holstein model
Appendix E: Derivation of the effective-particle Schrödinger equation
Appendix F: Hydrogenic solutions of the effective-particle exciton models
Appendix G: Valence-bond description of benzene
Appendix H: Derivation of the Frenkel exciton Hamiltonian
Appendix I: Evaluation of the electronic transition dipole moments
Appendix J: Spin-orbit coupling in ?-conjugated polymers
Appendix K: Derivation of the line dipole approximation
Appendix L: Direct configuration interaction-singles calculations
Appendix M: Density matrix renormalization group method