From chemistry-request@server.ccl.net Tue Jan 9 08:03:37 2001 Received: from mail.sun.ac.za (mail.sun.ac.za [146.232.128.1]) by server.ccl.net (8.11.0/8.11.0) with ESMTP id f09D3Zp09198 for ; Tue, 9 Jan 2001 08:03:35 -0500 Received: from exchange01.sun.ac.za ([146.232.129.1]) by mail.sun.ac.za with esmtp (Exim 2.10 #1) id 14FyR1-0000E9-00 for chemistry@ccl.net; Tue, 9 Jan 2001 15:03:31 +0200 Received: by exchange01.sun.ac.za with Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) id ; Tue, 9 Jan 2001 15:03:30 +0200 Message-ID: <2827D92BF3C4D311A3DA00805FB785230128A607@exchange01.sun.ac.za> From: "Dillen J, Prof" To: "'chemistry@ccl.net'" Subject: Physical interpretation of Ewald summations Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 15:03:30 +0200 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hi, Is anyone aware of a book or article on the physical interpretation of Ewald summations? I am not looking for a detailed description of the mathematics (I have plenty of those), but for a text that explains at a level suitable for say an M.Sc. student (1) why the lattice summations actually converge faster and (2) what the physical meaning is of summing interactions in reciprocal space. I have copies of the papers by Nijboer & de Wette and by D. Williams but they offer answers to "how" rather than "why". I also have access to Kittel's book "Solid State Physics" but as with the articles above, although probably more readable for the average student, it is presented as a mathematical trick. Jan Dillen Stellenbosch University