Some current topics in condensed matter physics 2012

The second volume of this series contains contributions in distinct areas of research in the physics of condensed matter. For most of them there is a common ground which is the physics of multilayered structures. Those works contain investigations on the acoustic, electronic and optical properties of systems including phononic crystals, tunneling heterostructures and the plasmon-polariton modes in Rudin-Shapiro one-dimensional photonic superlattices. A particular feature appearing in some of these chapters is the use of the transfer matrix formalism. The significance of this mathematical scheme for solving one-dimensional Sturm-Liouville- like differential problems is properly highlighted in chapter 3, together with a special discussion related with tackling the so-called ω-d problem. In the last two chapters the reader will find a discussion on the recent progress in the implementation of density functional calculations and a report on the properties of the vortex excitations in Bose-Einstein polaritonic condensates, respectively.