ABOUT BOOK

Strongly correlated electron systems are among the most active research topics in modern condensed matter physics. In strongly correlated materials the electron interaction energies ~ ~dominate the electron kinetic energy which leads to unconventional properties. Heavy ~ ~fermion compounds form one of the classes of such materials. In heavy fermion compounds ~ ~the interaction of itinerant electrons with local magnetic moments generates quasiparticles ~ ~with masses up to several 1000 electron masses. This may be accompanied by exciting ~ ~properties, such as unconventional superconductivity in a magnetic environment, non-Fermi ~ ~liquid behavior and quantum criticality. Strong electronic correlations are responsible for ~ ~physical phenomena on a low energy scale. Consequently, these phenomena have to be ~ ~studied at low temperatures. This, in turn, requires ultimate quality of single crystals to ~ ~avoid that the low temperature intrinsic properties are covered by extrinsic effects due to ~ ~off-stoichiometry, impurities or other crystal imperfections.