Geometry of Defects in Solids

Abstract: The appealing connection between non-Euclidean geometries and defects in solids is brought forth in this article. Drawing a correspondence between the nature of a defect and a specific geometric property of the material space not only illuminates the underlying structure of defects in solids but also provides an unambiguous way to represent defect densities within a physical theory. We present a rigorous background of the relevant concepts from classical differential geometry, as well as illustrations of isolated defects in a lattice, to motivate the relationship between continuous defect densities and various tensor fields in differential geometry. We identify the Riemann-Christoffel tensor (or curvature tensor), the Cartan tensor (or torsion tensor), and the nonmetricity tensor (obtained from the covariant derivative of the metric tensor), associated with the material space, with the density of disclinations, dislocations, and point-defects (vacancies, interstitials, substitutional), respectively. We end our discussion with remarks on the elastic stress field associated with defect distribution and on the analogy between the present theory and the general theory of relativity.