Overview: With the advent of X-ray diffraction and crystal structure determination in 1912 researchers in physics and chemistry began investigating the problem of crystal co hesion, i. e. , on the question of what holds crystals together. The names of M. Born, E. Madelung, P. P. Ewald, F. Bloch, E. P. Wigner, and J. E. Mayer are, in particular, associated with the pre-1940 work on the cohesion of inorganic lattices. The advent of digital computers brought along great advances in the detailed understanding of ionic crystals, molecular crystals, and metals. The work of P. O. Lowdin and r A. I.
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