Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / Paper 2 / Section A / 5

The effective mass follows from the curvature of the electronic band structure. Differentiating twice givesAt either first Brillouin zone boundary $k=\pm \pi /a$,The boundary is a band maximum, with negative curvature and zero group velocity. In the semiclassical single-band description, an applied force changes $\hslash k$; the resulting acceleration is opposite the force near that maximum. This is a band-response coefficient, not a negative microscopic electron rest mass. A nearly filled band is often described more conveniently through positively charged electron holes near its maximum.