Soft Matter

3 credits · Graduate

Soft-matter physics focuses on self-assembled materials in which entropic effects are strong. These materials are typically mechanically soft and dynamic, and have tunable properties. They are enormously important in industry, in the lab, and in nature. Canonical examples that we will consider include polymers, surfaces, random walks, and liquid crystals. They are the materials relation of statistical mechanics and statistical physics, and the entropic relation of condensed matter physics and materials science. This course introduces soft-matter systems, but also calculational approaches towards them. Physical examples and simple models will be discussed throughout the course PREREQUISITES: FORMATS: Lecture