APN 568 Soft Matter Physics
The course covers concepts in soft matter physics. Topics include review of thermodynamics, phase diagrams, Gibbs phase rule, lever rule, common tangent construction, phase diagrams, phase transitions, review of statistical mechanics, Ising model, mean field theory, Flory-Higgins theory of mixtures, Brownian motion, Random walks, Central limit theorem, Diffusion equation, Langevin equation, Electrostatic screening, Debye length, Electrostatic double layer, Born free energy, Intermolecular interactions, interactions between macroscopic objects in vacuum and media, nonadditivity of charge fluctuation interactions, Surface energy and surface tension, Young equation, Contact angle, Wetting, Laplace pressure, Young-Laplace equation, Stress and strain tensors, Elastostatics, Hydrostatics, Viscosity, Navier-Stokes equation, Stokes law, Low-Reynolds number flows, Viscoelasticity, Bulk and Loss moduli, Maxwell model of viscoelastic materials, Maxwell superposition. The course is suitable for first-year graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Pre-requisites: permission of instructor
Cross Listed Courses
PHYS 468 &
PHYS 568 &
APN 568