Ebook: Soft Condensed Matter: Configurations, Dynamics and Functionality: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Soft Condensed Matter: Configurations, Dynamics and Functionality Geilo, Norway April 6–16, 1999

This volume comprises the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Study In­ stitute held at Geilo, Norway, April 6 -16 1999. The ASI was the fifteenth in a series held biannually on topics related to cooperative phenomena and phase transitions, in this case applied to soft condensed matter and its configurations, dynamics and functionality. It addressed the current experimental and theoretical knowledge of the physical properties of soft condensed matter such as polymers, gels, complex fluids, colloids, granular materials and biomaterials. The main purpose of the lectures was to obtain basic understanding of important aspects in relating molecular configurations and dynamics to macroscopic properties and biological functionality. To our knowledge, the term Soft Condensed Matter was actually coined and used for the first time in 1989 at Geilo and some selected topics of soft matter were also given at Geilo in 1991, 1993 and 1995. A return to this subject 10 years after its instigation thus allowed a fresh look and a possibility for defining new directions for research.

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The term `soft condensed matter' encompasses a wide range of substances which are neither ordinary solids nor ordinary liquids. They do have vestigial liquid and solid properties, but their character is much more complex and subtle. Systems range from foams and complex fluids to granular materials and biomaterials (proteins, DNA, membranes). The structural states they adopt are driven by subtle competition between intermolecular interaction energies and entropic forces, both of which are often close to thermal energies at room temperature. Configurations and their dynamic evolution are significant determinants of a wide variety of mesoscopic and microscopic properties.
The book reviews both the language needed to discuss such systems, as well as basic questions about such phenomena as competing ground states, nonlinear feedback, and slow dynamics. The approach is pedagogical and tutorial, while the work presented is fully up to date. The level is appropriate to graduate researchers, either moving into the field or already active in it.

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The term `soft condensed matter' encompasses a wide range of substances which are neither ordinary solids nor ordinary liquids. They do have vestigial liquid and solid properties, but their character is much more complex and subtle. Systems range from foams and complex fluids to granular materials and biomaterials (proteins, DNA, membranes). The structural states they adopt are driven by subtle competition between intermolecular interaction energies and entropic forces, both of which are often close to thermal energies at room temperature. Configurations and their dynamic evolution are significant determinants of a wide variety of mesoscopic and microscopic properties.
The book reviews both the language needed to discuss such systems, as well as basic questions about such phenomena as competing ground states, nonlinear feedback, and slow dynamics. The approach is pedagogical and tutorial, while the work presented is fully up to date. The level is appropriate to graduate researchers, either moving into the field or already active in it.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xv
What Is Soft Condensed Matter ?....Pages 1-14
A Cocktail of Soft Condensed Matter....Pages 15-36
Materials-Driven Science: From High Tc to Complex Adaptive Matter....Pages 37-70
Complex Cooperative Behaviour in Frustrated Systems....Pages 71-82
Linking the Messenger to the Protein, A Key to in Vitro Evolution....Pages 83-87
A Model for the Thermodynamics of Proteins....Pages 89-99
Attachment and Spreading of Mammalian Cells in Vitro....Pages 101-109
‘Sausage-String’ Patterns in Blood Vessels at High Blood Pressures....Pages 111-126
Equations of Granular Materials: Deposition Theory....Pages 127-134
Equations of Granular Materials: Transmission of Stress....Pages 135-144
Equations of Granular Materials: Compactivity and Compaction....Pages 145-156
Modeling Granular Flows....Pages 157-184
Crystalline Architectures at the Air-Liquid Interface: From Nucleation to Engineering....Pages 185-217
X-Ray and Neutron Scattering Studies of Complex Confined Fluids....Pages 219-245
Speculations and Calculations in the Physics of Foams....Pages 247-268
Complex Physical Phenomena in Clays....Pages 269-279
Complex Particle Dynamics Described by Braid Statistics....Pages 281-291
Back Matter....Pages 293-295

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The term `soft condensed matter' encompasses a wide range of substances which are neither ordinary solids nor ordinary liquids. They do have vestigial liquid and solid properties, but their character is much more complex and subtle. Systems range from foams and complex fluids to granular materials and biomaterials (proteins, DNA, membranes). The structural states they adopt are driven by subtle competition between intermolecular interaction energies and entropic forces, both of which are often close to thermal energies at room temperature. Configurations and their dynamic evolution are significant determinants of a wide variety of mesoscopic and microscopic properties.
The book reviews both the language needed to discuss such systems, as well as basic questions about such phenomena as competing ground states, nonlinear feedback, and slow dynamics. The approach is pedagogical and tutorial, while the work presented is fully up to date. The level is appropriate to graduate researchers, either moving into the field or already active in it.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xv
What Is Soft Condensed Matter ?....Pages 1-14
A Cocktail of Soft Condensed Matter....Pages 15-36
Materials-Driven Science: From High Tc to Complex Adaptive Matter....Pages 37-70
Complex Cooperative Behaviour in Frustrated Systems....Pages 71-82
Linking the Messenger to the Protein, A Key to in Vitro Evolution....Pages 83-87
A Model for the Thermodynamics of Proteins....Pages 89-99
Attachment and Spreading of Mammalian Cells in Vitro....Pages 101-109
‘Sausage-String’ Patterns in Blood Vessels at High Blood Pressures....Pages 111-126
Equations of Granular Materials: Deposition Theory....Pages 127-134
Equations of Granular Materials: Transmission of Stress....Pages 135-144
Equations of Granular Materials: Compactivity and Compaction....Pages 145-156
Modeling Granular Flows....Pages 157-184
Crystalline Architectures at the Air-Liquid Interface: From Nucleation to Engineering....Pages 185-217
X-Ray and Neutron Scattering Studies of Complex Confined Fluids....Pages 219-245
Speculations and Calculations in the Physics of Foams....Pages 247-268
Complex Physical Phenomena in Clays....Pages 269-279
Complex Particle Dynamics Described by Braid Statistics....Pages 281-291
Back Matter....Pages 293-295
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