Syllabus for |
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| TIF015 - Soft matter physics |
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| Syllabus adopted 2014-02-25 by Head of Programme (or corresponding) |
| Owner: MPAPP |
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7,5 Credits |
| Grading: TH - Five, Four, Three, Fail |
| Education cycle: Second-cycle |
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Major subject: Engineering Physics
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Department: 16 - PHYSICS
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Teaching language: English
Open for exchange students
Block schedule:
B
| Course module |
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Credit distribution |
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Examination dates |
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Sp1 |
Sp2 |
Sp3 |
Sp4 |
Summer course |
No Sp |
| 0105 |
Examination |
7,5 c |
Grading: TH |
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7,5 c
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23 Oct 2017 am SB, |
21 Dec 2017 am SB |
In programs
MPAPP APPLIED PHYSICS, MSC PROGR, Year 1 (compulsory)
Examiner:
Professor
Aleksandar Matic
Go to Course Homepage
Eligibility:
In order to be eligible for a second cycle course the applicant needs to fulfil the general and specific entry requirements of the programme that owns the course. (If the second cycle course is owned by a first cycle programme, second cycle entry requirements apply.)
Exemption from the eligibility requirement:
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling these requirements.
Course specific prerequisites
The students are expected to have knowledge on the basic level of solid-state physics or solid-state chemistry and thermodynamics, with statistical physics/statistical mechanics.
Aim
Soft condensed matter is a rapidly expanding discipline in the interface between physics, chemistry and chemical engineering, often including biophysics and biochemistry. The area encompasses materials such as glasses, colloids, polymers, gels and biological macromolecules (e.g. proteins). These materials present a vast number of fundamental and technological challenges since the materials are often disordered, fragile and with low contrast between phases and therefore difficult to treat with the standard tools, both theoretical and experimental, of traditional solid state physics.
The aim of this course is to provide a foundation for understanding and utilisation of properties and behaviour of soft matter. The course provides core competence for students aiming at either a career in science or in R&D-industry. It is also a base for more specialised courses in soft matter on the graduate level.
Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)
define and discuss the basic concepts and physics of soft matter
explain universalities between and within subclasses of soft matter and how they are interrelated
apply elementary models to explain phase behavior of soft matter
analyze the behavior and phenomena in soft matter systems based on energy and entropy arguments
suggest suitable experimental tools to study a particular problem in soft matter
to read and understand advanced literature on soft matter, e.g. review articles,
pursue graduate studies on materials science or physics with a soft matter profile
Content
The main covered topics:
Concepts, classification and applications of soft matter
Phase transitions and phase diagrams
Structural and dynamical properties of:
glasses and glass transition: definitions,applications, structure, thermodynamics vs. kinetics free volume concepts,relaxations
polymers & polymer solutions: definitions, applications, real, ideal and gaussian chains; entanglement, reptation, excluded volume, and polymers on surfaces; scaling predictions
gels: definitions, applications, chemical and physical cross-links, percolation models
colloidal systems: definitions, applications, forces, electrostatic interactions, repulsive interactions, depletion, phase behavior
liquid crystals: definitions, applications, phase behavior
surfactants: definitions, applications,interactions, self assembly,
Experimental tools for soft matter
Organisation
The course is based on a series of lectures. In the lectures demonstrations and problem solving are integrated. In addition to the lectures there will be seminars given by experts, both from academia and industrial R&D, in soft matter science. During the course three home-work problems are handed out. Correctly solved problem give a bonus for the written exam.
Literature
Introduction to Soft Matter: Synthetic and Biological Self-Assembling Materials, Revised Edition Ian W. Hamley (http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-302475.html?query=Ian+W.+Hamley). John Wiley & Sons, ISBN: 978-0-470-51609-6
Extra material in the form of scientific articels, ppt-presentations and seminar slides will be available on the homepage in connection to each lecture.
Examination
There is a written exam at the end of the course.