In the summer term 2005, I plan to teach a course on Theory of soft
and biomatter (two hours a week at the IWR). This course provides
an introduction to the theoretical concepts of soft matter
physics. Soft matter is condensed matter which is characterized by
energy scales close to thermal energy and length scales larger than
atomic length scales. Then a small elastic modulus results and thermal
noise is sufficient to induce structural changes. This outstanding
property of soft matter systems allows them to self-organize and to
self-heal. Soft matter includes material systems like colloidal
suspensions, liquid crystals, fluid-fluid interfaces, fluid membranes
and polymers. It also includes biomatter, like the lipid bilayer and
the filamentous proteins of the cytoskeleton. We will start with a
short review of statistical mechanics. We then discuss important
molecular and colloidal interactions and how they lead to different
equations of state and to phase transitions. Next we deal with
low-dimensional objects (strings and surfaces), which determine the
properties of many soft matter systems. We introduce the basic
concepts from elasticity theory and hydrodynamics, which often are
important in soft matter and biological physics, and finally discuss
some dynamical issues. Throughout the whole course, applications to
biological systems will be emphasized.
Recommended literature
PM Chaikin and TC Lubensky, Principles of condensed matter physics,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1995
SA Safran, Statistical thermodynamics of surfaces, interfaces, and
membranes, Addison-Wesley, Reading 1994
DF Evans and H Wennerstrm, The colloidal domain: where physics,
chemistry, and biology meet, 2nd edition, Wiley 1998
R. Lipowsky and E. Sackmann, Eds., Structure and Dynamics of Membranes,
Elsevier, Amsterdam 1995
M Doi and SF Edwards, The theory of polymer dynamics, Clarendon Press,
Oxford 1986
LD Landau and EM Lifschitz, Hydrodynamics (VI) and Elasticity Theory
(VII), Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford
Josef Honerkamp, Stochastic dynamical systems, VCH 1994
Last modified Wed Dec 22 14:08:58 CET 2004 by USS.
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