Excellent compilation of topics in Soft Matter!
Soft Matter Physics is an excellent compilation of chapters on different aspects of soft matter, written by the experts in their respective areas. In more ways than one, this text complements the texts of Chaikin & Lubensky as well as the one by Witten, and can be used wfor classroom teaching.
F. Brochard_Wyart's chapter on droplets describes some really elegant and simple experiments to introduce diverse concepts related to wetting and capillarity. A greater depth and detail about this area is found in a recently published treatize on Capillarity and Wetting Phenomenon, that she co-authored with David Quere and PG deGennes. The second chapter on fractals by Daoud and Van Damme presents introductory ideas of the mathematics of self-similarity, fractals, and random walks. Next follows an insightful foray into colloidal matter where J. C. Daniel and R. Andibert discuss the central role of interaction forces in describing the stability and aggregation behavior of colloids. The following two chapters focus on surfactants, where C Taupin and G. Porte examine the physiochemistry and the phase behavior of surfactant molecules.
F Candau then talks about the polymers formed by self-assembly and L Monnerie follows it up with description of the physical properties of covalently linked polymers. Thereafter comes a chapter by Tom Witten, which beautifully strings together the concepts of fractals, random walks, phase behavior into a discussion on the behavior of polymers in solution. This chapter is written in his trademark elegance, so apparent in his own treatize on soft matter, titled Structured Fluids. The last chapter on Liquid Crystals by J. Prost and C. E. Williams dwells on the characteristic properties of the nematic, smectic and columnar phases. With PG de Gennes, J. Prost is co-author on detailed text on liquid crystals.
It is only befitting that the forward to this text is written by PG de Gennes himself, for besides his fundamental contributions to the field, he has shaped and influenced the research of all the contributors and of readers worldwide. I recommend this book to one and all, and I am sure that even if your research area is constrained to topics described in any one chapter, you will find the reading of the rest text as purposeful and illuminating.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Structured Fluids: Polymers, Colloids, Surfactants by Thomas A. Witten
Lucid, intuitive text for Soft Matter enthusiasts!
Structured Fluids relies more on presenting the physical picture than mathematical machinery, stresses more on intuition and scaling concepts than on derivations and obstrusive pages of equations. In doing so, it makes itself easier to grasp than say the texts by Chaikin and Lubensky or for that matter by Kleman and Lavrentovich. The formalism is done with enough depth, to benefit both beginners and experts of the field, and thus the book is better suited for graduate student course than say RAL Jones or Hamley's texts.
The essential knowledge related to polymers, colloids and surfactants is in here, and the book is fairly upto date with recent advances in these areas. The references listed at the end of each chapter are most useful pointers for anyone who seeks to delve deeper into the mysteries of soft matter. In fact, reading this text reminds one of the style of de Gennes, and having been written in the same spirit by these very illustrous scientists, the book is comprehensive and erudite in content and presentation.
The book starts off by talking about fundamentals, including elements of statistical physics and experimental probes used to investigate the soft matter. This sets stage for discussion of various themes related to say
polymers, where random walk statistics capture essential physics required to describe a coil, scaling concepts and basic thermodynamics tells about coil dimensions in different solvents and extension of brownian dynamics explains mobility of chains. The corresponding experimental tools of light scattering and viscosity highlight how these can be measured.
colloids, where the nature of interaction between colloidal particles determines their static and dynamic behavior, leading to experimentally observed self-assembly and aggregation.
interfaces, where basics of surface tension come in to explain behavior of colloids and polymers near walls and interfaces.
surfactants, which borrows principles from previous chapters, exhibiting rich phase behavior dictated by statistical thermodynamics, dynamics related to solvent quality and aggregation dependent on aggregation.
A must read for everyone interested, active (and maybe even for experts) in the field!
Structured Fluids relies more on presenting the physical picture than mathematical machinery, stresses more on intuition and scaling concepts than on derivations and obstrusive pages of equations. In doing so, it makes itself easier to grasp than say the texts by Chaikin and Lubensky or for that matter by Kleman and Lavrentovich. The formalism is done with enough depth, to benefit both beginners and experts of the field, and thus the book is better suited for graduate student course than say RAL Jones or Hamley's texts.
The essential knowledge related to polymers, colloids and surfactants is in here, and the book is fairly upto date with recent advances in these areas. The references listed at the end of each chapter are most useful pointers for anyone who seeks to delve deeper into the mysteries of soft matter. In fact, reading this text reminds one of the style of de Gennes, and having been written in the same spirit by these very illustrous scientists, the book is comprehensive and erudite in content and presentation.
The book starts off by talking about fundamentals, including elements of statistical physics and experimental probes used to investigate the soft matter. This sets stage for discussion of various themes related to say
polymers, where random walk statistics capture essential physics required to describe a coil, scaling concepts and basic thermodynamics tells about coil dimensions in different solvents and extension of brownian dynamics explains mobility of chains. The corresponding experimental tools of light scattering and viscosity highlight how these can be measured.
colloids, where the nature of interaction between colloidal particles determines their static and dynamic behavior, leading to experimentally observed self-assembly and aggregation.
interfaces, where basics of surface tension come in to explain behavior of colloids and polymers near walls and interfaces.
surfactants, which borrows principles from previous chapters, exhibiting rich phase behavior dictated by statistical thermodynamics, dynamics related to solvent quality and aggregation dependent on aggregation.
A must read for everyone interested, active (and maybe even for experts) in the field!
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Review of some Polymer Physics Texts!
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Prelude to Doi-Edward's Theory of Polymer Dynamics
The finest aspect of the book is its thickness; in just over 100 pages Doi essentially summarises everything in Polymer Dynamics. In some sense the book is meant as a bridge between the graduate level courses on Polymer Dynamics/Physics and book: The Theory of Polymer Dynamics and hence is assessible only with some background on basics. Nevertheless its serves its purpose pretty well.
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Excellent book: but to grasp everything one will need to read through a few simpler texts first, say Scaling Concepts by de Gennes, Introduction to Polymer Physics by Doi, some Rheology book say Viscoelastic properties of Polymers by Ferry and Polymer Solutions by I Teraoka.
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This is a comprehensive polymer physics book, each chapter is well written with adequate depth of coverage. Most definitely the book one must pick to delve into dynamics, thermodynamics, scattering and crystallization, and get to the level of appreciating the complexity and beauty of current research and understanding in the field of polymer physics. Highly recommended!
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de Gennes is one of the most eminent polymer physicists of our times, and this book is perhaps the most significant book in polymer physics. All books by this author are treasures of knowledge, concepts introduced in simple, yet elegant way. A must read for anyone who wishes to appreciate the structure and dynamics of polymeric materials!
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A comprehensive guide to Polymers by the Nobel winning Flory himself!!! The book came out over half a century back, and hence understandably contains a lot of material that has been revised and is now understood differently. Still the book continues to be an essential read for anyone interested in polymer science, and knowledge of how Flory developed and demonstrated several key ideas used in everyday polymer science. Not recommended as a textbook for beginners, but as reference book for anyone planning to delve deeper into the subject!
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Extensive and comprehensive approach to polymeric materials!
The book comprises of excellent chapters on crystallization, phase separation, viscoelasticity, optical properties, failure and yielding, liquid crystalline polymers, polymer surfaces, etc written by experts like Doi, Hashimoto, Lotz, Suter, Williams, Eby, Tirell, etc. Thus this book provides comprehensive material to understand above topics, and can be used as an excellent reference text to dig relevant literature cited and reviewed here. I believe that each chapter in this book gives material and insight comparable to a full graduate level course, and hence recommend the book for readers at all levels of understanding!!
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Viscoelastic properties of polymers includes a very detailed description of polymer rheology, covering both the mechanical aspects of rheometers, as well as the description of molecular basis of viscoelasticity. The book is highly recommended to everyone embarking on a career in polymer viscoelasticity. Ferry has essentially compiled all the important material relevant to polymer viscoelasticity, and hence the chapters serve as excellent reviews of respective fields. Since the last edition is well over 20 years old, many recent aspects of viscoelaticity are not present in the book (quite understandable:))! Nevertheless, this book is a must have to delve into viscoelaticity, the knowledge and its evolution.
More to be added later!
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Rev 6: Dynamic Light Scattering by Bruce J. Berne, Robert Pecora
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Dynamic Light Scattering is a classic text, that presents a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the underlying physics and principles of DLS. The description is developed with the associated mathematics of fluctuations and time correlation functions, as well as various physical aspects of Brownian Motion. Examples drawn from physics, chemistry and biology are used to illustrate the usefullness of DLS in studying a diverse range of problems including cell motility, macromolecular dynamics, dynamics of anisotropics objects (rod-like particles, viruses), electrolytic solutions, etc. The book is ESSENTIAL for everyone with interest in 1) dynamics of complex fluids 2) Brownian Motion of particles and 3) Single Molecule Imaging!
The text is a beautifully written treatise on various applications of DLS, with a very insightful commentary on how various dynamics is detected by light, how underlying structure and relaxations translate to observable, how observables can be deduced by mathematical principles based on statistical mechanics (including non-equilibrium thermodynamics). This is a fairly advanced text, so I would advise someone to get a soft introduction to his/her topic of choice (polymers, gels, rods, colloids, cells, polyelectrolytes, etc.) and basic statistical mechanics before picking this text. Being a Dover publication, the book is priced cheaper than it ought to be:), and hence must make its way to the shelf of people who have any lasting interest in DLS. The book by Wyn Brown is a useful supplementary text (and includes more modern references, but comes at a high price). This book is an exercise in the mathematics of correlation functions, and associated hydrodynamics equations, and definitely requires concerted effort to become beneficial to the reader.
Posted earlier on amazon.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Rev 5: Soft Condensed Matter by Richard A. L. Jones, R. Jones
Excellent text for appreciating beauty of soft matter!
The chapters are written in straightforward language, conveying essential ideas and fundamentals in very readable manner. The book illustrates how one can convey complex ideas in simple words and yet capture all intricacies of the subject. The book is self contained introduction to colloids, polymers, liquid crystals, self-assembly, crystallization, glass transition, phase behavior and gelation. I have not encountered a better book that presents such a rich overview of these vastly different yet interrelated domain of condensed matter physics in less than 200 pages.
Since the book was written fairly recently, it presents a very modern understanding of described topics. The book by Chaikin and Lubensky (~700 pages) is the one written for anyone interested in meaty details, and equations in their full grandeur. Strobl's recent book on condensed matter is another excellent text and presents lots of physics in very well written graduate level text. But to taste and tempt into soft matter, Jones book definitely is the one to pick!
Published earlier on amazon!
The chapters are written in straightforward language, conveying essential ideas and fundamentals in very readable manner. The book illustrates how one can convey complex ideas in simple words and yet capture all intricacies of the subject. The book is self contained introduction to colloids, polymers, liquid crystals, self-assembly, crystallization, glass transition, phase behavior and gelation. I have not encountered a better book that presents such a rich overview of these vastly different yet interrelated domain of condensed matter physics in less than 200 pages.
Since the book was written fairly recently, it presents a very modern understanding of described topics. The book by Chaikin and Lubensky (~700 pages) is the one written for anyone interested in meaty details, and equations in their full grandeur. Strobl's recent book on condensed matter is another excellent text and presents lots of physics in very well written graduate level text. But to taste and tempt into soft matter, Jones book definitely is the one to pick!
Published earlier on amazon!
Review 4: The Physics of Liquid Crystals by P.G. De Gennes and J. Prost
Bible for liquid crystals!
Like every book by de Gennes, this book is a classic! This latest edition in a "must have" text for everyone even remotely associated with liquid crystals. The text is written in a self contained fashion, but the mathematics and physics is of advanced level, and to fully appreciate the content one must have some grip on statistical mechanics, tensor and vector algebra, electromagnetism and continuum physics. Thus it is ideal for physicists, a rewarding challenge for chemists and starting researchers.
To get a simple understanding of liquid crystals (without chemical and mathematical equations), a text by Peter J. Collins (Liquid Crystals: Nature's delicate phase of matter) is highly recommended. For people interested in synthesis of liquid crystals, this text has almost nothing to offer and maybe another text by Collins is more useful. Another important text on the physics of liquid crystals is by Chandershekar. But bottomline is while you may want to look at other texts for specific needs (synthesis or display devices), The Physics of Liquid Crystals by de Gennes is the book one must have and one must read to make a living in this area. (of course, I will read the whole text too....)
Published earlier on amazon
Like every book by de Gennes, this book is a classic! This latest edition in a "must have" text for everyone even remotely associated with liquid crystals. The text is written in a self contained fashion, but the mathematics and physics is of advanced level, and to fully appreciate the content one must have some grip on statistical mechanics, tensor and vector algebra, electromagnetism and continuum physics. Thus it is ideal for physicists, a rewarding challenge for chemists and starting researchers.
To get a simple understanding of liquid crystals (without chemical and mathematical equations), a text by Peter J. Collins (Liquid Crystals: Nature's delicate phase of matter) is highly recommended. For people interested in synthesis of liquid crystals, this text has almost nothing to offer and maybe another text by Collins is more useful. Another important text on the physics of liquid crystals is by Chandershekar. But bottomline is while you may want to look at other texts for specific needs (synthesis or display devices), The Physics of Liquid Crystals by de Gennes is the book one must have and one must read to make a living in this area. (of course, I will read the whole text too....)
Published earlier on amazon
Review 3: Principles of Condensed Matter Physics by P. M. Chaikin and T. C. Lubensky
Exhaustive treatment of soft matter physics
Given my training as engineer in undergraduate and as polymer scientist in my MS, I find this book a challenging endevour. It presupposes knowledge of quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics, and is written in a style most beneficial for Physics graduate students. Nonetheless, since every serious student in material science and polymer physics must indeed become comfortable with soft matter physics, this book is a delightful introduction. The book by RAL Jones can provide a quick introduction to phenomenon and principles encountered in the book. But to master the trade, to become comfortable with notation used in papers, to understand the math, to make yourself a soft matter physicist, this book provides matter, paradigm and principles in comprehensive manner.
Specifically book is essential reading for people studying physics of crystals, liquid crystals, amorphous materials, polymers and magnetically ordered systems. It provides detailed introduction to symmetry, phase transitions, field theories, scattering and correlation functions, and generalized elasticity and hydrodynamics. Each chapter and topic can be appreaciated by additional reading from a textbook each in Statistical Mechanics (Pathria), Electrodynamics (Slater and Frank), Quantum Mechanics, liquid crystals (chandrashekar or de gennes, polymers (doi, de gennes) and scattering (neutron-higgins, light-pecora). Like potential readers, I am myself a student, just starting on this daunting but worthwhile study of condensed matter.
Published earlier on amazon!
Given my training as engineer in undergraduate and as polymer scientist in my MS, I find this book a challenging endevour. It presupposes knowledge of quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics, and is written in a style most beneficial for Physics graduate students. Nonetheless, since every serious student in material science and polymer physics must indeed become comfortable with soft matter physics, this book is a delightful introduction. The book by RAL Jones can provide a quick introduction to phenomenon and principles encountered in the book. But to master the trade, to become comfortable with notation used in papers, to understand the math, to make yourself a soft matter physicist, this book provides matter, paradigm and principles in comprehensive manner.
Specifically book is essential reading for people studying physics of crystals, liquid crystals, amorphous materials, polymers and magnetically ordered systems. It provides detailed introduction to symmetry, phase transitions, field theories, scattering and correlation functions, and generalized elasticity and hydrodynamics. Each chapter and topic can be appreaciated by additional reading from a textbook each in Statistical Mechanics (Pathria), Electrodynamics (Slater and Frank), Quantum Mechanics, liquid crystals (chandrashekar or de gennes, polymers (doi, de gennes) and scattering (neutron-higgins, light-pecora). Like potential readers, I am myself a student, just starting on this daunting but worthwhile study of condensed matter.
Published earlier on amazon!
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Review 2: Colloidal Dispersions by W. B. Russel
Colloidal Dispersions is an excellent text, both for graduate students and for physicists/physical chemists foraying into the field of colloidal dispersions. The book starts by talking about particle hydrodynamics, then introduces Brownian motion and follows it up with description of different interaction forces experienced by colloidal particles. Thereafter, it discusses the thermodynamics of polymer in solution, how it affects the forces between the particles. In following chapters, it details the electrokinetic phenomena, and the physics of polymer mediated and charged mediated stabilization. The last few chapters return to dynamics again, with a chapter each devoted to sedimentation and rheology!
The book is beautifully written, and most of the material is useful as it is. Since this book was written in 1989, it requires a revision to bring it to the level of current understanding. The whole realm of nanoparticles is based on principles described here, as is the field of colloidal self-assembly. With a revision and few additions here and there, and maybe addition of some references to the work done between 1989-2005, the book can be made into workhouse of all colloidal scientists. I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in understanding the physical behavior of colloids. Coming with a background in Statistical Mechanics would be certainly helpful, and for people with training in Polymer Physics, the book can be understood by drawing analogies with the concepts used there. This is one of the best book in terms of the balance between the use of equations and words used to present physical picture and definitely one everyone in the field must read:) But as I said before, I will be greatly indebted to authors if they bring out a revised edition: I hope they do so soon!!
The book is beautifully written, and most of the material is useful as it is. Since this book was written in 1989, it requires a revision to bring it to the level of current understanding. The whole realm of nanoparticles is based on principles described here, as is the field of colloidal self-assembly. With a revision and few additions here and there, and maybe addition of some references to the work done between 1989-2005, the book can be made into workhouse of all colloidal scientists. I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in understanding the physical behavior of colloids. Coming with a background in Statistical Mechanics would be certainly helpful, and for people with training in Polymer Physics, the book can be understood by drawing analogies with the concepts used there. This is one of the best book in terms of the balance between the use of equations and words used to present physical picture and definitely one everyone in the field must read:) But as I said before, I will be greatly indebted to authors if they bring out a revised edition: I hope they do so soon!!
Review 1: The Structure and Rheology of Complex Fluids by Ron Larson
In this advanced text, Larson presents essential understanding required to appreciate the physics and dynamics of complex fluids (or soft condensed matter). In fact, he starts each chapter by presenting comprehensive introduction to the complex fluid, and then proceeds to provide detailed and erudite experimetal and theoretical insight into dynamical behavior.
The chapters include: polymers, glassy liquids, polymer gels, particulate suspensions, particulate gels, electro- and magneto-responsive suspensions, foams, emulsions and blends and lastly liquid crystals, liquid crystalline polymers, surfactant solutions and block copolymers. Each chapter in itself a complete overview of the structure and rheology of that system. It is written in a very readable fashion for self education, and also could serve as an excellent text for graduate courses.
Larson has presented the essential theoretical ideas about the chosen substance, summarised all the important references, and included many experimental results and other illustrations, mulled over solved and unsolved issues, provided applications, solved and unsolved examples, and created a text that every serious student, practioner in the dynamics of any of the complex fluids discussed in this book must have on his shelf. If you are just starting out as a researcher in the structure and rheology of gels, polymers, liquid crystals or block copolymers, this book is a perfect starting point for it provides necessary detail and knowhow with a clarity that would appeal to students across all disciplines. For polymer dynamics, the texts by Doi-Edwards and de Gennes; for liquid crystals by de Gennes; for colloidal dispersions by Russel and for meaty details of condensed matter physics the textbook by Lubensky and Chaikan will prove as inevitable supplementary reading.
PS: Also posted on Amazon!
The chapters include: polymers, glassy liquids, polymer gels, particulate suspensions, particulate gels, electro- and magneto-responsive suspensions, foams, emulsions and blends and lastly liquid crystals, liquid crystalline polymers, surfactant solutions and block copolymers. Each chapter in itself a complete overview of the structure and rheology of that system. It is written in a very readable fashion for self education, and also could serve as an excellent text for graduate courses.
Larson has presented the essential theoretical ideas about the chosen substance, summarised all the important references, and included many experimental results and other illustrations, mulled over solved and unsolved issues, provided applications, solved and unsolved examples, and created a text that every serious student, practioner in the dynamics of any of the complex fluids discussed in this book must have on his shelf. If you are just starting out as a researcher in the structure and rheology of gels, polymers, liquid crystals or block copolymers, this book is a perfect starting point for it provides necessary detail and knowhow with a clarity that would appeal to students across all disciplines. For polymer dynamics, the texts by Doi-Edwards and de Gennes; for liquid crystals by de Gennes; for colloidal dispersions by Russel and for meaty details of condensed matter physics the textbook by Lubensky and Chaikan will prove as inevitable supplementary reading.
PS: Also posted on Amazon!
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Soft Condensed Matter: Introduction!
Soft Condensed Matter encompasses a rich variety of materials: polymers, gels, liquid crystals, colloids, surfactants, etc. Their dynamical properties are characteristically different from most of the Newtonian fluids as well as Hookean solids and many researchers call this field as the area of complex fluids. The complexity is manifested in having non-linear responses to a variety of external fields, say external shear, and this propensity to flow or deform under appropriate stress is a reason why complex fluids are also called soft matter or fragile matter. In fact, Fragile Objects, a collection of ideas, lectures and discourses by Pierre Gilles de Gennes is one of the best introductions to the area. de Gennes is not only the most celebrated scientist of the area, but also one of the best authors in the field, where his every text is marked by his deep insight and ability to describe complex phenomena using simple scaling concepts.
I plan this blogsite as an experimental journal of my own thoughts on various areas on soft matter. I will add a number of reviews also posted on amazon and collect useful references from all over the world wide web. I also hope to have a wide viewership, where people come read the stuff, and offer suggestions, insights, criticism and encouragement for this endevour:)
Vivek Sharma
May 07, 2005
I plan this blogsite as an experimental journal of my own thoughts on various areas on soft matter. I will add a number of reviews also posted on amazon and collect useful references from all over the world wide web. I also hope to have a wide viewership, where people come read the stuff, and offer suggestions, insights, criticism and encouragement for this endevour:)
Vivek Sharma
May 07, 2005
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