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!
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