Course Identification

Soft condensed matter physics (Stat Mech 2)
20201101

Lecturers and Teaching Assistants

Prof. Sam Safran
Dr. Dan Deviri, Dr. Avraham Moriel

Course Schedule and Location

2020
First Semester
Tuesday, 14:15 - 16:00, Drori Auditorium
Thursday, 14:15 - 16:00, Drori Auditorium
05/11/2019

Field of Study, Course Type and Credit Points

Physical Sciences: Lecture; Elective; Regular; 4.00 points
Chemical Sciences: Lecture; Elective; Regular; 4.00 points
Chemical Sciences (Materials Science Track): Lecture; Elective; Regular; 4.00 points

Comments

A previous course at the advanced undergraduate level or beginning graduate level in statistical mechanics is strongly recommended.
* On 14-Nov-2019 the lecture will be hels at Weissmann Aquarium.
* On 5-Dec 2019 the lecture will be held at Weissmann Aquarium.
* On 28-Jan-2020 the lecture will be held at Weissmann Aquarium.

Prerequisites

A previous course, preferably at the level of advanced undergraduate course in statistical mechanics.

Restrictions

30

Language of Instruction

English

Attendance and participation

Expected and Recommended

Grade Type

Numerical (out of 100)

Grade Breakdown (in %)

50%
50%
Final report on research paper followed by oral or written (if requested) exam on related materials

Evaluation Type

Final assignment

Scheduled date 1

N/A
N/A
-
N/A

Estimated Weekly Independent Workload (in hours)

6

Syllabus

Soft condensed matter physics (Stat Mech 2) as of 20 June 2019

Lectures: sam.safran@weizmann.ac.il  Perlman  521,  X 3362    

Tutorials: Dan Deviri  Perlman 519b, Avraham Moriel Perlman 720

Tues. Nov. 5,  2019:  Lec. 1 - Introduction: What is soft matter and how does it relate to the physics of materials, biomolecules and cells? Intellectual challenges and relation to stat mech.

Thurs. Nov. 7:  Lec. 2 - States of matter: standard and exotic – gas, liquid, solid (dimensionality effects), fractals, polymers, entropic phase transitions, orientational order and disorder. Stat Mech conceptual questions.

Tues. Nov. 12: Lec. 3 - Statistical mechanics of soft matter; free energy minimization, fluctuations, probabilities: example – anomalies in fluctuations of harmonic oscillator

Thurs. Nov. 14: Worked out problems - Statistical properties of Gaussian fluctuations; correlation functions

Tues. Nov. 19:  Lec. 4A – Phase separation statistical mechanics; Lec. 4B – Phase separation dynamics (spinodal decomposition)

Thurs. Nov. 21: Lec. 5 – Finish Lec. 4B, Novel examples of phase separation;   Lec. 5 - Fluctuation theory: variational and Hubbard Stratonovich (saddle point) approaches

Tues. Nov. 26: Worked out problems: Langevin dynamics and Fokker Planck equation and their applications

Thurs. Nov. 28: Lec. 6 - Interfaces and their fluctuations

Tues. Dec. 3: Lec. 7 -  Elasticity of interacting systems, statistical fluctuations and elasticity; applications to soft and biological matter  

Thurs. Dec. 5 Lec 8  Fluctuating lines and surfaces: line and surface curvature, fluctuations 

Tues. Dec. 10: Worked out problems – Elasticity and interfaces

Thurs. Dec. 12: Lec 9 - Polymers – random/excluded volume, semiflexible polymers

Tues. Dec. 17 : Lec. 10 -  Polymers – fluctuation effects; persistence length and fluctuations; polymer brush; connection between DNA and polymer physics

Thurs. Dec. 19 – Worked out problems –polymers

Tues. Dec. 24: : Lec. 11 – Chromosome territories and fractal packing of chromosomes in nucleus; mesoscale packing of chromosomes

Thurs. Dec. 26: Finish Lec. 10 persistence length,  Lec. 12 - Polymeric soft networks in cells; gel, cellular cytoskeleton, non-linear elasticity, fluctuations

Tues. Dec. 31:: Finish Lec. 12, Lec. 13 - Membranes: curvature elasticity, fluctuations, renormalization

Thurs. Jan. 2, 2020: Finish Lec. 13,  Lec. 14 inhomogeneous membranes

 

Tues. Jan. 7: Lec. 15 – Fluctuation induced interactions of membranes

Thurs. Jan. 9: Worked out problems –Membranes

Tues. Jan. 14: Lec. 16 - Electrostatics in soft matter;  Poisson Boltzmann theory

Thurs. Jan. 16 : Lec. 17 - Poisson Boltzmann theory: fluctuation and strong coupling effects  applications of electrostatics in soft and biological matter

Tues. Jan. 21: Worked out problems – Electrostatics

Thurs. Jan. 23: Lec. 18 – Casimir (medium-induced) deformations in soft matter; electrostatic, solvent, membranes

Tues. Jan.28:  Lec. 19 – Hydrodynamics in soft and biological matter and  lecture on “Life at Low Reynolds number”

Thurs. Jan. 30 : Guest Lecture : Nir Gov – Actively assembling filaments in biological cells

Tues. Feb. 4:  Guest Lecture : Nir Gov – Molecular motors and cell motility

Tues. Feb. 6:  Final review and questions

 

 

 

Course requirements: Slides will be used during the lectures supplemented by more detailed derivations on the board; please supplement the slides with your own notes of the derivation details and the discussion at the lecture.  This is best done lesson by lesson and not after time has passed. Much but not all of the material is also found in the books listed below. Three problem sets (due dates: Dec. 10, Jan. 11, Feb. 13).  The final project will be a short summary and exam (oral or written as you prefer) related to various review articles that I will suggest or approve if you wish to suggest an article.  The exam will probe the connection of the article to relevant topics covered in class.

 

References

 

Statistical Thermodynamics of Surfaces, Interfaces and Membranes, S. A. Safran

(Addison Wesley 1994; Westview Press, 2003)  Hard copy text in library

 

Principles of Condensed Matter Physics, P. Chaikin and T. Lubensky (Cambridge Press, 1995)  Ebook for download in library

  

Physical Biology of the Cell, Phillips et al. (Garland, 2008) Hard copy text in library

 

Introduction to Polymer Physics, M. Doi (Oxford, 1997) Hard copy text in library

Learning Outcomes

The students will understand how the fundamentals of statistical thermodynamics can be used to theoretically predict the properties of soft matter (phase separation, interfaces, capillarity, polymers, gels, charged systems, micelles and membranes).  While biological/biophysical motivation will be presented, the focus on the course will be on the fundamental physical concepts and theory.

Reading List

Statistical Thermodynamics of Surfaces, Interfaces and Membranes, S. A. Safran
(Addison Wesley 1994; Westview Press, 2003)
Principles of Condensed Matter Physics, P. Chaikin and T. Lubensky (Cambridge Press, 1995)
Physical Biology of the Cell, Phillips et al. (Garland, 2008)

 

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