Soft Order in Physical SystemsR. Bruinsma, Y. Rabin A humoristic view of the physics of soft matter, which nevertheless has a ring of truth to it, is that it is an ill-defined subject which deals with ill-condensed matter by ill-defined methods. Although, since the Nobel prize was awarded to Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, this subject can be no longer shrugged-away as "sludge physics" by the physics community, it is still not viewed universally as "main stream" physics. While, at first glance, this may be considered as another example of inertia, a case of the "establishment" against the "newcomer", the roots of this prejudice are much deeper and can be traced back to Roger Bacon's conception about the objectivity of science. All of us would agree with the weaker form of this idea which simply says that the final results of our work should be phrased in an observer-independent way and be communicable to anybody who made the effort to learn this language. There exists, however, a stronger form of this idea according to which the above criteria of "objectivity" and "communicability" apply also to the process of scientific inquiry. The fact that major progress in the physics of soft matter was made in apparent violation of this approach, by applying intuition to problems which appeared to defy rigorous analysis, may explain why many physicists feel somewhat ill-at-ease with this subject. |
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Page 3
... obtained by Shlomo , and I shall not re- peat this impressive list . Let me however use the opportunity , as Shlomo did , to praise his wife's achievements in Economics . Here I am expressing my professional views , based on my ...
... obtained by Shlomo , and I shall not re- peat this impressive list . Let me however use the opportunity , as Shlomo did , to praise his wife's achievements in Economics . Here I am expressing my professional views , based on my ...
Page 9
... obtained when the physical part of the normal to EM is located along the half - line with origin in M ' . In that case the cyclides look like a rugby - ball , with two conical indentations along the hyperbola . Their stacking can fill ...
... obtained when the physical part of the normal to EM is located along the half - line with origin in M ' . In that case the cyclides look like a rugby - ball , with two conical indentations along the hyperbola . Their stacking can fill ...
Page 12
... ( obtained for r ' = O ) , none on the hyperbola c < r < a ; the Dupin cyclide has no singular points and is homotopic to a torus . The mean Dupin cyclide = ac is very special : according to a conjecture due to Willmore , it is a toroidal ...
... ( obtained for r ' = O ) , none on the hyperbola c < r < a ; the Dupin cyclide has no singular points and is homotopic to a torus . The mean Dupin cyclide = ac is very special : according to a conjecture due to Willmore , it is a toroidal ...
Page 34
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Contents
1 | |
An Introduction | 33 |
The Adhesion Between Elastomers | 57 |
Dynamics of Late Stage Phase Separation in Polymer Blends | 73 |
RESEARCH PAPERS | 99 |
The Revealing of Heterogeneities by Free Linear Chains in a Network | 113 |
NonDebye Screening in Polyelectrolyte Solutions | 117 |
Entropy of Knots and Statistics of Entangled Random Walks | 125 |
Soft Atomic Potentials and LowFrequency Raman Scattering in Glasses | 151 |
Percolation Diffusion and Fractons | 159 |
Diffusion Reaction A+B C with A and B InitiallySeparated | 167 |
Fractons in Computer and Laboratory Experiments | 185 |
Permeability of a Soap Film | 195 |
SCIENCE AND SOCIETY | 203 |
NeoDarwinian Processes in the Evolution of Science and | 223 |
Index | 229 |
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adsorption aerogels aggregate demand Alexander Alexander model area density behavior binodal blobological blobs boundary brush Chem concentration constant correlation length crosslinking crystal curve cyclide decrease deformation diffusion dimensional droplet Dupin cyclide dynamics edited elastic elastomers equation equilibrium experimental exponent FCD-I FCD's Figure film finite fluctuations focal conic domains fractal dimension fracton free energy function Gaussian curvature Gennes geometry grafted growth heptane income effect income redistribution increases inflation interactions interface Kleman lattice length scales Lett Macromolecules mixture molecules monomers nematic nucleation observed obtained Order in Physical parameter particles PDMS chains percolation clusters phase separation Phys Physical Systems plane polymer price level Rabin radius random walk regime region relaxation sample scattering semi-dilute solution shape factor smectic Soft Order solvent spinodal spinodal decomposition string of blobs structure surface temperature theory twin velocity volume