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. |
From inside the book
Page 5
... observation at optical scales of line singularities in the since- called Smectic - A ( SmA ) phases that theses ... observations that the system was indeed lamellar . For the sake of understanding what is important in this discovery ...
... observation at optical scales of line singularities in the since- called Smectic - A ( SmA ) phases that theses ... observations that the system was indeed lamellar . For the sake of understanding what is important in this discovery ...
Page 6
... observed conics were focal lines , i.e. they were the geometrical locus of the centers of curvature of a family of ... observations in lyotropic systems ( fourth part ) . The fifth part is devoted to the problem of space filling : we are ...
... observed conics were focal lines , i.e. they were the geometrical locus of the centers of curvature of a family of ... observations in lyotropic systems ( fourth part ) . The fifth part is devoted to the problem of space filling : we are ...
Page 8
... observed focal domains are not those where the singularities are still further reduced , i.e. one focal sheet reduced to one point , the other one being sent at infinity ( in such a case the layers are concentric spheres ) . These ...
... observed focal domains are not those where the singularities are still further reduced , i.e. one focal sheet reduced to one point , the other one being sent at infinity ( in such a case the layers are concentric spheres ) . These ...
Page 9
... observed in polarizing microscopy ( fig.4 ) . b ) - a FCD - I is bound by two half - cylinders ; the continuation of the EM's outside these cylinders has positive Gaussian curvature oσ " > 0. This region consists of layers which are ...
... observed in polarizing microscopy ( fig.4 ) . b ) - a FCD - I is bound by two half - cylinders ; the continuation of the EM's outside these cylinders has positive Gaussian curvature oσ " > 0. This region consists of layers which are ...
Page 10
... observed in polarizing microscope a ) in the plane of the ellipse b ) in any plane c ) in the plane of the hyperbola region of space occupied by a FCD - I having the same E and H , with which they cannot coexist physically . The ellipse ...
... observed in polarizing microscope a ) in the plane of the ellipse b ) in any plane c ) in the plane of the hyperbola region of space occupied by a FCD - I having the same E and H , with which they cannot coexist physically . The ellipse ...
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 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
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