CODE 61863 ACADEMIC YEAR 2017/2018 CREDITS 6 cfu anno 2 FISICA 9012 (LM-17) - 6 cfu anno 1 FISICA 9012 (LM-17) - SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY SECTOR FIS/07 LANGUAGE Italian TEACHING LOCATION PREREQUISITES Propedeuticità in ingresso Per sostenere l'esame di questo insegnamento è necessario aver sostenuto i seguenti esami: PHYSICS 9012 (coorte 2017/2018) MATTER PHYSICS 2 61844 2017 THEORETICAL PHYSICS 61842 2017 MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN PHYSICS 61843 2017 NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS 2 61847 2017 PHYSICS 9012 (coorte 2016/2017) MATTER PHYSICS 2 61844 2016 THEORETICAL PHYSICS 61842 2016 MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN PHYSICS 61843 2016 NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS 2 61847 2016 OVERVIEW Soft materials are systems whose bond energies between constituents are comparable to thermal energy. They include colloids, polymers and liquid crystals. AIMS AND CONTENT LEARNING OUTCOMES The course is aimed to provide an introduction to the study of soft matter, which is characterized by weak interactions between nano-sized building blocks and important effects of thermal fluctuations. AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES Acquiring knowledge on the characteristic features of soft materials, the forces acting in these systems, the physical models which describe their behavior. TEACHING METHODS Traditional lessons (48 h) SYLLABUS/CONTENT Intermolecular forces – Hydrophobic interaction – Surface tension – Van der Waals forces between particles and surfaces – Electrostatic forces between surfaces in liquid: the Poisson-Botzmann equation; the Grahame equation; the Debye length – Colloids – DLVO interaction and stability of a colloidal suspension – Brownian motion – Polymers – Polymer models: freely jointed chain, worm-like chain – Thermodynamic principles of molecular self-assembly – Micelles, liposomes, planar bilayers, mesophases – Liquid crystals – The Frederiks transition and the liquid crystal display – Soft matter and biological molecules. RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY • Israelachvili J. Intermolecular and Surface Forces, 2011 Academic Press - Elsevier • Jones, R. A. Soft condensed matter, 2002 Oxford University Press • Berg, J.C. An introduction to interfaces and colloids - The bridge to nanoscience. 2010 World Scientific • Rubinstein M., Colby R. H., Polymer physics, Oxford University Press, 2010 • Chaikin P. M., Lubensky T. C., Principles of condensed matter Physics, 1997 Cambridge University Press • Phillips, R., Kondev, J., Theriot, J., Physical Biology of the Cell, 2009 Garland Science. LESSONS LESSONS START Second semester - Class schedules will be available at https://dida.fisica.unige.it/dida/i-corsi-di-fisica-a-genova/laurea-magistrale-lm-17/orario-delle-lezioni.html Class schedule The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy EXAMS EXAM DESCRIPTION Oral exam ASSESSMENT METHODS The student's understanding of the course topics and ability to discern the validity limits of the models used will be assessed.
