Introduction to the physics of soft matter, emphasis on interactions, structure and dynamics of complex fluids such as colloids, polymers, liquid crystals and surfactants.
After the course the student should be familiar with : 1) Intermolecular interactions 2) Brownian motion & diffusion of macromolecules (colloids, polymers) and viscoelasticity 3) Colloidal interactions and colloidal phase behavior 4) Architecture, structural and dynamics properties of polymers in solution and in the melt 5) gelation of polymers and colloids 6) liquid crystal phases, their phase behavior and their dynamic and elastic properties, 7) the self assembly of amphiphilic surfactant molecules and 8) the phase separation in mixtures of homopolymers and copolymers.