Mechanics of Soft Matter

Catalog description

This course will introduce students to the world of soft materials including colloids, polymers, gels, foams, and active materials such as biological tissues and active swarms. Its goals are to (1) imbue students with a strong understanding of how the underlying physics of “softly interacting” constituents drive their emergent mechanical responses at the macroscale in ways we can readily observe; and (2) introduce the arsenal of tools available for theoretically modeling, and experimentally characterizing soft and polymeric materials. Modules tentatively included in this course are: (1) Physics of Solutions, Colloidal Suspensions, and Polymer Melts; (2) Mechanics of Polymers & Networked Materials; (3) Mechanics of Gels; (4) Non-equilibrium Systems: Active Matter & Living Systems. Prerequisites: PHYS 131, ME 211, ME 331, ME 362. Offered in the Spring.