Title：Introduction to Phases and Phase Transitions of Polymers

Speaker:Prof. Dr. An-Chang Shi (McMaster University)

Time:

Lecture 1  December 3, 2019 (Tuesday) 9:00-11:30 am,

Introduction to polymers and their phase behavior: from macroscopic phase separation to self-assembly

Lecture 2  December 4, 2019 (Wednesday) 9:00-11:30 am

Introduction of phase transition theory: thermodynamics and statistical mechanics

Lecture 3  December 5, 2019 (Thursday) 9:00-11:30 am

Mean-field theory of phase transitions: Order parameter, Landau theory, self-consistent field theory of polymers

Lecture 4  December 6, 2019 (Friday) 9:00-11:30 am

Self-assembly of block copolymers

Location: 324 lecture hall, South China Institute of soft matter science and Technology (No. 2 building, North Science Park)

Faculties and students are warmly welcome.

School of Molecular Science and Engineering

South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology

November 26, 2019

Abstract: 

This course is an introduction to the phenomena and theory of phases and phase transitions of polymeric systems. 

Polymers are a class of soft matter, which are ubiquitous in technological, biological and daily applications. Polymeric materials exhibit rich phase behavior including phase separation and self-assembly of ordered phases. Understanding the phase behavior of polymeric systems is an important and active research area in soft condensed matter physics. Furthermore, polymers provide an interesting playground for the development and application of soft matter theory, which is applicable to various soft matter systems.

In this course I will introduce the phenomena and theory of phases and phase transitions of polymers. There will be 4 lectures each lasting for 2.5 hours. I will assume that the students are familiar with elementary statistical mechanics. A brief and concise introduction to elementary statistical mechanics is the book by Kerson Huang, Lectures on Statistical Physics and Protein Folding.

Textbooks: There is no required textbook. The content of my lectures will be taken from different sources. The slides of the lectures will be made available to the class.

Brief Biography：

Prof. An-Chang Shi received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1988. He then went to McMaster University in Canada as a Postdoctoral Fellow/Research Associate. In 1992 he became a Member of Research Stuff at Xerox Research Centre of Canada. In 1999 he joined the Department of Physics & Astronomy at McMaster University as an Associate Professor, and promoted to Professor in 2004. Prof. Shi is a world renowned soft matter theorist.  His research interests include theory of phases and phase transition of soft matter, self-assembly and morphology of block copolymers, statistical mechanics of conformation of macromolecules, and theory of bilayer membranes. He has published over 200 papers (~7000 citations) in peer-reviewed journals including PNAS, PRL, JACS, and given more than 50 invited talks in international conferences. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2010.