京都大学 京都大学

Soft Matter Physics-E2 :From Condensed Matter to Life

Numbering Code U-LAS12 20022 LE57 Year/Term 2022 ・ Second semester
Number of Credits 2 Course Type Lecture
Target Year Mainly 1st & 2nd year students Target Student For science students
Language English Day/Period Wed.5
Instructor name BRANDANI，Giovanni・Bruno (Graduate School of Science Program-Specific Senior Lecturer)
Outline and Purpose of the Course Soft matter is a broad term used to describe substances that are neither solid nor liquid. These include many materials that we encounter daily in our life, such as soap, rubber, and ice-cream, but also much of the components of life itself, such as chromosomes and membranes. In this course, we will use the tools of physics to understand how simple components can lead to the complex behavior observed in soft materials and living systems. More specifically, we will see why the properties of soft materials change over time and depending on how the material is manipulated; learn about the physics of polymers and the origin of rubber elasticity; and understand how small molecules can self-assemble into more complex structures. The students will also have many opportunities to apply the theory of soft matter to answer interesting questions in biology. For example, how can proteins adopt their unique folded structure that let them perform their function so well? How difficult is for cells and viruses to organize their long genome into a compact space? How do membranes transform and make complex life possible?
Course Goals To recognize the various types of soft materials around us and in living organisms.
To explain the key properties of soft materials using simple theoretical arguments based on thermodynamics.
To explore the science of life from the perspective of soft matter physics.
Schedule and Contents Schedule:
1. Introduction to the course
2. Introduction to thermodynamics and statistical physics
3. Colloidal suspensions and the role of entropy in the state of matter
4. Interactions between colloidal particles
5. The response of materials to stress: visco-elasticity and glasses
6. Polymers and their conformation in space
7. The physics of DNA and applications to genome organization
8. The protein folding problem
9. Formation of gels and the origin of rubber elasticity
10. Multi-component fluids: mixed or unmixed?
11. The dynamics of phase separation (also, why it is difficult to make stable emulsions)
11. Understanding crystallization
13. Self-assembly in soft materials and biology
14. The transformations of lipid membranes
15. Final exam
16. Feedback
＊15 lectures per semester, the semester yields two credits (including classes for feedback). Note: the above class numbers do not include examinations.
Evaluation Methods and Policy Class attendance and participation (50%), final exam (50%)
Course Requirements Course open to all students, but a basic knowledge of classical mechanics is helpful.
Study outside of Class (preparation and review) Students are encouraged to take notes during class and to review them afterwards.
Textbooks Textbooks/References Soft Condensed Matter, Richard A. L. Jones., (Oxford University Press), ISBN:9780198505891
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