Program Overview

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Course Overview

Course Description

The physics of soft matter involves matter that is easily deformable by external fields such as applied stresses or mechanical confinement, by electric or magnetic fields, or simply by thermal fluctuations. The "level of description" for soft and complex materials typically starts at the nano scale, i.e., at scales much larger than atomic or molecular scales, and the structure and dynamics at the nano scale determine macroscopic physical properties at the human or geological scale.

Course Content

Soft matter science also includes so-called active matter, which involves cooperative flocking or swarming of "active particles," that can be entities (individuals) "living" at the nano-scale (e.g., virus), at the micro-scale (e.g., bacteria), or at the macro-scale (e.g., birds or fish). One overall goal of research into the growing field of soft matter science is thus to probe and understand the relationship between individual scale and cooperative scale physics.

Materials under study include both natural, synthetic, and biological materials, and the broad range of research interests range from fundamental physics to technological applications, from basic materials questions to problems related to energy technology, cosmetics, household products, agriculture, food, design of nano-structured materials or surfaces, biological systems and materials, etc.

Learning Outcomes

Theoretical Understanding

The student is expected to obtain a theoretical understanding of the physics of soft and complex condensed matter, from nanoparticles and interactions on the nanoscale to soft materials dynamics and stability on the macro scale.

Practical Insight

Further, obtain a theoretical and partly practical insight into parts of some experimental techniques that are relevant for studies of soft material physics, such as microscopy, scattering techniques (light, X-ray, neutron), rheometry, microfluidics, nanofluidics, and "special purpose table-top" experiments. Numerical examples are part of the course.

Learning Methods and Activities

• Guided self-study
• Lectures given by the course professors and by invited international experts
• Colloquia given by students
• Group work that can be laboratory-based
• In certain semesters, a remote PhD School such as the Geilo PhD Schools may be part of the lectures

Compulsory Assignments

• Obligatorisk rapport (Compulsory report)

Evaluation

Final Grade

The final grade is based on a final oral exam. In order to take the exam, an obligatory written report must be handed in and approved.

Recommended Previous Knowledge

Previous courses covering some of the following topics. The lectures will be adjusted in order to take any missing basic knowledge into account.

• General basic physics: Classical physics, mechanics including fluid mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical physics, soft condensed matter physics
• Basic biological physics/chemistry
• Basic materials science, general basic chemistry including colloidal chemistry or inorganic chemistry

Course Materials

The course material will be decided before semester start and will, in addition to recently published scientific papers, be collected mainly from:

• Essentials of Soft Matter Science, Francoise Brochard-Wyart, Pierre Nassoy, Pierre-Henri Puech, CRC Press, 2019
• Capillarity and wetting phenomena: drops, bubbles, pearls, waves, David Quéré, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes; Françoise Brochard-Wyart; New York, NY: Springer 2010
• Introduction to Microfluidics, Patrick Tabeling, Oxford University Press
• Condensed Matter Physics, Crystals, Liquids, Liquid Crystals, and Polymers, Gert R. Strobl, Springer 2004 Supported by literature such as:
• Soft Matter Physics, Masao Doi, Oxford University Press 2014
• Nanofluidics and Microfluidics, Shaurya Prakash and Junghoon Yeom, William Andrew, 2014
• Fundamentals of Soft Matter Science, Linda S. Hirst, CRC Press 2012
• Structured Fluids: Polymers, Colloids, Surfactants, Thomas A. Witten, Oxford University Press, 2004

Credit Reductions

Course code | Reduction | From
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FY8203 | 7.5 sp | Autumn 2022
This course has academic overlap with the course in the table above. If you take overlapping courses, you will receive a credit reduction in the course where you have the lowest grade. If the grades are the same, the reduction will be applied to the course completed most recently.

Subject Areas

• Materials Science and Engineering
  • Energy- and Environmental Physics
  • Polymer Physics
  • Thermodynamics
  • Materials Science and Solid State Physics
  • Biophysics
  • Petroleum Engineering
  • Applied Mechanics - Fluid Mechanics
  • Solid State Physics
  • Biology
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Chemistry and processing

Course Details

• Course code: TFY4203
• Credits: 7.5
• Level: Second degree level
• Course start: Autumn 2025
• Duration: 1 semester
• Language of instruction: English and Norwegian
• Location: Trondheim
• Examination arrangement: Oral examination