Graduate School in Nonlinear Science

Sponsored by the Danish Research Academy


MIDIT                               OFD                           CATS
Modelling, Nonlinear Dynamics       Optics and Fluid Dynamics     Chaos and Turbulence Studies
and Irreversible Thermodynamics     Risø National Laboratory      Niels Bohr Institute and 
Technical University of Denmark     Building 128                  Department of Chemistry
Building 321                        P.O. Box 49                   University of Copenhagen 
DK-2800 Lyngby                      DK-4000 Roskilde              DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø
Denmark                             Denmark                       Denmark

STATISTICAL PHYSICS OF SOFT INTERFACES OF
SELF-ASSEMBLIED AMPHIPHILES

by Dr. Ling Miao
Department of Chemistry, DTU

Aug. 31, Sept.2, Sept. 7, Sept. 9, Sept. 14, 1998, 14:30-16:30
at Department of Chemistry, Building 206, Room 250

What are the lecture series about?
Soft interfaces form as a structure of self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules dispersed in ordinary fluids. Notable examples are bilayers formed by lipid molecules in aqueous solutions and surfactant-coated oil-water interfaces in microemulsions. During the past two decades, there has been dramatic progress in the understanding of the two-dimensional structures, morphology, and material properties of these interfaces for two reasons: first, such interfaces are highly relevant structural entities in biological systems or complex fluids of industrial applications; secondly, rich physics arises from both molecular complexity in the intrinsic two dimensions and ``softness'' - novel material properties leading to ``live'' geometry - of the interfaces. This series of lectures is intended as an introductory review, from the standpoint of statistical physics, of some of the theories and phenomenology constituting our present understanding of soft interfaces.

Whom are the lecture series intended for?
Students in physics, physical chemistry, material science and biophysics. PhD students who attend the series will be given a certificate, based on which they may claim credit.

Curriculum
of the lecture series on
Statistical Physics of Soft Interfaces
of Self-assembled Amphiphiles
September, 1998

Part I. From amphiphiles to soft interfaces:

An introduction to soft interfaces formed by amphiphilic molecules and related phenomenology.

Part II. Thermodynamic and statistical mechanical descriptions of soft interfaces:

Generic classification of phases and phase transitions in the intrinsic two-dimensional space of the interfaces.

Generic macroscopic descriptions of morphological (conformational) behavior of the soft interfaces.
Statistical mechanical models:

Physics in the two dimensions: some microscopic models.
Physics governing conformational behavior: bending-energy models.
Coupling between two-dimensional behavior and confomational behavior: some phenomenological models.

Part III. Equilibrium phenomena of the soft interfaces: Theories and experiments

Mesoscopic morphology of fluid lipid bilayers: Equilibrium shapes of giant vesicles.
Ordering phenomena in the two dimensions: Phases and phase transitions in model systems of lipid-cholesterol bilayers.
Coupling between two-dimensional ordering and interface conformation: Modulated phases.
Fluctuation-related phenomena:
- Fluctuations as perturbation: ``Flickering'' of giant vesicles.
- Fluctuations as a thermodynamic driving force: Macroscopic morphological instability of the soft interfaces.

For further information on the lecture series, please contact Ling Miao, Department of Chemistry, DTU, phone: +45-45 25 24 78, fax: +45-45 93 48 08, e-mail: miao@kemi.dtu.dk.