MACROSCOPIC PHYSICS AND COMPLEX SYSTEMS

The course “Macroscopic Physics and Complex Systems“ will start with an introduction to hydrodynamics and elasticity. The notions of rheology will be given, and some examples of complex fluids discussed, including classical examples as polymer solutions, colloidal suspensions or polyelectrolytes as well as more recent topics as active matter. In all cases the link between microscopic dynamics and macroscopic properties will be established. Phase transitions resulting from molecular interactions will be discussed for liquid crystals and polymer conformations. Capillary phenomena as wetting, capillary rise or super-hydrophobicity will be presented. Nonlinear systems, including instabilities as in oscillatory chemical reactions, will be touched on. Throughout the whole course practical examples from biophysics, soft matter physics, microfluidics and physico-chemistry will be discussed.

The macroscopic and complex systems course is given by Maria Barbi and Florence Elias.

Maria Barbi is interested in understanding the physical mechanisms underlying the functioning of biological systems, and especially to all processes involving DNA. She is particularly interested in the study of broad field of nuclear architecture and functional dynamics of chromosomes, both from theoretical (polymer physics, statistical mechnaics, but also mechanics and electrostatics) and numerical point of view. In most cases, a strong effort is invested in the comparison with both in vitro and in vivo experimental results. As a teacher at SU, she teaches different disciplines, some of them at the physics-biology interface, and she is involved in the dissemination and sharing of pedagogical practices and in discussing their impact on learning.

Florence Elias is a soft matter physicist, professor at Université Paris Cité, France, in the laboratory `Physics and Mechanics of Heterogeneous Matter’ (PMMH). She has studied many different aspects of the physics of liquid foams, including magnetic liquid foams, foam rheology and the propagation of vibration and acoustic waves in liquid foams. She is currently interested in the description of living systems, specifically of the interactions between marine micro-organisms and their environment, using the tools of the physics and physical chemistry of soft matter.