Course manual 2025/2026
Course content
Ideal fluids
- Hydrostatics, stress tensor, Euler and Bernoulii equations
- Waves, instabilities, scattering and radiation
- Nonlinear phenomena, shock and stationary waves
Viscous fluids
- Navier-Stokes equation
- Reynolds number and flow at low Reynolds number
- Dynamics of linearized Navier-Stokes
- Brief introduction to turbulence
Elasticity theory (small deformations)
- Stress tensor
- Dynamical behavior, waves, fluctuations and density of states
- Viscoelasticity and introduction to Rheology
Soft Matter systems
- Colloids and glasses
- Polymers
- Liquid crystals
- Biological applications
Study materials
Literature
Objectives
- Different types of soft matter systems, and the competition between entropy and intermolecular forces that determine their structure and properties;
- glasses and phase transitions in soft matter (Vogel-Fulcher relationship, non-ergodicity, demixing of liquids, nucleation, spinodal decomposition, crystal growth);
- colloidal dispersions (Stokes-Einstein equation, Van der Waals and Casimir forces, depletion-interactions, crystallization of hard-sphere colloids);
- polymers (scaling concepts, rubber elasticity, reptation theory);
- gels (percolation, Flory Stock Mayer theory, viscoelasticity);
- self-assembly: spontaneous formation of complex structures out of simple particles and building blocks, e.g. assembly of surfactants into micelles and membranes, folding and aggregation of chain molecules, (active) living matter.
Teaching methods
Learning activities
Activiteit | Aantal uur |
Hoorcollege | 14 |
Tentamen | 3 |
Werkcollege | 28 |
Zelfstudie | 123 |
Attendance
Programme's requirements concerning attendance (TER-B):
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Each student is expected to participate actively in each component of the programme that he/she signed up for. A student that does not attend the first two seminars of a course, will be administratively removed from the seminar group. A request for reregistration for the seminars can be applied to the programme coordinator.
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If a student cannot attend an obligatory component of a programme's component due to circumstances beyond his control, he must report in writing to the relevant teacher as soon as possible. The teacher, if necessary after consulting the study adviser, may decide to issue the student a replacing assignment.
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It is not allowed to miss obligatory commponents of the programme if there is no case of circumstances beyond one's control.
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In case of participating qualitatively or quantitatively insufficiently, the examiner can expel a student from further participation in the programme's component or a part of that component. Conditions for sufficient participation are set down in advance in the course manual.
Assessment
Fraud and plagiarism
The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl
Course structure
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Recommended prior knowledge: Statistical mechanics, partial differential equations.
Coordinator