Module Information
Course Delivery
Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
---|---|
Lecture | 22 x 1 Hour Lectures |
Assessment
Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
---|---|---|
Semester Exam | 2 Hours Examination | 70% |
Semester Assessment | Problem Sheets | 20% |
Semester Assessment | Blackboard quizzes | 10% |
Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours Examination | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Identify and classify phase transitions in a variety of physical contexts.
2. Demonstrate familiarity with the physics and materials science of Soft Matter systems (e.g. polymers).
3. Summarise the key underlying physics of Superconductivity; to include the Meissner effect, type I and II superconductivity, and macroscopic quantum coherence according to Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory.
4. Demonstrate familiarity with the concepts of the Landau theory of phase transitions.
5. Identify appropriate order parameters to describe phase transitions and suggest experimental techniques to track phase transitions.
6. Describe and explain the distinctive properties of nanoscale materials and nanoparticles.
Brief description
Content
- Rheological overview of “Soft Matter”
- Introduction to polymers; physical, mechanical, chemical and electronic properties
- Thermodynamics and phase transitions in polymers
- Polymer-blend systems and phase separation
- Dynamic models of polymers (e.g. reptation)
- Soft matter physics in biology
Superconductors:
- Superconducting materials
- The Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect
- The London equation
- Macroscopic quantum coherence
- Cooper pair
- The BCS wave function
- BCS theory and quasiparticle states, incl. applications
Phase transitions:
- Order of phase transitions
- Order parameters and symmetry
- Introduction to Landau theory
- Tracking phase transitions experimentally
Nanomaterials:
- Low dimensionality and quantum confinement in solids/metals/semiconductors
- Nanoparticles and nano-synthesis
- Surfaces/interfaces at the nanoscale
- Nano-magnetism
- Nano-photonics
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6