This thesis focuses on experimental studies on collective motion using swimming bacteria as model active-matter systems. It offers comprehensive reviews of state-of-the-art theories and experiments on collective motion from the viewpoint of nonequilibrium statistical physics. The author presents his experimental studies on two major classes of collective motion that had been well studied theoretically. Firstly, swimming filamentous bacteria in a thin fluid layer are shown to exhibit true, long-range orientational order and anomalously strong giant density fluctuations, which are considered universal and landmark signatures of collective motion by many numerical and theoretical works but have never been observed in real systems. Secondly, chaotic bacterial turbulence in a three-dimensional dense suspension without any long-range order as described in the first half is demonstrated to be capable of achieving antiferromagnetic vortex order by imposing a small number of constraints with appropriate periodicity. The experimental results presented significantly advance our fundamental understanding of order and fluctuations in collective motion of motile elements and their future applications.

The book reviews photosynthetic water oxidation and proton-coupled electron transfer in photosystem, focusing on the molecular vibrations of amino acid residues and water molecules. Photosynthetic water oxidation performed by plants and cyanobacteria is essential for the sustenance of life on Earth, not only as an electron source for synthesizing sugars from CO2, but also as an O2 source in the atmosphere. Water oxidation takes place at the Mn4CaO5 cluster in photosystem II, where a series of electron transfer reactions coupled with proton transfer occur using light energy. The author addresses the unresolved mechanisms of photosynthetic water oxidation and relevant proton-coupled electron transfer reactions using a combined approach of experimental and computational methods such as Fourier transform infrared difference spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. The results show that protonation and hydrogen-bond structures of water molecules and amino acid residues in the protein play important roles in regulation of the electron and proton transfer reactions. These findings and the methodology make a significant contribution to our understanding the molecular mechanism of photosynthetic water oxidation.

This book provides a thorough overview of transport phenomena in complex fluids, based on the latest research results and the newest methods for their analytical prediction and numerical simulation. The respective chapters cover several topics, including: a description of the structural features of the most common complex fluids (polymer and surfactant solutions, colloidal suspensions); an introduction to the most common non-Newtonian constitutive models and their relationship with the fluid microstructure; a detailed overview of the experimental methods used to characterise the thermophysical properties, bulk rheology, and surface properties of complex fluids; a comprehensive introduction to heat, mass, and momentum transport, and to hydrodynamic instabilities in complex fluids; and an introduction to state-of-the-art numerical methods used to simulate complex fluid flows, with a focus on the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and the Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) techniques. Subsequent chapters provide in-depth descriptions of phenomena such as thermal convection, elastic turbulence, mixing of complex fluids, thermophoresis, sedimentation, and non-Newtonian drops and sprays. The book addresses research scientists and professionals, engineers, R&D managers and graduate students in the fields of engineering, chemistry, biology, medicine, and the applied and fundamental sciences.

This book illustrates the computational framework based on knowledge of flow and mass transfer together with optimization techniques to solve problems relevant to micromixing technology. The authors provide a detailed analysis of the different numerical techniques applied to the design of micromixers. Flow and mixing analysis is based on both the Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches; relative advantages and disadvantages of the two methods and suitability to different types of mixing problems are analysed. The book also discusses the various facets of numerical schemes subjected to discretization errors and computational grid requirements. Since a large number of studies are based on commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) packages, relevant details of these packages to the mixing problem using them are presented. Numerical optimization techniques coupled with CFD analysis of flow and mixing have proved to be an important tool for micromixers design, and therefore, are an important part of the book. These techniques are presented briefly, and focus is on surrogate modeling and optimization applied to design of micromixers.

This book focuses on theoretical thermotics, the theory of transformation thermotics and its extended theories for the active control of macroscopic thermal phenomena of artificial systems, which is in sharp contrast to classical thermodynamics comprising the four thermodynamic laws for the passive description of macroscopic thermal phenomena of natural systems. The book covers the basic concepts and mathematical methods, which are necessary to understand thermal problems extensively investigated in physics, but also in other disciplines of engineering and materials. The analyses rely on models solved by analytical techniques accompanied with computer simulations and laboratory experiments. This book serves both as a reference work for senior researchers and a study text for zero beginners.

This is the second edition of a well-received book. It provides an up-to-date, concise review of essential topics in the physics of matter, from atoms and molecules to solids, including elements of statistical mechanics. It features over 160 completely revised and enhanced figures illustrating the main physical concepts and the fundamental experimental facts, and discusses selected experiments, mainly in spectroscopy and thermodynamics, within the general framework of the adiabatic separation of the motions of electrons and nuclei. The book focuses on what can be described in terms of independent-particle models, providing the mathematical derivations in sufficient detail for readers to grasp the relevant physics involved. The final section offers a glimpse of more advanced topics, including magnetism and superconductivity, sparking readers' curiosity to further explore the latest developments in the physics of matter.

This volume provides an overview of the recent advances in the field of paper microfluidics, whose innumerable research domains have stimulated considerable efforts to the development of rapid, cost-effective and simplified point-of-care diagnostic systems. The book is divided into three parts viz. theoretical background of paper microfluidics, fabrication techniques for paper-based devices, and broad applications. Each chapter of the book is self-explanatory and focuses on a specific topic and its relation to paper microfluidics and starts with a brief description of the topic's physical background, essential definitions, and a short story of the recent progress in the relevant field. The book also covers the future outlook, remaining challenges, and emerging opportunities. This book shall be a tremendous up-to-date resource for researchers working in the area globally.

Random fields are a necessity when formulating stochastic continuum theories. In this book, a theory of random piezoelectric and piezomagnetic materials is developed. First, elements of the continuum mechanics of electromagnetic solids are presented. Then the relevant linear governing equations are introduced, written in terms of either a displacement approach or a stress approach, along with linear variational principles. On this basis, a statistical description of second-order (statistically) homogeneous and isotropic rank-3 tensor-valued random fields is given. With a group-theoretic foundation, correlation functions and their spectral counterparts are obtained in terms of stochastic integrals with respect to certain random measures for the fields that belong to orthotropic, tetragonal, and cubic crystal systems. The target audience will primarily comprise researchers and graduate students in theoretical mechanics, statistical physics, and probability.

Granular forms of common materials such as metals and ceramics, sands and soils, porous energetic materials (explosives, reactive mixtures), and foams exhibit interesting behaviors due to their heterogeneity and critical length scale, typically commensurate with the grain or pore size. Under extreme conditions of impact, granular and porous materials display highly localized phenomena such as fracture, inelastic deformation, and the closure of voids, which in turn strongly influence the bulk response. Due to the complex nature of these interactions and the short time scales involved, computational methods have proven to be powerful tools to investigate these phenomena. Thus, the coupled use of experiment, theory, and simulation is critical to advancing our understanding of shock processes in initially porous and granular materials. This is a comprehensive volume on granular and porous materials for researchers working in the area of shock and impact physics. The book is divided into three sections, where the first presents the fundamentals of shock physics as it pertains to the equation of state, compaction, and strength properties of porous materials. Building on these fundamentals, the next section examines several applications where dynamic processes involving initially porous materials are prevalent, focusing on the areas of penetration, planetary impact, and reactive munitions. The final section provides a look at emerging areas in the field, where the expansion of experimental and computational capabilities are opening the door for new opportunities in the areas of advanced light sources, molecular dynamics modeling, and additively manufactured porous structures. By intermixing experiment, theory, and simulation throughout, this book serves as an excellent, up-to-date desk reference for those in the field of shock compression science of porous and granular materials.

This book presents a collection of selected reviews from PLMMP 2018 that address modern problems in the fields of liquids, solutions and confined systems, critical phenomena, as well as colloidal and biological systems. The papers focus on state-of-the-art developments in the contemporary physics of liquid matter, and are divided into four parts: (i) water and water systems, (ii) physical-chemical properties of liquid systems, (iii) aggregation in liquid systems, and (iv) biological aspects of liquid systems, irradiation influences on liquid systems. Taken together, they cover the latest developments in the broader field of liquid states, including interdisciplinary problems.

This book discusses the synthesis of chitosan-based solid foams using foam templating. Solid foams with pore sizes between a few micrometres and a few millimetres are widely used in a range of established and emerging applications, including filtration, catalysis, sound and thermal insulation, human protection, and tissue engineering. They are lightweight with large surface-to-volume ratios, and have excellent mechanical, acoustic, and thermal properties. However, most foaming processes are extremely complex, and there remains a lack of sound scientific understanding of-and therefore control over-the parameters that determine the properties of the material. One route towards tailor-made solid foams is liquid foam templating, where the liquid foam is generated first (with the desired structure) before being solidified into a solid foam with the desired structure. This book describes how liquid foam templating can be used to synthesise monodisperse solid foams as well as solid foams with a tuneable polydispersity.

This thesis offers a fascinating journey through various non-perturbative aspects of Conformal Theories, in particular focusing on the Conformal Bootstrap Programme and its extensions to theories with various degrees of symmetry. Because of the preeminent role of Conformal Theories in Nature, as well as the great generality of the results here obtained, this analysis directly applies to many different areas of research. The content of this thesis is certainly relevant for the physics community as a whole and this relevance is well motivated and discussed along the various chapters of this work. The work is self-contained and starts with an original introduction to conformal theories, defects in such theories and how they lead to constraints on data and an extension of the bootstrap programme. This situation is often realized by critical systems with impurities, topological insulators, or - in the high-energy context - by Wilson and 't Hooft operators. The thesis continues with original research results of the author, including supersymmetric extensions. These results may be relevant non only in the high energy physics context - where supersymmetry is required for the theory to be consistent - but also for condensed matter systems that enjoy supersymmetry emergence at long distances.

This tutorial book offers an in-depth overview of the fundamental principles of micro/nano technologies and devices related to sensing, actuation and diagnosis in fluidics and biosystems. Research in the MEMS/NEMS and lab-on-chip fields has seen rapid growth in both academic and industrial domains, as these biodevices and systems are increasingly replacing traditional large size diagnostic tools. This book is unique in describing not only the devices and technologies but also the basic principles of their operation. The comprehensive description of the fabrication, packaging and principles of micro/nano biosystems presented in this book offers guidance for researchers designing and implementing these biosystems across diverse fields including medical, pharmaceutical and biological sciences. The book provides a detailed overview of the fundamental mechanical, optical, electrical and magnetic principles involved, together with the technologies required for the design, fabrication and characterization of micro/nano fluidic systems and bio-devices. Written by a collaborative team from France and Korea, the book is suitable for academics, researchers, advanced level students and industrial manufacturers.

This thesis demonstrates a technology that enables pipetting-free high-throughput screening (HTS) on a miniaturized platform, eliminating the need for thousands of one-by-one pipetting and conventional liquid handling systems. This platform enhances accessibility to HTS and enables HTS to be used in small-to-medium scale laboratories. In addition, it allows large-scale combinatorial screening with a small number of valuable cells, such as patients' primary cancer cells. This technique will have a high impact for widespread use of HTS in the era of personalized medicine. In this thesis, the author firstly describes the need and concept of 'partipetting' for pipetting-free HTS platform. It is realized by the one-step pipetting and self-assembly of encoded drug-laden microparticles (DLPs) on the microwells. Next, the technical implementations required for the platform demonstration are described. It includes preparation of encoded DLPs, plastic chip fabrication, and realization of automated system. Lastly, screening of sequential drug combinations using this platform is demonstrated. This shows the potential of the proposed technology for various applications.

This thesis is a contribution at the intersection of a number of active fields in theoretical and experimental condensed matter, particularly those concerned with disordered systems, integrable models, lattice gauge theories, and non-equilibrium quantum dynamics. It contributes an important new facet to our understanding of relaxation in isolated quantum systems by conclusively demonstrating localization without disorder for the first time, answering a long-standing question in this field. This is achieved by introducing a family of models - intimately related to paradigmatic condensed matter models - and studying their non-equilibrium dynamics through a combination of exact analytical mappings and an array of numerical techniques. This thesis also makes contributions relevant to the theory of quantum chaotic behaviour by calculating novel, and often intractable, entanglement measures and out-of-time-ordered correlators. A concrete and feasible proposal is also made for the experimental realization and dynamical study of the family of models, based on currently available technologies.

This open access book, published in the Soft and Biological Matter series, presents an introduction to selected research topics in the broad field of flowing matter, including the dynamics of fluids with a complex internal structure -from nematic fluids to soft glasses- as well as active matter and turbulent phenomena. Flowing matter is a subject at the crossroads between physics, mathematics, chemistry, engineering, biology and earth sciences, and relies on a multidisciplinary approach to describe the emergence of the macroscopic behaviours in a system from the coordinated dynamics of its microscopic constituents. Depending on the microscopic interactions, an assembly of molecules or of mesoscopic particles can flow like a simple Newtonian fluid, deform elastically like a solid or behave in a complex manner. When the internal constituents are active, as for biological entities, one generally observes complex large-scale collective motions. Phenomenology is further complicated by the invariable tendency of fluids to display chaos at the large scales or when stirred strongly enough. This volume presents several research topics that address these phenomena encompassing the traditional micro-, meso-, and macro-scales descriptions, and contributes to our understanding of the fundamentals of flowing matter. This book is the legacy of the COST Action MP1305 "Flowing Matter".

The new edition of this popular textbook provides a fundamental approach to phase transformations and thermodynamics of materials. Explanations are emphasised at the level of atoms and electrons, and it comprehensively covers the classical topics from classical metallurgy to nanoscience and magnetic phase transitions. The book has three parts, covering the fundamentals of phase transformations, the origins of the Gibbs free energy, and the major phase transformations in materials science. A fourth part on advanced topics is available online. Much of the content from the first edition has been expanded, notably precipitation transformations in solids, heterogeneous nucleation, and energy, entropy and pressure. Three new chapters have been added to cover interactions within microstructures, surfaces, and solidification. Containing over 170 end-of-chapter problems, it is a valuable companion for graduate students and researchers in materials science, engineering, and applied physics.

This book explores the diverse types of Schroedinger equations that appear in nonlinear systems in general, with a specific focus on nonlinear transmission networks and Bose-Einstein Condensates. In the context of nonlinear transmission networks, it employs various methods to rigorously model the phenomena of modulated matter-wave propagation in the network, leading to nonlinear Schroedinger (NLS) equations. Modeling these phenomena is largely based on the reductive perturbation method, and the derived NLS equations are then used to methodically investigate the dynamics of matter-wave solitons in the network. In the context of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), the book analyzes the dynamical properties of NLS equations with the external potential of different types, which govern the dynamics of modulated matter-waves in BECs with either two-body interactions or both two- and three-body interatomic interactions. It also discusses the method of investigating both the well-posedness and the ill-posedness of the boundary problem for linear and nonlinear Schroedinger equations and presents new results. Using simple examples, it then illustrates the results on the boundary problems. For both nonlinear transmission networks and Bose-Einstein condensates, the results obtained are supplemented by numerical calculations and presented as figures.

This book presents an overview of fundamental aspects of surface-based biosensors and techniques for enhancing their detection sensitivity and speed. It focuses on rapid detection using miniaturized sensors and describes the physical principles of nanoscale transducers, surface modifications, microfluidics and reaction engineering, diffusion and kinetics. A key challenge in the field of bioanalytical sensors is the rapid delivery of target biomolecules to the sensing surface. While various nanostructures have shown great promise in sensitive detection, diffusion-limited binding of analyte molecules remains a fundamental problem. Recently, many researchers have put forward novel schemes to overcome this challenge, such as nanopore channels, electrokinetics, and dielectrophoresis, to name but a few. This book provides the readers an up-to-date account on these technological advances.

This book discusses the tribological, rheological and optical properties of liquid-crystal nanomaterials as well as lubricant media. It also describes the formation of liquid-crystal materials and the application of cholesteric liquid-crystal compounds in technical friction units and in human and animal joints. Further, it shows the connection between the tribological and other physical properties of liquid-crystal cholesterol compounds and develops a lubricity conceptual model of cholesteric-nematic, liquid-crystalline nanostructures on the basis of physical and energetic interpretations. This general model is valid for all surfaces and friction pairs, including biopolymers, and could lead to applications of cholesteric liquid-crystalline nanomaterials in different friction units and tribosystems as well as in the treatment of joint diseases.

Magnetic perovskite with multi functional properties (magneto-resistive, magneto-dielectric, multiferroics, spintronics, etc.) have attracted increasing attention due to their possible applications towards storage materials and intriguing fundamental Physics. Despite the numerous investigations on multi functional materials in the past few years, a very few magnetic perovskites have been known to realize as ferromagnetic-insulators. In perovskites centred transition metal oxides strong interplay between lattice, charge, spin and/or orbital degrees of freedom provide a fantastic playground to tune their physical properties. The main purpose of this book is to introduce the phenomenon and physics of complex magnetism (phase separation, spin glass, frustrations, etc.) in perovskite manganites and cobaltites via an experimental approach. The book is organized into four chapters; Chap. 1 gives a brief introduction of various interesting phenomena in magnetic perovskites. Chapter 2 describes the results of the investigations on electronic phase separation and glassy ferromagnetism of the hole-doped perovskite manganites and cobaltites. Ordered and disordered effects and related aspects in hole-doped perovskite cobaltites are described in Chap. 3. Finally, in Chap. 4 the bismuth based magnetic perovskite is discussed.

This thesis both broadens and deepens our understanding of the Brownian world. It addresses new problems in diffusion theory that have recently attracted considerable attention, both from the side of nanotechnology and from the viewpoint of pure academic research. The author focusses on the difussion of interacting particles in restricted geometries and under externally controlled forces. These geometries serve, for example, to model ion transport through narrow channels in cell membranes or a Brownian particle diffusing in an optical trap, now a paradigm for both theory and experiment. The work is exceptional in obtaining explicit analytically formulated answers to such realistic, experimentally relevant questions. At the same time, with its detailed exposition of the problems and a complete set of references, it presents a clear and broadly accessible introduction to the domain. Many of the problem settings and the corresponding exact asymptotic laws are completely new in diffusion theory.

This book presents the topology optimization theory for laminar flows with low and moderate Reynolds numbers, based on the density method and level-set method, respectively. The density-method-based theory offers efficient convergence, while the level-set-method-based theory can provide anaccurate mathematical expression of the structural boundary. Unsteady, body-force-driven and two-phase properties are basic characteristics of the laminar flows. The book discusses these properties, which are typical of microfluidics and one of the research hotspots in the area of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), providing an efficient inverse design approach for microfluidic structures. To demonstrate the applications of this topology optimization theory in the context of microfluidics, it also investigates inverse design for the micromixer, microvalve and micropump, which are key elements in lab-on-chip devices.

This book presents the most important advances in the class of topological materials and discusses the topological characterization, modeling and metrology of materials. Further, it addresses currently emerging characterization techniques such as optical and acoustic, vibrational spectroscopy (Brillouin, infrared, Raman), electronic, magnetic, fluorescence correlation imaging, laser lithography, small angle X-ray and neutron scattering and other techniques, including site-selective nanoprobes. The book analyzes the topological aspects to identify and quantify these effects in terms of topology metrics. The topological materials are ubiquitous and range from (i) de novo nanoscale allotropes of carbons in various forms such as nanotubes, nanorings, nanohorns, nanowalls, peapods, graphene, etc. to (ii) metallo-organic frameworks, (iii) helical gold nanotubes, (iv) Moebius conjugated polymers, (v) block co-polymers, (vi) supramolecular assemblies, to (vii) a variety of biological and soft-matter systems, e.g. foams and cellular materials, vesicles of different shapes and genera, biomimetic membranes, and filaments, (viii) topological insulators and topological superconductors, (ix) a variety of Dirac materials including Dirac and Weyl semimetals, as well as (x) knots and network structures. Topological databases and algorithms to model such materials have been also established in this book. In order to understand and properly characterize these important emergent materials, it is necessary to go far beyond the traditional paradigm of microscopic structure-property-function relationships to a paradigm that explicitly incorporates topological aspects from the outset to characterize and/or predict the physical properties and currently untapped functionalities of these advanced materials. Simulation and modeling tools including quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, 3D visualization and tomography are also indispensable. These concepts have found applications in condensed matter physics, materials science and engineering, physical chemistry and biophysics, and the various topics covered in the book have potential applications in connection with novel synthesis techniques, sensing and catalysis. As such, the book offers a unique resource for graduate students and researchers alike.

This textbook explores the theory of Cosserat continuum mechanics, and covers fundamental tools, general laws and major models, as well as applications to the mechanics of granular media. While classical continuum mechanics is based on the axiom that the stress tensor is symmetric, theories such as that expressed in the seminal work of the brothers Eugene and Francois Cosserat are characterized by a non-symmetric stress tensor. The use of von Mises motor mechanics is introduced, for the compact mathematical description of the mechanics and statics of Cosserat continua, as the Cosserat continuum is a manifold of oriented "rigid particles" with 3 dofs of displacement and 3 dofs of rotation, rather than a manifold of points with 3 dofs of displacement. Here, the analysis is restricted to infinitesimal particle displacements and rotations. This book is intended as a valuable supplement to standard Continuum Mechanics courses, and graduate students as well as researchers in mechanics and applied mathematics will benefit from its self-contained text, which is enriched by numerous examples and exercises.