This collection commemorates the occasion of the honorary symposium that celebrated the 75th birthday and lifelong contributions of Professor K.L. Murty. The topics cover the present status and recent advances in research areas in which he made seminal contributions. The volume includes articles on a variety of topics such as high-temperature deformation behaviors of materials (elevated temperature creep, tensile, fatigue, superplasticity) and their micromechanistic interpretation, understanding mechanical behavior of HCP metals/alloys using crystallographic texture, radiation effects on deformation and creep of materials, mechanical behavior of nanostructured materials, fracture and fracture mechanisms, development and application of small-volume mechanical testing techniques, and general structure-property correlations.

This book investigates the common nature of granular and active systems, which is rooted in their intrinsic out-of-equilibrium behavior, with the aim of finding minimal models able to reproduce and predict the complex collective behavior observed in experiments and simulations. Granular and active matter are among the most studied systems in out-of-equilibrium statistical physics. The book guides readers through the derivation of a fluctuating hydrodynamic description of granular and active matter by means of controlled and transparent mathematical assumptions made on a lattice model. It also shows how a macroscopic description can be provided from microscopic requirements, leading to the prediction of collective states such as cooling, swarming, clustering and the transitions among them. The analytical and numerical results shed new light on the physical connection between the local, microscopic properties of few particles and the macroscopic collective motion of the whole system.

This new edition updates readers in three areas of NMR studies, namely, recent developments in high-Tc materials, heavy fermion systems and actinide oxides are presented. The NMR probe has yielded a vast array of data for solid state materials, corresponding to different compounds, ionic sites, and nuclear species, as well as to a wide variety of experimental conditions. The last two parts of the book are completely new in this edition, while the first part has seen major updates.This edition features the latest developments for high-Tc materials, especially the advances in the area of pseudogap studies are reviewed. An in depth overview of heavy fermion systems is presented in the second part, notably Kondo lattices, quantum critical points and unconventional superconductivity are areas of intense research recently and are covered extensively. Finally, valuable information from NMR studies with actinide oxides will be provided.Ongoing analysis and discussion of NMR data have resulted in a wealth of important insights into the physics of these exotic systems. The aims of this monograph are manyfold. First, it reviews NMR methodology as it has been applied to the different studies. This is addressed to NMR practitioners and to physics laypersons alike. Next, it presents a review of NMR measurements and the wide variety of phenomena which they represent. The third phase is to recount the theoretical model calculations and other proposals which have been put forward to account for these data.

Filtration of aerosols is omnipresent in our daily lives, in areas as diverse as health, the protection of people and the environment, and air treatment inside buildings. However, the collection of particles within a filter media is not, contrary to popular belief, linked to a simple screen effect. The phenomena involved are much more complex and require the consideration of aerosol interactions, filter media and process conditions to select the best fiber filter for a given application. Aerosol Filtration, book for students, hygiene or process engineers, fibrous media manufacturers, designers, and filtration system suppliers or users addresses the filtration of aerosols in six chapters. These chapters cover physics and aerosol characterization, the fibrous media, and efficiency and filter clogging by solid or liquid aerosols, with special attention to the filtration of the nanoparticles.

This textbook, now in its third edition, provides a formative introduction to the structure of matter that will serve as a sound basis for students proceeding to more complex courses, thus bridging the gap between elementary physics and topics pertaining to research activities. The focus is deliberately limited to key concepts of atoms, molecules and solids, examining the basic structural aspects without paying detailed attention to the related properties. For many topics the aim has been to start from the beginning and to guide the reader to the threshold of advanced research. This edition includes four new chapters dealing with relevant phases of solid matter (magnetic, electric and superconductive) and the related phase transitions. The book is based on a mixture of theory and solved problems that are integrated into the formal presentation of the arguments. Readers will find it invaluable in enabling them to acquire basic knowledge in the wide and wonderful field of condensed matter and to understand how phenomenological properties originate from the microscopic, quantum features of nature.

This book discusses the mechanisms of electric conductivity in various ionic liquid systems (protic, aprotic as well as polymerized ionic liquids). It hence covers the electric properties of ionic liquids and their macromolecular counterpanes, some of the most promising materials for the development of safe electrolytes in modern electrochemical energy devices such as batteries, super-capacitors, fuel cells and dye-sensitized solar cells. Chapter contributions by the experts in the field discuss important findings obtained using broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and other complementary techniques. The book is an excellent introduction for readers who are new to the field of dielectric properties of ionic conductors, and a helpful guide for every scientist who wants to investigate the interplay between molecular structure and dynamics in ionic conductors by means of dielectric spectroscopy.

This thesis presents experimental and theoretical investigations of the connection between the time asymmetry in the short-time evolution of particle clusters and the intrinsic irreversibility of turbulent flows due to the energy cascade. The term turbulence describes a special state of a continuous medium in which many interacting degrees of freedom are excited. One of the interesting phenomena observed in turbulent flows is their time irreversibility. When milk is stirred into coffee, for example, highly complex and interwoven structures are produced, making the mixing process irreversible. This behavior can be analyzed in more detail by studying the dispersion of particle clusters. Previous experimental and numerical studies on the time asymmetry in two-particle dispersion indicate that particles separate faster backwards than forwards in time, but no conclusive explanation has yet been provided. In this thesis, an experimental study on the short-time behavior of two- and four-particle dispersion in a turbulent water flow between two counter-rotating propellers is presented. A brief but rigorous theoretical analysis reveals that the observed time irreversibility is closely linked to the turbulence energy cascade. Additionally, it is demonstrated experimentally that the addition of minute amounts of polymers to the flow has a significant impact on multi-particle dispersion due to an alteration of the energy cascade.

In the past 30 years, magnetic research has been dominated by the question of how surfaces and interfaces influence the magnetic and transport properties of nanostructures, thin films and multilayers. The research has been particularly important in the magnetic recording industry where the giant magnetoresistance effect led to a new generation of storage devices including hand-held memories such as those found in the ipod. More recently, transfer of spin angular momentum across interfaces has opened a new field for high frequency applications. This book gives a comprehensive view of research at the forefront of these fields. The frontier is expanding through dynamic exchange between theory and experiment. Contributions have been chosen to reflect this, giving the reader a unified overview of the topic.

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 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.

In this book Gregor Posnjak unravels the long-standing mystery of the internal director structure of chiral nematic droplets, which has been studied both experimentally and theoretically since the 1970s. To do so, he develops a new method for the reconstruction of director fields from a set of fluorescent confocal polarising microscopy images, which he augments with a simulated annealing algorithm. This allows the full reconstruction of 3D director fields, describing the ordering of the liquid crystal. The reconstruction procedure and its principles, which are applicable to other methods of studying vector fields, are explained in detail. The method is subsequently used to explore complex 3D structures in chiral nematic liquid crystal droplets with perpendicular surface anchoring. Twentyfour distinct states are identified and presented, including the layered structures of different symmetries and states with multiple topological point defects, separated by localized chiral structures. In closing, the book reports on the first observation of topological point defects with higher topological charges q = 2 and q = 3.

The book aims to describe the microscopic characterization of the soft matter in the light of new advances acquired in the science of microscopy techniques like AFM; SEM; TEM etc. It does not focus on the traditional information on the microscopy methods as well as systems already present in different books, but intends to answer more fundamental questions associated with commercially important systems by using new advances in microscopy. Such questions are generally not answered by other techniques. The contents of the book also reflect this as the chapters are not based on describing only material systems, but are based on the answering the problems or questions arising in their characterization. Both qualitative as well as quantitative analysis using such microscopic techniques is discussed. Moreover, efforts have been made to provide a broader reach as discussions on both polymers as well as biological matter have been included as different sections. Such a text with comprehensive overview of the various characterization possibilities using microscopy methods can serve as a valuable reference for microscopy experts as well as non-experts alike

This book explores the interplay of bubble dynamics and shock waves, covering shock wave emission by laser generated bubbles, pulsating bubbles near boundaries, interaction of shock waves with bubble clouds, applications in shock wave lithotripsy, and more.

On the 40th anniversary of the Beresinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless Theory (BKT), this informative volume looks back at some of the developments and achievements and varied physics applications which ensued from the beautiful BKT vortex-unbinding seminal idea. During the last four decades, BKT theory, which is undeniably one of the most important developments in condensed matter and theoretical physics of the second half of the twentieth century, has expanded widely. It has been used and extended from many different theoretical and experimental perspectives. New and unexpected features have been uncovered from the BKT theory. Since its inception, apart from applications in condensed matter physics, the theory has been actively applied in other branches of physics, such as high energy physics, atomic physics, nuclear physics, statistical physics, nonlinear systems, etc. This makes the theory an indispensable topic for all who are involved in physics. An international team of experts, each of whom has left his mark on the developments of this remarkable theory and experimental applications, contribute both historical essays and more detailed current technical and experimental accounts to this volume. These articles highlight the new discoveries from the respective authors' perspectives. This unique volume celebrates the impact over four decades of the BKT theory on modern physics. In addition to the historical perspective provided by Kosterlitz and Thouless's overview, the volume provides a comprehensive description of experimental and theoretical applications and extensions of the BKT theory.

Quantum Systems in Chemistry and Physics: Progress in Methods and Applications is a collection of 33 selected papers from the scientific contributions presented at the 16th International Workshop on Quantum Systems in Chemistry and Physics (QSCP-XVI), held at Ishikawa Prefecture Museum of Art in Kanazawa, Japan, from September 11th to 17th, 2011. The volume discusses the state of the art, new trends, and the future of methods in mol- ecular quantum mechanics and their applications to a wide range of problems in physics, chemistry, and biology. The breadth and depth of the scientific topics discussed during QSCP-XVI appears in the classification of the contributions in six parts: I. Fundamental Theory II. Molecular Processes III. Molecular Structure IV. Molecular Properties V. Condensed Matter VI. Biosystems. Quantum Systems in Chemistry and Physics: Progress in Methods and Applications is written for advanced graduate students as well as for professionals in theoretical chemi- cal physics and physical chemistry. The book covers current scientific topics in mole- cular, nano, material, and bio sciences and provides insights into methodological deve- lopments and applications of quantum theory in physics, chemistry, and biology that have become feasible at the end of 2011.

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.

Femto-second Probing of Photoinduced Refractive Index Charges in Semiconductor; H.M. Van Driel, E.C. Fox. Tunneling of Electrons and Holes in Asymmetries Double Quantum Wells; J. Shah, et al. Ultrashort Excitation in Semiconductors; W.E. Bon. Contact-Free Characterization of Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices with Ultrashort Laser Pulses; J. Kuhl. Vibrational Relaxation Studied with Light; A. Lagendijk. Relaxation of Frenkeltype Rotational and Vibrational Excitons in Diatomic Molecular Crystals; E. Goovaertz. Quantum Transient Transport; C. Jacoboni, F. Rossi. Study of Irreversible Processes in Condensed Matter by Nonlinear Time and Space Resolved Techniques; Chr. Flytzanis. Index.

This thesis approaches impact resistance in dense suspensions from a new perspective. The most well-known example of dense suspensions, a mixture of cornstarch and water, provides enough impact resistance to allow a person to run across its surface. In the past, this phenomenon had been linked to "shear thickening" under a steady shear state attributed to hydrodynamic interactions or granular dilation. However, neither explanation accounted for the stress scales required for a person to run on the surface. Through this research, it was discovered that the impact resistance is due to local compression of the particle matrix. This compression forces the suspension across the jamming transition and precipitates a rapidly growing solid mass. This growing solid, as a result, absorbs the impact energy. This is the first observation of such jamming front, linking nonlinear suspension dynamics in a new way to the jamming phase transition known from dry granular materials.

This volume is the third edition of the first-ever elementary book on the Langevin equation method for the solution of problems involving the translational and rotational Brownian motion of particles and spins in a potential highlighting modern applications in physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, and so on. In order to improve the presentation, to accommodate all the new developments, and to appeal to the specialized interests of the various communities involved, the book has been extensively rewritten and a very large amount of new material has been added. This has been done in order to present a comprehensive overview of the subject emphasizing via a synergetic approach that seemingly unrelated physical problems involving random noise may be described using virtually identical mathematical methods in the spirit of the founders of the subject, viz., Einstein, Langevin, Smoluchowski, Kramers, etc. The book has been written in such a way that all the material should be accessible both to an advanced researcher and a beginning graduate student. It draws together, in a coherent fashion, a variety of results which have hitherto been available only in the form of scattered research papers and review articles.

This dissertation contributes to the understanding of fundamental issues in the highly interdisciplinary field of colloidal science. Beyond colloid science, the system also serves as a model for studying interactions in biological matter.
This work quantitatively investigated the scaling laws of the characteristic lengths of the structuring of colloidal dispersions and tested the generality of these laws, thereby explaining and resolving some long-standing contradictions in literature.
It revealed the effect of confinement on the structuring, independently of specific properties of the confining interfaces. In addition, it resolved the influence of roughness and charge of the confining interfaces on the structuring and as well providing a method to measure the effect of surface deformability on colloidal structuring.

This comprehensive work explores interfacial instability and pattern formation in dynamic systems away from the equilibrium state in solidification and crystal growth. Further, this significantly expanded 2nd edition introduces and reviews the progress made during the last two decades. In particular, it describes the most prominent pattern formation phenomena commonly observed in material processing and crystal growth in the framework of the previously established interfacial wave theory, including free dendritic growth from undercooled melt, cellular growth and eutectic growth in directional solidification, as well as viscous fingering in Hele-Shaw flow. It elucidates the key problems, systematically derives their mathematical solutions by pursuing a unified, asymptotic approach, and finally carefully examines these results by comparing them with the available experimental results. The asymptotic approach described here will be useful for the investigation of pattern formation phenomena occurring in a much broader class of inhomogeneous dynamical systems. In addition, the results on global stability and selection mechanisms of pattern formation will be of particular interest to researchers working on material processing and crystal growth. The stability mechanisms of a curved front and the pattern formation have been fundamental subjects in the areas of condensed-matter physics, materials science, crystal growth, and fluid mechanics for some time now. This book offers a stimulating and insightful introduction for all physicists, engineers and applied mathematicians working in the fields of soft condensed-matter physics, materials science, mechanical and chemical engineering, fluid dynamics, and nonlinear sciences.

This book addresses the properties of particles in colloidal suspensions. It has a focus on particle aggregates and the dependency of their physical behaviour on morphological parameters. For this purpose, relevant theories and methodological tools are reviewed and applied to selected examples. The book is divided into four main chapters. The first of them introduces important measurement techniques for the determination of particle size and interfacial properties in colloidal suspensions. A further chapter is devoted to the physico-chemical properties of colloidal particles-highlighting the interfacial phenomena and the corresponding interactions between particles. The book's central chapter examines the structure-property relations of colloidal aggregates. This comprises concepts to quantify size and structure of aggregates, models and numerical tools for calculating the (light) scattering and hydrodynamic properties of aggregates, and a discussion on van-der-Waals and double layer interactions between aggregates. It is illustrated how such knowledge may significantly enhance the characterisation of colloidal suspensions. The final part of the book refers to the information, ideas and concepts already presented in order to address technical aspects of the preparation of colloidal suspensions-in particular the performance of relevant dispersion techniques and the stability of colloidal suspensions.

This 2nd edition volume of Modern Gas-Based Temperature and Pressure Measurements follows the first publication in 1992. It collects a much larger set of information, reference data, and bibliography in temperature and pressure metrology of gaseous substances, including the physical-chemical issues related to gaseous substances. The book provides solutions to practical applications where gases are used in different thermodynamic conditions. Modern Gas-Based Temperature and Pressure Measurements, 2nd edition is the only comprehensive survey of methods for pressure measurement in gaseous media used in the medium-to-low pressure range closely connected with thermometry. It assembles current information on thermometry and manometry that involve the use of gaseous substances which are likely to be valid methods for the future. As such, it is an important resource for the researcher. This edition is updated through the very latest scientific and technical developments of gas-based temperature and pressure measurements using thermometry and manometry, and brings all of the techniques together under one cover. This book fills the gap in international literature, as no other recently published book provides a comprehensive survey for gaseous media closely connected with thermometry. Updates in this new edition include revised appendices and new chapters on Mutual Recognition Agreement of the Comite International des Poids et Mesures and its main applications, and developments in the European Metrology Society.

Since the original publication of Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy in 2002, the noncontact atomic force microscope (NC-AFM) has achieved remarkable progress. This second treatment deals with the following outstanding recent results obtained with atomic resolution since then: force spectroscopy and mapping with atomic resolution; tuning fork; atomic manipulation; magnetic exchange force microscopy; atomic and molecular imaging in liquids; and other new technologies. These results and technologies are now helping evolve NC-AFM toward practical tools for characterization and manipulation of individual atoms/molecules and nanostructures with atomic/subatomic resolution. Therefore, the book exemplifies how NC-AFM has become a crucial tool for the expanding fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Written for: Scientists, practitioners, graduate students

Density Functional Theory (DFT) has firmly established itself as the workhorse for atomic-level simulations of condensed phases, pure or composite materials and quantum chemical systems. This work offers a rigorous and detailed introduction to the foundations of this theory, up to and including such advanced topics as orbital-dependent functionals as well as both time-dependent and relativistic DFT. Given the many ramifications of contemporary DFT, the text concentrates on the self-contained presentation of the basics of the most widely used DFT variants: this implies a thorough discussion of the corresponding existence theorems and effective single particle equations, as well as of key approximations utilized in implementations. The formal results are complemented by selected quantitative results, which primarily aim at illustrating the strengths and weaknesses of particular approaches or functionals. The structure and content of this book allow a tutorial and modular self-study approach: the reader will find that all concepts of many-body theory which are indispensable for the discussion of DFT - such as the single-particle Green's function or response functions - are introduced step by step, along with the actual DFT material. The same applies to basic notions of solid state theory, such as the Fermi surface of inhomogeneous, interacting systems. In fact, even the language of second quantization is introduced systematically in an Appendix for readers without formal training in many-body theory.