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Vorlesung zur Mitteldeutschen Physik-Combo

 

Freitag, 17.06., 14:00 - 15:30

Samstag, 18.06., 11:00 - 12:30 und 16:00 - 17:30

 

Prof. Dr. Klaus Kroy

(Universität Leipzig, Institut für Theoretische Physik)

 

Scaling concepts in polymer physics

(Vortrag in Jena)

 
Chemically, a polymer simply is a long chain of identical small
molecules. Yet, the question how this chain arranges itself and moves
in its embedding space, has provided formidable challenges to
statistical physicists. The dull structure calls for renormalization
and scaling concepts, which have indeed been very successful in
predicting the universal conformational and dynamical properties of
flexible polymers. The lecture also addresses some not so well known delicate aspects of this story.

 

The Physics of DNA

(Vortrag in Leipzig)

DNA is arguably one of the most important polymers we know of, and it is by now well established that its mechanical properties play a key
role in many of its biological functions. Although its overall
appearance is certainly that of a flexible polymer, most relevant
interactions act on scales where it is rather rod-like, so that the
whole theory of flexible polymers, outlined in the first Combo
lecture, is of very limited use. We discuss a more suitable minimal
model, the so-called wormlike chain, along with some more refined
descritions of DNA, in order to disentangle the universal and specific
aspects of DNA mechanics.

 

 

 

 

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