Statistical Mechanics of Membranes and Surfaces

Download or read book Statistical Mechanics of Membranes and Surfaces written by D Nelson and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2004-06-14 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ' This invaluable book explores the delicate interplay between geometry and statistical mechanics in materials such as microemulsions, wetting and growth interfaces, bulk lyotropic liquid crystals, chalcogenide glasses and sheet polymers, using tools from the fields of polymer physics, differential geometry, field theory and critical phenomena. Several chapters have been updated relative to the classic 1989 edition. Moreover, there are now three entirely new chapters — on effects of anisotropy and heterogeneity, on fixed connectivity membranes and on triangulated surface models of fluctuating membranes. Contents: The Statistical Mechanics of Membranes and Interfaces (D R Nelson)Interfaces: Fluctuations, Interactions and Related Transitions (M E Fisher)Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics of Fluctuating Films and Membranes (S Leibler)The Physics of Microemulsions and Amphiphilic Monolayers (D Andelman)Properties of Tethered Surfaces (Y Kantor)Theory of the Crumpling Transition (D R Nelson)Geometry and Field Theory of Random Surfaces and Membranes (F David)Statistical Mechanics of Self-Avoiding Crumpled Manifolds (B Duplantier)Anisotropic and Heterogeneous Polymerized Membranes (L Radzihovsky)Fixed-Connectivity Membranes (M J Bowick)Triangulated-Surface Models of Fluctuating Membranes (G Gompper & D M Kroll) Readership: Condensed matter physicists, biophysicists, polymer scientists and statistical mechanicians. Keywords:Reviews:“The additional chapters added for the second edition highlight some of the new results (consequences of anisotropy), and place the older contributions in better perspective (renormalizability, connections to triangulated surfaces). The revised edition will serve as an even better introduction to this interesting topic at the intersection of geometry, field theory, and polymer physics.”Mehran Kardar Professor of Physics MIT “This is the book I used to get introduced into the field of the statistical mechanics of membranes and surfaces. I still use it and recommend it to my students and to anyone who is interested in this very exciting field. The different chapters describe detailed and clear mathematical developments, experimental presentations and high quality numerical work presented with superb clarity. This book, with its newest updated second edition, will remain as a reference textbook for many years to come.”Alex Travesset Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory “The first edition set the field of geometry and statistical mechanics in motion. This update, with added material, will be as important to researchers in this now burgeoning field as the original edition. The collection strikes an excellent balance between pedagogical review and current results and developments. This book should be on every theorist's shelf.”Professor Randall D Kamien University of Pennsylvania '