Simple Views on Condensed Matter

New Edition: Simple Views on Condensed Matter (3rd Edition)

The works of the 1991 Nobel prize winner in Physics, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, have transformed condensed matter physics. Over the last three decades, he has left his indelible mark on an astonishing variety of condensed matter topics — magnets, superconductors, liquid crystals, polymers, interfaces, wetting and adhesions, and chirality. In doing so, he has bridged the gap between solid state physics and physical chemistry, and has forged close links between experimentalists and theoreticians.

In awarding him the 1991 Nobel prize for his theoretical studies on liquid crystals and polymers, the Nobel foundation has paid tribute to his undoubted genius in discovering mathematical simplicity and elegance in the most complex and “messy” of systems. His deep insights into these fields have enabled others to exploit liquid crystals in technology and have paved the way for physicists to work on polymers.

SIMPLE VIEWS ON CONDENSED MATTER presents a personal selection of the major works of de Gennes. It comes complete with afterthoughts by the author on his main papers, explaining their successes or weaknesses, and the current views on each special problem. This collector's volume contains all the important works of de Gennes which have made a lasting impact on our understanding of condensed matter, and serves as an essential reference book for all condensed matter physicists and physical chemists. It also bears testimony to the genius of a remarkable man, and should be a source of inspiration for aspiring scientists around the world.

• Part I. Solid State:
  • Sur un exemple de propagation dans un milieu désordonné
  • Effects of double exchange in magnetic crystals
  • Nuclear magnetic resonance modes in magnetic material. I. Theory
  • Onset of superconductivity in decreasing fields
  • Boundary effects in superconductors
• Part II. Liquid Crystals:
  • Soluble model for fibrous structures with steric constraints
  • Conjectures sur I'état smectique
  • Dynamics of fluctuations in nematic liquid crystals
  • Notes on the dynamics of prenematic fluids
  • An analogy between superconductors and smectics A
  • Hydrodynamic properties of fluid lamellar phases of lipid/water
• Part III. Polymers:
  • Quasi-elastic scattering of neutrons by dilute, ideal, polymer solutions: I. Free-draining limit
  • Quasi-elastic scattering by dilute, ideal, polymer solutions: II. Effects of hydrodynamic interactions
  • Minimum number of aminoacids required to build up a specific receptor with a folded polypeptide chain
  • Reptation of a polymer chain in the presence of fixed obstacles
  • Coil-stretch transition of dilute flexible polymers under ultrahigh velocity gradients
  • Solutions of flexible polymers: neutron experiments and interpretation
  • Theoretical methods of polymer statistics
  • Ecoulements viscométriques de polymères enchevêtrés
  • Theory of long-range correlations in polymer melts
  • Tight knots
  • A second type of phase separation in polymer solutions
• Part IV. Interfaces:
  • Phénomènes aux parois dans un mélange binaire critique
  • Suspensions colloïdales dans une solution de polymères
  • Conformations of polymers attached to an interface
  • Sur une règle de somme pour des chaînes polymériques semi-diluées près d'une paroi
  • Microemulsions and the flexibility of oil/water interfaces
  • Transitions de monocouches à molécules polaires
  • Polymers at an interface: a simplified view
  • Stabilité des films de savon “jeunes”
• Part V. Wetting and Adhesion:
  • Wetting: statics and dynamics
  • Dynamics of drying and film-thinning
  • Tension superficielle des polymères fondus
  • Etalement d'une goutte stratifiée incompressible
  • Dynamics of partial wetting
  • Fracture d'un adhésif faiblement réticulé
  • Polymer-polymer welding and sliding
• Part VI. Chirality:
  • Sur l'impossibilité de certaines synthèses asymétriques
  • Pierre Curie et le role de la symétrie des Iois physiques
  • Discrimination chirale dans une monocouche de Langmuir