The Physics of Complex Systems, Vol. 134 Book

This volume focuses on the area of the physics of complex systems and provides both an overview of the field and more detailed examination of those topics within the field that are currently of greatest interest to researchers . The properties of complex systems play an important role in a variety of different and overlapping areas in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and technology. The research field of complex systems is very broad, but this volume attempts to be comprehensive. This book should be useful reference work for people who do research in this area, whether beginning graduate students or advanced research professionals. Up-to- date reviews of cutting-edge topics are provided, reviews compiled by leading authorities and designed to both broaden the reader's limits of competence within the reader's limits of own field and encourage the exploration of new problems in related fields. An overview of the present status of the physics of complex systems is provided by the way the general topics of the volume are grouped. These groupings provide a 'backbone' for the volume and include (1) scaling behaviours, (2) supramolocular systems, (3) aggregation, aggregation kinetics and disorderly growth mechanisms, (4) granularly matter, (5) polymers, associating polymers, polyelectrolytes and gels, (6) amphiphiles, emulsions, colloids, membranes and interface phenomena, (7) molecular motors, (8) phase separation and out of equilibrium dynamics, (9) turbulence, chaos and chaotic dynamics, (10) glass transition, supercooled fluids and (11) geometrically constrained dynamics.