Jean-Pierre Hansen - Böcker

Comprehensive coverage of topics in the theory of classical liquids

Widely regarded as the standard text in its field, Theory of Simple Liquids gives an advanced but self-contained account of liquid state theory within the unifying framework provided by classical statistical mechanics. The structure of this revised and updated Fourth Edition is similar to that of the previous one but there are significant shifts in emphasis and much new material has been added.

Major changes and Key Features in content include:

Expansion of existing sections on simulation methods, liquid-vapour coexistence, the hierarchical reference theory of criticality, and the dynamics of super-cooled liquids. New sections on binary fluid mixtures, surface tension, wetting, the asymptotic decay of pair correlations, fluids in porous media, the thermodynamics of glasses, and fluid flow at solid surfaces. An entirely new chapter on applications to 'soft matter' of a combination of liquid state theory and coarse graining strategies, with sections on polymer solutions and polymer melts, colloidal dispersions, colloid-polymer mixtures, lyotropic liquid crystals, colloidal dynamics, and on clustering and gelation. Expansion of existing sections on simulation methods, liquid-vapour coexistence, the hierarchian reference of criticality, and the dynamics of super-cooled liquids. New sections on binary fluid mixtures, surface tension, wetting, the asymptotic decay of pair correlations, fluids in porous media, the thermodynamics of glasses, and fluid flow at solid surfaces. An entirely new chapter on applications to 'soft matter' of a combination of liquid state theory and coarse graining strategies, with sections on polymer solutions and polymer melts, colloidal dispersions, colloid-polymer mixtures, lyotropic liquid crystals, colloidal dynamics, and on clustering and gelation.

Presenting a unified approach to the liquid state, this book focusses on the concepts and theoretical methods that are necessary for an understanding of the physics and chemistry of the fluid state. The authors do not attempt to cover the whole field in an encyclopedic manner. Instead, important ideas are presented in a concise and rigorous style, and illustrated with examples from both simple molecular liquids and more complex soft condensed matter systems such as polymers, colloids, and liquid crystals. After a general chapter introducing the liquid state, the book is in four parts devoted to: thermodynamics; structure and fluctuations; phase transitions, interfaces and inhomogeneous fluids; and, finally, transport and dynamics. Each chapter introduces a new set of closely related concepts and theoretical methods, which are then illustrated by a number of specific applications covering a broad range of physical situations.

The theory of simple and complex fluids has made considerable progress due to the emergence of new concepts and theoretical tools, the availability of a large body of new experimental data on increasingly complex systems, and far-reaching developments in numerical simulation. Two clear trends emerge from the present book, first the diversity of new and unexpected theoretical results relating to classical models of liquids; and secondly, the parallel emergence of new concepts, models and methods for the investigation of complex fluids and phenomena. The book lays stress on a tutorial presentation of the main topics, including liquid structure, metastability and phase transitions, confined fluids and interfaces, complex fluids and quantum fluids.