U.S-Italy Cooperative Research in Condensed Matter Theory and Polymer Physics

该奖项将支持波士顿大学聚合物研究中心的Rama Bansil教授和William Klein教授与那不勒斯大学的A.Coniglio教授进行研究合作。合作的目标是寻求更好地理解随机材料上的基本物理定律是如何改变的，以及非均匀介质的物理学。为了实现这一目标，研究人员建议研究5个一般主题：主题1，随机材料中的多重分形现象，其中无限指数层次足以表征几乎任何临界点附近的系统。主题二涉及现代统计力学方法在无序介质上的物理过程中的应用，以及随机材料如何在足够高的应力下破裂。在主题三中，研究人员计划解决与一种特定类别的随机材料--线型和支化聚合物--有关的问题。主题四涉及几何团簇和热相变之间的关系，而主题五将涉及使用动态光散射技术来研究聚合物凝胶中的探针扩散问题的实验。这项工作将继续进行富有成效的合作，这种合作已经带来了有用的概念和应用，解决了不可逆转的增长、电阻网络和许多其他问题。

This award will support Prof. Rama Bansil and Prof. William Klein of the Center for Polymer Studies of Boston University in a research collaboration with Prof. A. Coniglio of the University of Naples. The objective of the collaboration is to seek a better understanding of how basic physical laws are altered on random materials and also of the physics of inhomogeneous media. In order to carry out this objective, the researchers propose to study 5 general topics: Topic I, the phenomena of multifractality in random materials, whereby an infinite hierarchy of exponents is sufficient to characterize virtually any system near its critical point. Topic II is concerned with applications of modern methods of statistical mechanics to physical processes on disordered media and to how a random material is fractured under sufficiently high stresses. In Topic III the researchers plan to address questions concerned with one specific class of random materials, linear and branched polymers. Topic IV is concerned with the relation between geometric clusters and thermal phase transitions, while Topic V will involve experiments using dynamic light scattering techniques to investigate the problem of probe diffusion in polymer gels. This work will continue a highly productive collaboration that has led to useful concepts and applications to problems like irreversible growth, resistor networks and many others.