American Chemical Society Symposium: Dynamics and Jamming in Complex Environments; August 19-23, 2012; Philadelphis, PA. USA

美国化学会每年两次的全国会议都包括物理化学部的几个专题讨论会。这些专题讨论会的主题代表了物理化学和化学物理研究的一些最令人兴奋的领域。今年的专题讨论会之一是复杂环境中的动态和干扰。从基本和应用的角度来看，拥挤和复杂环境中的粒子动力学是有趣的。事实上，拥挤决定了许多物理、化学和生物系统中的粒子动力学，特别是那些远离平衡的系统。例子包括液体到固体的转变，粘性液体和颗粒系统的动力学，以及活细胞中生物分子的动力学。这样的物理学也具有应用价值：事实上，这关系到我们设计新材料并预测其静态和动态特性的能力。不均匀性和缺乏周期性限制了常规批量实验的实用性，以详细说明这些系统中的分子运动。此外，这些实验以及直接的计算研究都因这些系统所显示的巨大动态范围而变得复杂。新兴的实验，基于模拟和理论的方法来研究这些复杂的系统可以解决的问题，这些问题已经回避了明确的答案，这些缓慢的弛豫，广义上称为玻璃态动力学的性质，玻璃化转变，尽管几十年的努力。这次专题讨论会的共同组织者请求提供资金，以帮助支付在这次会议上发言者和海报展示者的登记费和旅费。特别是，这些资金将主要用于研究生和博士后演讲者。研讨会将汇集不同的科学家：他们在各自的研究领域，在他们选择的实验和/或理论工具，并在他们的国籍，年龄和性别的多样性。特别是，代表性不足的群体的成员已被招募参加，通过介绍邀请和贡献的谈话-广告，这些发言者，然后，反过来，鼓励更多的参与这些群体的成员作为与会者和海报展示者在专题讨论会上。受邀的演讲者代表了比那些通常出席玻璃会议的人更广泛的社区，这些会议往往专注于分子玻璃或软物质或颗粒系统，通常不包括实验学家和理论家。所要求的支持将扩大参加这次研讨会的社区，从而鼓励不同社区的研究人员之间的新的协同作用。这次研讨会的主要目标是：（1）探索各种系统的共性，其中拥挤是动力学的重要决定因素;（2）继续发展一种共同的语言来讨论玻璃态行为。

Each of the two annual national meetings of the American Chemical Society includes several symposia in the Physical Chemistry Division. The topics of these symposia represent some of the most exciting areas of physical chemistry and chemical physics research. This year one of these featured symposia is Dynamics and Jamming in Complex Environments. The dynamics of particles in crowded and complex environments is intriguing from fundamental and applied points of view. Indeed, crowding determines particle dynamics in many physical, chemical, and biological systems, especially those far from equilibrium. Examples include liquid-to-solid transitions, dynamics in viscous liquids and particulate systems, and dynamics of biomolecules in living cells. Such physics is also of applied interest: indeed, at stake is our ability to design new materials and predict their static and dynamic properties. Inhomogeneity and lack of periodicity limits the utility of conventional bulk experiments to detail molecular motions in these systems. Moreover, such experiments, as well as direct computational studies, are complicated by the enormous range of dynamics displayed by these systems. Emerging experimental, simulation-based, and theoretical approaches to investigating these complex systems can address questions that have evaded clear answers about the nature of these slow relaxations, broadly termed glassy dynamics, and the glass transition despite decades of effort. The co-organizers of this symposium request funds to help defray registration and travel costs for speakers and poster presenters at this meeting. In particular, these funds will be used primarily for graduate student and postdoctoral presenters. The symposium will bring together diverse scientists: they are diverse in their areas of research, in their chosen experimental and/or theoretical tools, and in their nationality, age, and gender. In particular, members of underrepresented groups have been recruited to participate via presentation of both invited and contributing talks - advertisements featuring such speakers then, in turn, encourage additional participation from members of these groups as attendees and poster presenters at the symposium. The set of invited speakers represent a much broader community than those typically present at conferences on glasses, which tend to focus on either molecular glasses or soft matter or granular systems and do not generally include both experimentalists and theorists. The support requested will broaden the community participating in this symposium and in turn encourage new synergies between researchers in diverse communities. The chief goals of this symposium are (1) exploring the commonalities in the various systems in which crowding is an important determinant of dynamics and (2) continuing to develop a common language with which to discuss glassy behavior.