Soft Matter Theory

In the Soft Matter Theory Group we use the methods of classical statistical mechanics to investigate soft matter, both in and out of equilibrium. While soft matter systems, such as colloidal dispersions or polymer melts, are certainly relevant for many applications, they also represent interesting classical many-body systems with nontrivial collective behaviour, e.g. phase transitions.

By analyzing simple model systems we aim to identify fundamental physical mechanisms underlying the collective many-body dynamics. This involves the application of established techniques from liquid-state theory, such as (classical) density functional theory, integral equations, mode-coupling theory etc., as well as the development of new analytic and numerical approaches.