In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic behavior of nature from the behavior of such ensembles.
In continuum mechanics, stress is a physical quantity that describes forces present during deformation. For example, an object being pulled apart, such as a stretched elastic band, is subject to tensile stress and may undergo elongation. An object being pushed together, such as a crumpled sponge, is subject to compressive stress and may undergo shortening. The greater the force and the smaller the cross-sectional area of the body on which it acts, the greater the stress. Stress has dimension of force per area, with SI units of newtons per square meter (N/m2) or pascal (Pa).
Self-organization, also called spontaneous order in the social sciences, is a process where some form of overall order arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system. The process can be spontaneous when sufficient energy is available, not needing control by any external agent. It is often triggered by seemingly random fluctuations, amplified by positive feedback. The resulting organization is wholly decentralized, distributed over all the components of the system. As such, the organization is typically robust and able to survive or self-repair substantial perturbation. Chaos theory discusses self-organization in terms of islands of predictability in a sea of chaotic unpredictability.
Fluid mechanics is that branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical, and biomedical engineering, as well as geophysics, oceanography, meteorology, astrophysics, and biology.
Manfred Hermann Wagner is the author of Wagner model and the molecular stress function theory for polymer rheology. He is a Professor for Polymer engineering and Polymer physics at the Technical University of Berlin.
Xi-Cheng Zhang is a Chinese-born American physicist, currently serving as the Parker Givens Chair of Optics at the University of Rochester, and the director of the Institute of Optics. He is also the Chairman of the Board and President of Zomega Terahertz Corporation.
Operational calculus, also known as operational analysis, is a technique by which problems in analysis, in particular differential equations, are transformed into algebraic problems, usually the problem of solving a polynomial equation.
Rudolf Podgornik is a physicist. His fields of research are: physics of soft matter, physics of Coulomb fluids, physics of macromolecular interactions, Lifshitz theory of Casimir - van der Waals dispersion interaction, Casimir effect, physics of membranes, polymers and polyelectrolytes and physics of DNA, RNA and viruses.
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity is defined scientifically as a force multiplied by a time divided by an area. Thus its SI units are newton-seconds per square meter, or pascal-seconds.
Gary D. Westfall is an American experimental nuclear and high energy physicist and University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University. He is also a co-author, with Wolfgang Bauer, of the introductory calculus-based physics textbook University Physics, published by McGraw-Hill in 2010.
Sriram Rajagopal Ramaswamy is an Indian physicist. He is a professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and previously the director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences in Hyderabad.
Rahul Pandit is an Indian condensed matter physicist, a professor of physics and a divisional chair at the Indian Institute of Science. Known for his research on phase transitions and spatiotemporal chaos and turbulence, Pandit is an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and The World Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to physical sciences in 2001.
Ranjith Padinhateeri is an Indian biological physicist and a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. He is known for his biological studies using statistical mechanics, polymer physics, and soft matter theory. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences, in 2017–18.
Karen E. Daniels is an American physicist who is a professor of physics at North Carolina State University. Her research considers the deformation and failure of materials. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and serves on their Committee on the Status of Women in Physics. She is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Hans J. van Ommeren Dekker is a Dutch theoretical physicist in the line of Dirk Polder, Ralph Kronig, and Nico van Kampen. His scientific work inter alia involves laser theory, path integrals in curved spaces, nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, dissipation in quantum mechanics, and hydrodynamic turbulence. He is director of the Private Institute for Advanced Study and professor emeritus at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of Amsterdam.
Anil Kumar is an Indian experimental physicist known for his work in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. He is a professor at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.
Gang Cao is an American condensed matter physicist, academic, author, and researcher. He is a professor of physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. and Director of Center for Experiments on Quantum Materials.
Rachel (Raya) Takserman-Krozer was a theoretical physicist and professor of rheology. Takserman-Krozer worked on diverse aspects of theoretical physics ranging from theory of relativity to studies of polymers and their flow. Her scientific work includes contributions to behaviour of polymers and polymers solutions in velocity fields, theory of spinnability, problems of phenomenological rheology, and molecular-statistical theory of polymer networks. Takserman-Krozer worked across several countries including Russia, Poland, Israel, and Germany.
Jan Vincent Sengers is a Dutch–American physicist and a distinguished university professor emeritus at the Institute for Physical Science and Technology of the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. He is known for seminal contributions in critical and non-equilibrium phenomena in soft condensed matter.
Helmut Ritsch is an Austrian quantum physicist and a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Innsbruck.
