Slow Dynamics in Complex Systems

This book gives up-to-date information on the liquid-glass transition in various disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, polymer science, and computer science. The book contains review articles by leading scientists and contributed papers by authors in the forefront of research. The systems studied covered almost all states of matter including solids, liquids, complex solutions, polymers, and suspensions. Significant progress was made on a variety of topics. Among these were experimental and theoretical studies of colloidal systems; experiments on glass to glass transitions in micellar systems; theoretical studies of polyelectrolytes and polymer melts and networks; theoretical and computer studies of hydrodynamics in suspensions and Rayleigh-Taylor and Rayleigh-Couette instabilities; theoretical and experimental studies of the glass transition; computer simulations of the glass transition in thin films; vibrational motions in glass forming liquids and glasses; the effects of shear on supercooled liquids; engineering and experimental studies of metallic glasses; mode-coupling studies of complex glass formation; and Lorentz gas studies of the translational and rotational motion of a rigid rod.