Physics of Complex and Disordered Matter (SoftMat)

Fluids are all around us all the time, on every scale. To understand fluid mechanics is to understand the mechanics of what surrounds us: air and water in particular. As such, hydrodynamics is an essential part of any physicist's background.

EU Hydrodynamics provides an introduction to incompressible perfect (Euler) and viscous Newtonian (Navier-Stokes) fluid mechanics. Classical flows are presented, as well as the notion of boundary layer, instability and turbulence. Emphasis is placed more on physical ideas than on advanced mathematical or numerical resolution methods.

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TD courses in English for students in the Master 1 Physics program, who are aiming for professional autonomy in scientific English.

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This course is part of the foundation of modern physics. It provides a foundation of knowledge that is strictly necessary for all physics courses, since it lays the foundations for the theoretical description of the interaction between the electromagnetic field and elementary quantum elements such as two-level systems, atoms and molecules. It also provides the teaching needed to understand LASER, modern optical devices and spectroscopic methods and analyses.

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The aim of this module is to enable students to compare experimental reality with their theoretical knowledge. Particular attention is paid to writing up results and presenting them orally. Work is organized in eight-hour sessions, for which students choose a theme. They record their results and analyses in an experimental notebook modelled on the protocols used in laboratories. At the end of the semester, students choose a theme, which they develop in the form of a final report that they present orally. This course prepares students for the internships they will undertake during their studies.

Examples of experiments available: optical spectroscopy (IR, Visible), gamma spectroscopy, X-ray spectroscopy, acoustic spectroscopy; low-temperature photoluminescence; near-field spectroscopy (AFM, STM); electron microscopy...

The range of experiments on offer covers the areas of physics taught in the different Physics courses. Students are encouraged to choose the experiments that best match their interests. A major effort is made to integrate new data acquisition technologies and the use of computer tools to compare experiment and theory.

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Using two specific examples (X-ray diffraction and vibrations), this module shows in detail how to model the physical properties of a solid. The formalism will also be applied to finite systems, such as nanoparticles, and will remain valid for amorphous materials, but particular attention will be paid to periodic systems (from linear chains to protein crystals, via graphene and silicon). Associated with this periodicity will naturally appear the notion of reciprocal lattice.

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The course aims to give a general introduction to cellular and molecular biology, and to put into context the use of modern physics, with its quantitative methods and approaches, to describe biological systems and their complexity from the molecular to the cellular and tissue scales.

Quantifying phenomena, their physical interpretation and physico-mathematical modeling are also fundamental aspects of the course. The course opens up to philosophy and to the whole range of themes of this Master's program, centered on the study of the physical principles of the organization and dynamics of living, complex matter.

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This UE includes a refresher and a deepening of programming techniques as well as an introduction to numerical physics. We'll start with a review of procedural programming with the Python 3 language. Then we'll take an in-depth look at numerical methods relevant to physics, studying a selection of classical numerical analysis algorithms and applying them to physical problems.

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Introduction to advanced statistical physics: grand canonical set; quantum statistics; quantum fluids (Bose-Einstein condensation, thermal radiation; Sommerfeld theory); phase transitions; Ising model; mean-field theory; dynamics of complex systems.

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Carry out a research project in an academic or industrial laboratory.

Dates: May-June

Duration: 7 weeks minimum, extendable in July

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The mechanical and thermal properties of materials are at the heart of many applications in the field of materials for energy. After an introduction to these different fields of application, this course aims to define the different concepts needed to master both the mechanical and thermal properties of materials, with a focus on bulk materials.

Hourly volumes* :

            CM: 11H

            TD : 9H

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This course presents the concepts, foundations and orders of magnitude of the physics and physical chemistry of interfaces, which govern the mesoscopic scale of matter, and ultimately determine the behavior and properties of everyday objects: soil, milk, cheese, paints, inks, cosmetics, adhesives, lubricants, etc., as well as numerous technological processes and biological cells and membranes.

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Knowing how to acquire and process data is an essential skill in a professional scientific and/or technical context. The aim of this course is to address three types of know-how that are standard in the professional environment:

- Advanced use of spreadsheets (MS EXCEL, LO-CALC) for scientific and technical applications

- Network interconnections: infrastructures, TCP-IP protocol suite, security

- Introduction to relational databases (MS ACCESS, LO-BASE) - concepts & vocabulary, query creation, graphical reports, forms.

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One of the major problems linked to the use of various materials in our daily lives is their durability and therefore their degradation. In this course, we'll look at the issues surrounding the durability of materials (resources, reserves, criticality of materials, etc.) as well as the methodologies for studying durability (types of surface/volume aging, temporal extrapolation, multi-scale, combination of effects, experimental representation and industrial validation). This will then enable aging kinetics to be modeled using different models.

The different types of degradation affecting polymers will then be analyzed.

Finally, the ageing of different types of materials will be illustrated by various concrete case studies (concrete, ceramics, metals and elastomers).

Timetable*: 11h CM :

                                    9h TD

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Polymer physics, of which this course is an introduction, is concerned with the physical properties of covalent assemblies in chains of tens to millions of elementary molecules: polymers or macromolecules.

These synthetic or natural molecules can be observed in solid, liquid, solution or colloidal form, or confined to an interface.

Their very specific physical properties have led to the development of specific theoretical tools and the emergence of this new branch of physics with numerous applications.

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Bibliographical study on a research theme associated with the course and possibly related to the M2 internship topic.

80 hours of personal work spread over the first semester of M2. Several project progress meetings will be scheduled with the course's expert supervisors and scientific coordinators.

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TD courses in English, for students in the Master 2 Physics program, who want to work in English in a contemporary context.

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This module is an opportunity for students to discover the specifics of the world of work and prepare to enter it under the best possible conditions, notably through experience-sharing with speakers from the professional world. Students learn how to put together a successful job application, optimizing the analysis of the job offer, writing a targeted CV and cover letter, and preparing for the job interview (role-playing, simulations).

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This course gives a general introduction to 1) the physics and mechanics of divided media and 2) their modeling using discrete methods (DEM). The multi-scale character of a divided material is discussed from the microscopic scale (contact interactions) to the macroscopic scale (structure scale). A phenomenological description of macroscopic behavior and microscopic properties are discussed for static, quasi-static and flowing states of granular media. Micromechanical models and change-of-scale approaches based on adimensional analyses, averaged quantities, stress transmissions and the existence of anisotropies are introduced. The influence of particle properties and contact interactions on the microstructure is also discussed. Discrete Element Methods (DEM), regular (Molecular Dynamics) and non-regular (Contact Dynamics) numerical approaches are presented. In particular, the Contact Dynamics method will be implemented on simple examples using the LMGC90 computational code.

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The aim of this module is to teach the operating principles of the main techniques for characterizing the structure (volume and surface) and properties (optical, electronic, etc.) of condensed matter:

• X-ray and electron diffraction techniques
• optical spectroscopy techniques (absorption, reflection, luminescence)
• local probe microscopy

  The aim of this module is to teach the operating principles of the main techniques for characterizing the structure (volume and surface) and properties (optical, electronic, etc.) of condensed matter:

  • X-ray and electron diffraction techniques
  • optical spectroscopy techniques (absorption, reflection, luminescence)
  • local probe microscopy

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This course provides an introduction to the field of complex fluids and active matter, with applications in both the physical chemistry of soft matter and the physics of living organisms and biological objects.

It is common to the 2 PhyMV and SoftMat courses.

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Carry out a long-term research project (6 months) in an academic or industrial research laboratory.

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