M2 - Physics of Complex and Disordered Matter (SoftMat)

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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