Glossary

The glossary entries (containing definitions, footnotes, short introductions, resource files and links to other web sites) have been regrouped along the following aspects:

• General physics, statistical physics and condensed matter physics
• General chemistry
• Polymer physics
• Polymer chemistry
• Mechanical and rheological properties
• Examples from biology
• Simulation methods
• Heros of Polymer Science

The list below presents links to all glossary entries and resource files:

1. algorithm
2. Baekeland, Leo Hendrik (1863-1944)
3. Bakelite: first purely synthetic plastic
4. Baker, William O. (1915-)
5. Benoit, Henri (1921-)
6. Biopolymer
7. Bond-Fluctuation Model (BFM): popular lattice Monte Carlo model for polymer chains
8. Brownian Dynamics (BD): overdamped motion dynamics simulation scheme
9. Bu-na rubber: first purely synthetic rubber based on butadiene
10. Carothers, Wallace Hume (1896-1937)
11. Car-Parrinello method: popular semi-quantum mechanical ab intio simulation method
12. caoutchouc: natural rubber latex (cis-polyisoprene)
13. cellulose: main composant of cell walls of plants ("wood fiber")
14. chain connectivity
15. coarse-graining: replacement of microscopic variables by average variables
16. coexistence of thermodynamic phases
17. colloid
18. conductive polymer: polymers conducting electricity
19. commensurate lattice
20. complex fluid
21. computer simulation
22. configurational Bias Monte Carlo (CBMC)
23. conjugate variable
24. covalent bond: bond between atoms formed by sharing electron pairs
25. Crick, Francis (1916-2003)
26. critical point of phase diagram
27. critical slowing down
28. correlation length
29. Des Cloizeau
30. De Gennes, Pierre-Gilles
31. Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD)
32. direct lattice
33. DNA: double stranded helical polymer, carrier of genetic information
34. Dunlop, John (1840-1921)
35. Edwards, Sam
36. ensemble
37. ergodicity: equivalence of time and ensemble averages
38. excluded volume
39. fiber
40. fractal
41. Flory, Paul (1910-1985)
42. Flory theory
43. Goodyear, Charles (1800-1860)
44. vulcanization
45. Graham, Thomas (1805-1869)
46. Heeger, Alan J. (1936-)
47. hemoglobin: oxygen-carrying protein
48. hydrogen bond
49. hydrophilic and hydrophobic
50. ideal polymer chain
51. importance sampling
52. intensive variable
53. Kevlar
54. Kremer-Grest Model (KGM)
55. Langer, Rober S. (1948-)
56. Lattice Boltzmann (LB)
57. macromolecule
58. MacDiarmid, Alan (1927-)
59. Mark, Herman (1895-1985)
60. mesoscopic scale
61. Molding: Blow, compression, injection molding
62. molecular dynamics (MD)
63. molecular weight (molar mass)
64. monomer
65. molecule
66. Monte Carlo (MC)
67. n-vector model
68. Natta, Giulio (1903-1979)
69. neoprene
70. nylon
71. order parameter
72. production lines
73. Pruned-Enriched Rosenbluth Method (PERM)
74. persistence length
75. plastic: "moldable" polymer formed through the application of heat and pressure
76. polymer: giant molecule with N monomeric repeat units joint to a (mainly) linear chain
77. polymerization
78. PRISM
79. protein
80. random walk (RW)
81. relaxation time &tau
82. renormalization group (RG): technique of statistical physics involving systematic coarse-graining
83. rheology
84. ... (RISM)
85. RNA
86. Rosenbluth-Rosenbluth (RRMC)
87. rubber (synthetic)
88. self-avoiding walk (SAW)
89. self-similar: structure that "looks the same" at all length scales
90. Shirakawa, Hideki (1936-)
91. silk
92. soft matter
93. spinodal curve
94. starch
95. Staudinger, Herrmann (1881-1965)
96. stochastic variable
97. Stockmeyer
98. Svedberg (1884-1971)
99. thermoplastic: plastic that can be reshaped after once being molded
100. thermostat
101. thermoset: polymer plastic retaining shape at high temperatures
102. topology
103. universality: characterized by generic models
104. viscosity
105. vulcanization
106. Watson, James (1928-)
107. Ziegler, Karl (1898-1973)
108. Ziegler-Natta catalysts: catalysts controlling the positioning of atoms attached to polymer chains