Elastic properties of colloidal solids with disorder
arXiv:1209.0389
Abstract
Recent progress in approaches to determine the elastic constants of solids starting from the microscopic particle interactions is reviewed. On the theoretical side, density functional theory approaches are discussed and compared to more classical ones using the actual pair potentials. On the experimental side, video microscopy has been introduced to measure the elastic constants in colloidal solids. For glasses and disordered systems, the theoretical basis is given for this novel technique, and some challenges and recent advances are reviewed.
Lecture notes of a seminar at the International School on Physics 'Enrico Fermi': Physics of Complex Colloids, Varenna, Italy, July 3-13 2012; to be included in the Proceedings of Course CLXXXIV; version 2 with small additions