Packing Problems in Soft Matter Physics

Packing problems, which are concerned with optimal arrangements of objects in space, are cross-disciplinary in nature and are encountered in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and architecture. Such problems form a subject of interest in its own right, providing intriguing intellectual challenges, but are also at the heart of many material properties of condensed matter. In view of this, a series of international conferences on packing problems was launched in 2012 to provide a platform for soft-matter researchers to disseminate their findings. To continue the spirit of this conference series, this international community of researchers has also been invited to contribute reviews of their research to this book. Covering topics on models of ordered and disordered packings, mechanical behaviour of packings, and applications in soft matter and biology, this book provides a broad and authoritative overview of current research.

Ho-Kei Chan, an Associate Professor of Physics at the Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), is an expert in packing problems of confined systems. He has recently published (with coauthor Jens Winkelmann) the monograph ‘Columnar Structures of Spheres: Fundamentals and Applications’.

Stefan Hutzler, an Associate Professor of Physics and a Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, is an expert in foam physics and packing problems, known also for his publication (with coauthor Denis Weaire) of the 1999 monograph ‘The Physics of Foams’.

Adil Mughal, a Lecturer of Mathematics at Aberystwyth University, is a theoretical physicist and an expert in packing problems and the effects of geometry and topology in soft matter and biology.

Corey O'Hern, a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Physics, and Applied Physics at Yale University and an APS Fellow, is an expert in the statistical mechanics of non-equilibrium systems and also glass- and jamming-transitions of soft-matter systems.

Yujie Wang, a Professor of Physics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, is an expert in the non-equilibrium statistical mechanics of granular materials and in their dynamics and amorphous packings. He is renowned for his experimental investigations of granular systems via x-ray tomography.

Denis Weaire FRS, an Emeritus Professor of Physics at Trinity College Dublin, is a leader in foam physics and is renowned for his discovery (with Robert Phelan) of a division of space into cells with a surface area less than that proposed by Lord Kelvin.