This textbook provides a concise and transparently structured one-semester course in polymer physics - the science, in addition to polymer chemistry, behind a class of ubiquitous materials. It covers all major theoretical concepts and their applications in six chapters, including the conformations of chains, the thermodynamics of mixtures, solutions and networks, and the dynamics of polymers. Selected topics highlight aspects of polymer mechanics, the role of particulate fillers, stable and labile liquid crystal polymers, and polyelectrolytes. Solved problems deepen and extend important points that are explained in the main chapters.

The emphasis is on the derivation of the results and not on their mere presentation. If a result can be obtained using different theoretical methods or viewed from a different angle, an attempt is made to explain the relationships between the methods as clearly as possible. In addition, the validation of theoretical results through suitable experiments is always included. All this assumes a certain familiarity with statistical thermodynamics and its mathematics, which means that the text is best suited for upper undergraduate level.

Autorentext

Reinhard Hentschke holds a Diplom from the University of Osnabrück (1983) and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Maine, USA (1987). He acquired expertise relevant to the proposed book as a postdoc at Brandeis University, USA (1987-1990), working on the theory of reversibly assembling polymers, and as a staff scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (1990-1999), specializing on computer simulation of polymers. Since 1999 he is a professor of physics at the University of Wuppertal, where he had frequent polymer related collaborations with industry partners - most notably a collaboration, spanning 15 years, with the materials development department of the Continental Reifen GmbH. He is the (co)author of four textbooks: RH, Statistische Mechanik, Wiley-VCH, 2004; RH Thermodynamics, Springer, Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics, 2014 (1st ed.), 2022 (2nd ed.); RH, Classical Mechanics, Springer, Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics, 2017; RH, Christian Hölbling, A Short Course in General Relativity and Cosmology, Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics, 2020.