The proceedings of this workshop contains 5 important papers by S A Edwards on the Edwards Model and includes discussions on recent theoretical developments in polymer physics.A few decades ago, polymers were not considered part of conventional physics. However, the scenario changed drastically in the sixties and seventies with the introduction of path integral methods, fields theory in the n limits, and renormalization group approach. A vital step in this progress is the path integral Hamiltonian that S F Edwards proposed in 1965-66 to study a single chain. This model now called the Edwards model, is considered to be the minimal model for polymers, and it has been phenomenal in unraveling the universal properties of polymers, be it a single chain or many, equilibrium or dynamics. It has now crossed the boundary of polymers and is finding applications through appropriate generalizations in many other problems. Contents: Some Reminiscences of the Sixties (S F Edwards)Some New Extensions of the Edwards Model (S F Edwards)Dynamical Extension of the Edwards Model (S F Edwards)Localisation via the Edwards Model (S F Edwards)The Glass Transition (S F Edwards)Statistical Methods for Polymers and Membranes: Renormalization, Conformal Invariance and Matrix Models (B Duplantier)Polymers on Fractal Lattices (D Dhar)Renormalization Group Analysis of the Dynamics of Dilute Polymer Solutions (S Puri)Simulating the Edwards Hamiltonian: From Polymers to Membranes (A Baumgartner)Statistics of Self-avoiding Walks on Random Lattices (B K Chakrabarti) Readership: Condensed matter physicists, theoretical chemists and materials scientists. "

The proceedings of this workshop contains 5 important papers by S A Edwards on the Edwards Model and includes discussions on recent theoretical developments in polymer physics.A few decades ago, polymers were not considered part of conventional physics. However, the scenario changed drastically in the sixties and seventies with the introduction of path integral methods, fields theory in the n → limits, and renormalization group approach. A vital step in this progress is the path integral Hamiltonian that S F Edwards proposed in 1965-66 to study a single chain. This model now called the Edwards model, is considered to be the minimal model for polymers, and it has been phenomenal in unraveling the universal properties of polymers, be it a single chain or many, equilibrium or dynamics. It has now crossed the boundary of polymers and is finding applications through appropriate generalizations in many other problems.

"A one-week workshop on Polymer Physics was organized by the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar and was held in Hotel Prachi in Puri during January 2-9, 1991"--Pref.

This book provides a comprehensive account of the modern theory for the dynamical properties of polymer solutions. The theory has undergone dramatic evolution over the last two decades due to the introduction of new methods and concepts that have extended the frontier of theory from dilute solutions in which polymers move independently to concentrated solutions where many polymers converge. Among the properties examined are viscoelasticity, diffusion, dynamic light scattering, and electric birefringence. Nonlinear viscoelasticity is discussed in detail on the basis of molecular dynamical models. The book bridges the gap between classical theory and new developments, creating a consistent picture of polymer solution dynamics over the entire concentration range.

This book is a concise and clearly written introduction to the modern theory of polymer physics. The book describes basic concepts and methods of investigating the statistical properties of the assembly of chain-like molecules. The topics discussed include scaling theory, concentration fluctuation, gels, and reptation. Both graduate students and researchers in physics, physical chemistry, chemical engineering, and materials science will find this an extremely useful textbook and reference work.

Polymer Physics provides and introduction to the field for upper level undergraduates and first year graduate students. Any student with a working knowledge of calculus, physics and chemistry should be able to read this book. The essential tools of the polymer physical chemist or engineer are derived in this book without skipping any steps.