CECAM-Workshops - Statistical mechanics of polymers under constraints - on the occasion of Kurt Binder's 75th birthday

Polymers - macromolecules made of many consecutive and often identical molecular units - are omnipresent in nature and technology. Since the pioneering works of Flory, Edwards, de Gennes and others, the statistical mechanics of polymers has been a very active field of research, which has led to the development of advanced analytical theories, served as model field to study critical exponents and scaling relations, and inspired the design of sophisticated novel computer simulation methods. It still continues to challenge scientists in many different fields such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, and more recently even computer science. In practice, the properties of polymeric systems are often to a large extent dominated by constraints - topological constraints such as entanglement and knots, internal constraints such as chain stiffness, external constraints such as confinement. The interplay and competition of constraints gives rise to a wealth of intriguing phenomena, many of which are not yet fully understood. The workshop aims to bring together scientists working on different aspects of polymers under constraints in equilibrium and nonequilibrium situations, to discuss recent progress and current exciting developments in an informal atmosphere. We will also use this occasion to celebrate the 75th birthday of Kurt Binder.