Home Page of HARALD PLEINER

	Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research

HARALD PLEINER [570 kB] [142 kB]

Postal address:

Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
PO Box 3148
55021 Mainz
Germany

Communications:

Phone: (+49) (0)6131 379 246
Fax: (+49) (0)6131 379 340
E-mail: pleiner@mpip-mainz.mpg.de
Web: http://www.mpip-mainz.mpg.de/~pleiner/

Where to find me:

MPI für Polymerforschung

[155 kB][1.3 MB]
Room 2.107A
Ackermannweg 10 (south-west end of university campus)
55128 Mainz

Access:

by plane:
At Frankfurt airport (Frankfurt Rhein-Main, FRA) there are now 2 railway stations (to/from by train). Trains to Mainz Hbf leave, either at the old regional (local) station in the basement ("level -1") of Terminal 1 (area "S"), or at the new long-distance station, AirRail Terminal or area "T" (map). There is a direct access from Terminal 1 (Hall A, B, C) to the AirRail Terminal (level 3). From Terminal 2 (Hall D and E) both stations are reached via Terminal 1 (using Sky Line) or directly by a free shuttle bus. There is a Deutsche Bahn ("DB") counter at the ground level of Terminal 1 and at the top of the long-distance station, and a travel agency ("Reisebüro") at the arrival level of Hall B.
From the regional station direct local trains (RE and S-Bahn "S8" [ not "S9" *] with final destination Wiesbaden) frequently leave from track 3 for Mainz Hbf, which is reached in 20-27 minutes. You have to buy in advance a Verkehrsverbund ticket (at "RMV" vending machines) for € 3.70 (the code number for Mainz is 6500; don't take connections via Frankfurt Hbf). This ticket is good also for the local bus within Mainz. There is no possibility to buy tickets inside such trains and not having a valid ticket carries a € 40 fine.
[* S9 does not go to Mainz Hbf. If you have inadvertently entered such a train you can change trains (for Mainz Hbf) at "Rüsselsheim" or "Mainz-Bischofsheim" or you stay on until "Mainz-Kastel". Here, in front of that station (on the other side of the street) you can take a bus Nº 54, 55 or 68 - see below.]
From the long-distance station (track 6 and 7) non-stop IC-/EC-/ICE- trains take you to Mainz Hbf in 16-19 minutes. The regular fare is € 7.50 (IC/EC) and € 11.50 (ICE) with appropriate reductions, if you hold a Bahncard. Tickets can be bought at "DB" vending machines and counters, or in the train at some additional charge. However, most of the time there is only one train per hour heading for Mainz Hbf (usually leaving 58 or 59 minutes past the hour).

Note, there is another international airport, Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN), which is situated in the Hunsrück some 70 km west of Mainz. Between Mainz Hbf and that airport there are several direct bus connections ('BOHR' bus company); the travel time is 70 min, the fare is 11.00 €. For alternative travel possibilities see DB Query Page.

by train:
Your destination is Mainz Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) - see maps for the long distance and regional train connections. Inquire train schedules at DB Query Page

by bus:
Leaving the Central Railway Station (Hbf) turn somewhat to the right and you will find the bus departure platform G. There is a bus line, Nº 68 (destination Klein-Winternheim), that brings you to "Ackermannweg". Buses depart from Hbf every 20 - 30 minutes (until 19:59h Mon-Fri, until 17:59h on Sat), but not on Sundays and public holidays. In addition, you can use the regional bus Nº 650, which runs on evenings and weekends as well - however only once every hour (timetable650).
There is now a Campus line, Nº 69 ("Fachhochschule ü. Uni-Campus"), from the railway station to the university campus and back, starting from the bus departure platform F. The nearest stop for the MPI-P is "Duesbergweg" (see campus map [240 kB]). This bus runs only Mon-Fri from 6:41h until 18:28h (but not from July 27 to August 28) with a somewhat higher frequency during the university semesters.
The regular ticket is € 2.30, which can be bought from the bus driver or from the vending machine. The latter also offers a bundle of 5 single tickets ("Sammelkarte Mainz/Wiesbaden") for € 9.25. Alternatively there are all-day tickets (€ 5.60 for 1 and € 8.40 for up to 5 persons). The tickets are valid in the whole Mainz/Wiesbaden area. If you arrive with an RMV or RNN Verkehrsverbund ticket, no extra bus ticket is necessary; if you carry a long distance DB ticket with Bahncard reduction (to 'Mainz+City'), this also entitles you to use a bus within Mainz to your final destination.
More frequently (and also in the evening and on Sunday) there are buses to "Friedrich-von-Pfeiffer-Weg" (see campus map [790 kB]). You can take buses Nº 54, 55, and 58 (destination Lerchenberg, Finthen, and Wackernheim, respectively) and, if it runs, Nº 68, all at platform G. You only need a "Kurzstreckenfahrschein" for € 1.45 (except weekdays before 9 am, when a regular ticket is required). However you have to walk across the university campus for about 10 minutes.

by car:
Leave Autobahn A60 (regional map [71 kB]) either at exit Mainz-Finthen / Saarstraße or Mainz-Lerchenberg (local map [86 kB]) with direction "Innenstadt" (downtown), then follow "Universität" and "MPI-Polymerforschung" signs - see MPI access map [80 kB]

by taxi:
The fare from Mainz Hauptbahnhof is approximately € 8 - 10. Make sure that the taxi-driver brings you to the "Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung", which is just outside the university campus, and not to the "Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie" (which is well inside the campus). There is a special area at Ackermannweg for taxi pick-up or drop-off - see MPI access map [80 kB]

Research:

For complex fluids (e.g. condensed systems with broken symmetries and/or additional internal slowly relaxing degrees of freedom) a phenomenological, macroscopic description for the long-time and large-scale dynamics is derived using general symmetry and invariance principles as well as basic thermodynamic laws. Due to their internal structure novel crosscouplings and unusual effects in external fields or near phase transitions are found. The macroscopic dynamic equations are used to investigate instabilities and pattern formation, defects and their motion, and surface dynamics .

for details and papers see the scientific project page

for job openings (PhD, post-doc) see our job page

Int. Disc. Meeting Noneq. Phenomena in Complex Elastomers and Gels 2007, in Mainz

8th German Ferrofluid Workshop 2008, in Mainz

25 years MPI-P: Polymer Research: Basic Science for Future Challenges 2009, in Mainz

38th German Workshop on Liquid Crystals 2010, in Mainz

-- MPIP Research 2009 [5.3 MB]

Vita:

Harald Pleiner got his Physik Diploma at the University Stuttgart in 1974 with a diploma thesis on the role of nonlinear fluctuations at the Bénard instability. He finished his doctoral thesis on the hydrodynamics of the superfluid phases of ³He in 1977 at the University Essen (with R. Graham ). Habilitation in theoretical physics was granted by the University Essen in 1983 for work on broken symmetries and hydrodynamics of liquid crystals. As a Heisenberg fellow he went abroad for several years staying at the Lab. Physique des Solides, Orsay (M. Kleman ), Dept. of Physics, CU Boulder (N.A. Clark ), and ITP and Materials Dept. , UC Santa Barbara (P.A. Pincus ). In Germany he worked as a substitute professor for theoretical physics teaching at the Universities Essen and Augsburg . In 1992 he was appointed apl. Professor by the University Essen. He joined the new Theory Group (K. Kremer ) at the MPI for Polymer Research in 1995 as a senior scientific staff member.

Information:

this page in Swabian (my mother tongue)

-- some guidelines for physics talks
-- preprints of the theory group (old)
-- privat /private
-- Instabilities, Bananas, Rheology, LCP/Es, Surface Waves, General Mesophases, Ferrofluids
-- Bibliothek
-- phone list (internal)
-- webmail (internal)
-- translation (internal)
-- Seminare Uni Mainz
-- Seminare MPI-P Mainz
-- Phys. Kolloquium Mainz
-- Ombudsperson

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HARALD PLEINER
Last modified: September 20^th, 2007