Slow relaxations and nonequilibrium dynamics in condensed matter : École d'Été de Physique des Houches, session LXXVII, 1-26 July 2002 ; NATO Advanced Study Institute, Euro Summer School, École Thématique du CNRS = Relaxations lentes et dynamiques ho

Intended for graduate students in physics and chemistry, this book touches on granular matter, protein folding, phase separating and evolution kinetics. Taking glasses as a central theme, it presents the problem of slow dynamics from several angles, a ubiquitous feature in condensed matter, mechanics and biological physics. Some of the best established workers in the field present different theoretical and experimental approaches to the subject. Front Matter....Pages - Course 1: Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions....Pages 1-40 Course 2: Mechanical Aging and Non-linear Rheology of Concentrated Colloidal Suspensions: Experimental Facts and Simple Models....Pages 41-73 Course 3: Structural Relaxation and Rheology of Soft Condensed Matter....Pages 75-129 Course 4: Granular Media: Some Ideas from Statistical Physics....Pages 131-197 Course 5: Supercooled Liquids, the Glass Transition, and Computer Simulations....Pages 199-269 Course 6: Glasses, Replicas and All That....Pages 271-364 Course 7: Dynamics of Glassy Systems....Pages 367-521 Course 8: Equilibrium States and Dynamics of Equilibration: General Issues and Open Questions....Pages 523-553 Course 9: Experimental Analysis of Aging....Pages 555-604 Course 10: Fluctuation Dissipation Relation in a Non-stationary System: Experimental Investigation in a Spin Glass....Pages 605-621 Course 11: Non-equilibrium Dynamics and Aging in the Electron Glass....Pages 623-648 Course 12: Proteins: Structural, Thermodynamic and Kinetic Aspects....Pages 649-703 Course 13: Self-organized Criticality in Granular Superconductors....Pages 705-718 Course 14: Hiking through Glassy Phases: Physics beyond Aging....Pages 719-742 Course 15: Kinetically Constrained Models and Driven Systems with Slow Dynamics....Pages 743-754 Course 16: Dynamic Transitions in Thermal and Athermal Systems....Pages 755-766 Back Matter....Pages -