Title: Magnetic monopoles and rocket science in soft matter

Speaker: Daan Frenkel, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge

Abstract: Computer simulations in the 1950s and 60s played a key role in the development of the theory of simple liquids. At the time, simple liquid were usually identified with dense noble gases. However, from the 1980s onwards, colloidal suspensions of hard, spherical particles became the prime example of “simple liquids” where theory, simulation and experiment could meet.

As a consequence, we now have a very good understanding of the equilibrium properties of colloidal suspensions, certainly they are better understood than liquid argon, let alone water. However, when we consider colloid systems out of equilibrium, we find that our understanding is far from complete. In this context, I will discuss simulations that suggest that it should be possible to observe colloidal particles that behave as magnetic monopoles. I will also show that the study of colloids out of equilibrium is … well, rocket science.

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