Title: Electrodynamics in Soft Matter and Biophysics
Abstract:
Over the past decade, a deeper understanding of the physics of highly
charged surfaces in the presence of an aqueous environment has been developed.
This includes attractions between like charged surfaces induced by counterion
correlations. Such effects are crucial for DNA packaging and protein
complexes. However the problems relating to motions of macromolecules and
their associated counterions have barely been probed. For example, there are
no existing models for S(q, \omega) for highly charged double layers let alone
effects involved in macromolecular transport. Modern X-ray scattering
including anomolous scattering are appropriate tools here. This will be an
important area for both theoretical and experimental research over the next
decade.