Here is the link: http://www.wiziq.com/online-class/430878-the-need-for-a-new-understanding-of-entanglement-in-polymer-physics
The video recording of the class is available to people who access the above link. I post (below) another direct link to view the class, without the need to register with WIZIQ. It appears, though, that viewers need to be online in order to view the recording, saved or not, meaning that if the file is saved on a computer, it still needs to be watched on-line!
http://www.eknetcampus.com/WIZIQ/Class1_video_recording/634305601542868750.exe
In any case, I like to communicate, before, during, and after the class, and I have enjoyed the many exchanges and discussions by email.
I preceeded the announcement of the class by a quizz, THE ENTANGLEMENT QUIZZ, with 22 questions (http://www.wiziq.com/online-tests/22446-the-entanglement-quizz).
I had 56 students who tried the test, with an average of 8 out of 22 good answers. Of course, "good answer" depends where one stands with respect to the entanglement concept. What it really shows is how different I stand on the topic.
Like Boris Vian once said (about something else): "My views are right since I made them up".
I have posted a pdf file with my answers and comments to the entanglement quizz:
http://www.eknetcampus.com/WIZIQ/ANSWERS%20to%20the%20Entanglement%20Quizz.pdf
The main idea to remember from my first class is that "entanglement" manifests the reality of the physics of dual-phases and how it changes scales with the number of interactive units involved. It is a "slow motion" example of how energy of interaction and population size interact to define the scale of a statistics. It's the chance of a lifetime for statisticians, who normally deal with very fast relaxation processes, therefore solutions for steady state problems. With polymers, motions are considerably slower, giving the opportunity to conceive and adapt simpler models to describe "scaling" , hence to illustrate complex mathematical abstract concepts by using common language: Ah... writing a Renormalization Group Theory for Dummies... using polymer entanglements!
It is true that de Gennes initially thought of that idea, but he stayed too far from Prigogine to set up his initial statistical frame, and got stuck with single chain dynamics in steady state.
Here is a picture of entangled dual-phases. The duality is at two levels for M > Me. This is why there is a critical molecular weight. Below it, there is only one duality, the one responsible for the compensation phenomena below Tg and for the Boson peak observed for glasses.
My next class is scheduled for February 17th, 10:30 am Eatern US standard Time.
check it out: http://www.wiziq.com/online-class/454992-molecular-weight-and-frequency-dependence-of-tg-on-rheological-data
