AbstractsPhysics

The arc of the thesis is direct measurement of polymer chain properties with potent fluorescence methods imported from other interdisciplinary sciences and applied successfully to polymer physics problems for the first time. The focus is an important theme in equilibrium polymer physics - chain structure and dynamics at solid-liquid interfaces and confined geometries, respectively. The role of polymer dynamics and fluctuations on the topological confinement formed by entanglement strands in a polymer solution, as experienced by a particle of comparable size is also investigated. These questions are fundamental in many scientific and technical applications, including adhesion, interdiffusion, friction, the mechanical behavior of composite and nanocomposite materials, and functional properties of other kinds. The experimental investigations involve development of novel fluorescence techniques of spectroscopy, microscopy and image analysis with single molecule sensitivity and/or single particle accuracy. Use of these techniques allow access to phenomena occurring at a wide range of length scales and time scales, characteristic of problems in macromolecular physics. Single particle tracking experiments also show advantages of unearthing distribution of individual particle dynamics within an ensemble.