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3: Hydrodynamics and Light Scattering

  • Page ID
    364817
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    Hydrodynamics describes the low-frequency, long-wavelength behavior of a system that is disturbed from equilibrium. When a system is disturbed from equilibrium, some quantities and parameters decay very quickly back to their equilibrium state, while others take a long time to relax [1]. Conserved quantities, such as particle number, momentum, and energy, take a long time to relax to equilibrium, while non-conserved quantities decay quickly [1]. Similarly, order parameters, such as average magnetization, take a long time to relax to equilibrium, while parameters which are not order parameters decay quickly [1]. Therefore, at long times, a non-equilibrium system can be completely described by order parameters and the densities of conserved quantities [1]. Hydrodynamic equations are the equations of motion for these quantities and parameters.

    For further information on the subjects covered in this chapter, please consult books by Reichl[1], Hansen and McDonald[2], and McQuarrie[3].

    • 3.1: Light Scattering
      Scattering occurs when a propagating wave encounters a medium which alters the magnitude or direction of its wave vector. In this section, we will show that the behavior of light scattered from a medium is related to the density correlation functions of the medium. As a result, light scattering experiments can be used to probe the structure of a material.
    • 3.2: Navier-Stokes Hydrodynamic Equations
    • 3.3: Transport Coefficients

    Thumbnail: Scheme of Rayleigh scattering.


    This page titled 3: Hydrodynamics and Light Scattering is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jianshu Cao (MIT OpenCourseWare) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.