The liquid state comprises a large class of materials ranging from simple
fluids (argon) and molecular fluids (water) to soft matter systems such as
polymer solutions (ketchup), colloidal suspensions (wall paint), and
heterogeneous media (cell cytoplasm). The basic transport mode in liquids is
that of diffusion due to thermal fluctuations, but already the simplest liquids
exhibit a non-trivial dynamic response well beyond simple diffusion. From the
early days of the field, computer simulations have played a central role in
identifying complex dynamics and testing the approximations of their
theoretical descriptions. On the other hand, theory imposes constraints on the
analysis of experimental or simulation data.

The course will give an introduction to the principles of liquid-state theory
with a focus on dynamic aspects. The second part makes contact to recent
research and gives an overview on selected topics. The exercises are split into
a theoretical part, discussed in biweekly lessons, and a practical part in form
of a small simulation project conducted during a block session (2 days) after
the lecture phase.

Keywords:

- Brownian motion, diffusion, and other transport processes in fluids
- linear response theory
- Zwanzig-Mori formalism
- mode-coupling theories, long-time tails
- critical dynamics in mixtures
- anomalous transport on percolation clusters (Lorentz model)

Literature:

- Hansen and McDonald: Theory of simple liquids (Academic Press, 2006).

- Höfling and Franosch, Anomalous transport in the crowded world of biological
  cells, Rep. Prog. Phys. 76, 046602 (2013).

Further literature will be given during the course.