Abstract
Research on non-equilibrium fluctuations in liquids is mainly of a fundamental character. Potential fields of interest relate mainly to diffusive phenomena. An experiment called the GRAdient Driven FLuctuations EXperiment (GRADFLEX) is being designed and implemented to measure non-equilibrium fluctuations under microgravity conditions. GRADFLEX will fly on-board the automatic FOTON-M3 spacecraft in September 2007 on a 12-day mission. Two samples are to be studied: the SINGLE aspect dealing with a single-component organic fluid, stressed by a temperature gradient, and the MIXTURE aspect investigating fluctuations in a fluid mixture (9100 molecular weight polystyrene in toluene) under the combined effects of temperature and concentration gradients. In the latter case, the concentration gradient is induced by the Ludwig-Soret effect. Because variations in density and/or concentration scatter light, an …
Roberto Cerbino
Professor of Experimental Soft Matter Physics
My research interests include Soft matter physics, living matter, cell biophysics and quantitative microscopy.