These talks will be self-contained presentations of mathematical concepts and theorems. They are intended to be accessible to all mathematics students.
 
 

Plastic bags, and many other things around us, are made from polymers (or giant molecules). The use of polymers in the manufacture of modern materials is so extensive that the volume of polymers produced nowadays exceeds that of metals. While the vast number of applications alone are a good enough reason for studying polymers, polymers are also fascinating because simple models and qualitative ideas at the molecular level can be used to obtain a clear understanding of the basic physical properties of these materials. In this talk, we shall see how the use of the analogy of the crawling motion of snakes to describe the dynamics of polymer molecules, can lead to considerable insight into the behaviour of molten liquids of high molecular weight polymers.