Structures of the mechanics of complex bodies
1 October 2007 - 7 October 2007Aims
Bodies are called complex when their substructure from nano-to-mesoscopic level influences prominently the macroscopic behaviour in a way in which interactions due to substructural changes have to be accounted for and represented directly. Examples populate condensed matter physics and applications of such materials range from sophisticated mechanical devices to frontiers of nanotechnology. In describing such bodies in the continuum limit, challenging problems of theoretical nature accrue. The essential aim of the workshop is to present and discuss basic aspects of the general structure of the mechanics of complex bodies together with special paradigmatic models from analytical and geometrical points of view, underlying also how experimental evidences push us toward non-conventional modelling.