Since the Greek atomists, then Laue's diffraction methods, and more recently with the help of AFM, TEM and STM microscopy, we are able to describe matter as a discrete assembly of interacting atoms. However, although the manufacturing processes are well known, the mechanical properties of materials at these scales are less well understood. What are the specific characteristics of the mechanical behaviour of matter at the atomic scale? How can this behaviour be predicted at the continuous scale, based on knowledge of the positions at the atomic scale? This course will combine approaches from point mechanics, molecular dynamics, as well as equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical physics, to understand the ingredients on which the macroscopic behaviour of solids is based. It is possible to extend these approaches more generally to the collective behaviour of interacting systems, such as in crowds or swarms.
