Chiral studies of cooperativity in polymers

The ideas of stereochemistry and specifically chiral studies were applied to examine some of the disparate cooperative phenomena in polymers. In the single helical polymer chain, small chiral forces can be amplified and statistical-physical-theoretical ideas based on 1D Ising models precisely describe experimental results. In chiral studies on the constrasting disorderly cooperativity of polymer glasses and melt states, methods are developed for the time and length scale of the restrictions to motion leading to new ways of looking at the glass transition. Deviations from the transition state theory for a high barrier process are also discovered. In single chain and polymer glass studies, opportunities for the development of photonic materials arise.