A variety of powerful experimental techniques (oscillatory flow birefringence, oscillatory electric birefringence, dynamic light scattering, forced Rayleigh scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, total intensity light scattering, and pulsed field gradient NMR) will be employed to provide a uniquely detailed and comprehensive data set for at least one polymer/solvent system. Infinite-dilution properties (including coil radius, translational diffusion coefficient, intrinsic viscosity, longest relaxation time, and relaxation-time spectrum) will be compared with the best available theories. Simultaneous comparison of all these properties will permit the most rigorous test of the strengths of molecular models, and in particular, evaluate the physical significance of parameter values. In addition to the long-wavelength properties listed above, measurements of the local modes of relaxation available to the polymer and to the solvent will be made. This will shed light on the hitherto unexplained high-frequency dynamics properties of polymer solutions, and provide the first systematic test of models for local polymer motions. The ultimate goals include the development of techniques for enhanced polymer characterization and the elucidation of polymer structure-property relationships.
