Rheology and Linear Dichroism of Dilute Solutions of Flexible and Semiflexible Polymers in Shear Flow

Polymer solutions are ubiquitous in our lives, from food to cosmetics to the saliva that enables us to swallow, and many of these applications arise due to the flow properties of polymers. This thesis develops a new method to model the wide range of behaviour seen in polymer solutions subjected to flow, particularly for biologically relevant polymers of varying sizes, such as DNA.