Law & disorder: the unusual case of weak colloidal solids

The presence of disorder in many soft matter systems plays a pivotal role in their dynamical behaviour. In this thesis we have investigated the effects such disorder on the dynamical and structural behaviour of various soft condensed materials. Our aim was to elucidate how disorder in its many guises breaks conventional rules. We have focused on the following three aspects of disorder: (i) structural disorder as found in glasses, (ii) the structural and dynamical disorder of weak crystals with interstitial dopants, and (iii) disorder both in the structure of the material and in the constituent particles themselves exemplified by glasses made from compressible microgel particles. Through various soft matter systems, both experimental and in silico, we try to elucidate the influence of disorder on the dynamical behaviour of these systems.