Phase transitions as a research area investigates qualitative changes in the macroscopic state of matter or systems as control parameters such as temperature, pressure, or external fields are varied, with emphasis on critical phenomena, universality, and order-parameter behavior. It encompasses equilibrium and nonequilibrium transitions, including first- and second-order transitions, symmetry breaking, renormalization-group theory, and scaling laws. The field spans condensed matter physics, statistical mechanics, and interdisciplinary complex systems, using analytical, numerical, and experimental methods to characterize phase diagrams, critical exponents, collective excitations, and emergent structures, and to understand how microscopic interactions give rise to distinct thermodynamic or dynamical phases.
Researchers at Università Cattolica, Brescia campus, have discovered that the transition from insulating to conductive behavior in certain materials is driven by topological defects in the structure.
Condensed Matter
Nov 15, 2024
0
70
Based on an experiment at CERN, a collaboration led by the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, can predict hitherto unchartered changes in the shape of nuclei.
General Physics
Nov 11, 2024
0
128
In the context of quantum mechanics and information, "magic" is a key property of quantum states that describes the extent to which they deviate from so-called stabilizer states. Stabilizer states are a class of states that ...
A research team has successfully achieved an atomically controlled insulator-to-metal transition in iridate/manganate heterostructures. Their findings were recently published in Nature Communications.
Condensed Matter
Oct 17, 2024
0
29
Moiré superlattices are materials consisting of two layers stacked on top of each other with either a small rotational misalignment or a lattice mismatch between them. The Kondo lattice model, on the other hand, describes ...
Observations of preschool children in classrooms and playgrounds have uncovered new social phases in human movement. Employing ultra-wideband radio frequency identification (UWB-RFID) technology allows for the precise tracking ...
General Physics
Oct 7, 2024
0
58
Scientists are conducting experiments in search of evidence of a possible critical point in the Quantum Chromodynamics phase diagram. Quantum chromodynamics describes how the strong force binds quarks and antiquarks together ...
General Physics
Sep 24, 2024
0
75
Physicists from the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge have created the first two-dimensional version of the Bose glass, a novel phase of matter that challenges statistical mechanics. The details of the study have been published ...
General Physics
Sep 11, 2024
0
321
During eutectic solidification, a mixture of two or more solids self-assemble, forming composite microstructures ranging from ordered layers to intricate maze-like patterns that underlie properties like tensile strength or ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 9, 2024
0
99
A team of physicists from The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Texas Tech University (TTH), and the University of Michigan (UMich), has made an important discovery in the study of van der Waals (vdW) magnetic materials, a special ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 5, 2024
0
116
