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.
A RIKEN study shows that squeezing the right amount of potassium ions between the atomic layers of molybdenum disulfide can turn it from a semiconductor into a metal, superconductor or insulator. The same layered material ...
Nanophysics
Mar 27, 2025
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97
Two scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered a new phase of matter while studying a model system of a magnetic material.
Condensed Matter
Mar 25, 2025
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335
Many systems in nature—and in society—can suddenly change their properties: Water freezes at normal pressure at 32°F, a power grid collapses when a central substation fails, or a society splits into opposing factions following ...
General Physics
Mar 24, 2025
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120
Phase changes are central to the world around us. Probably the most familiar example is when ice melts into water or water boils into steam, but phase changes also underlie heating systems and even digital memory, such as ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 21, 2025
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129
In their ongoing efforts to push the boundaries of quantum possibilities, physicists in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis have created a new type of "time crystal," a novel phase of matter that defies ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 17, 2025
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178
Researchers have uncovered a surprising phenomenon in the material BiNiO3: when subjected to high pressure at low temperatures, its well-arranged electrical charges are disrupted, leading to a disordered "charge glass" state.
Condensed Matter
Mar 17, 2025
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31
When water freezes into ice or boils into vapor, its properties change dramatically at specific temperatures. These so-called phase transitions are fundamental to understanding materials. But how do such transitions behave ...
Nanophysics
Mar 12, 2025
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29
Phase transitions, like water freezing into ice, are a familiar part of our world. But in quantum systems, they can behave even more dramatically, with quantum properties such as Heisenberg uncertainty playing a central role. ...
Superconductivity
Mar 10, 2025
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48
A new Nature Physics study has shed light on the long-hypothesized liquid-liquid critical point where water simultaneously exists in two distinct liquid forms, opening new possibilities for experimental validation.
A research team led by Prof. Wang Xianlong and Dr. Wang Pei from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered a concurrent negative photoconductivity (NPC) and superconductivity ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 17, 2025
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