The Origins of Phase Transitions in Small Systems
Statistical Mechanics
2009-11-07 v1 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Abstract
The identification and classification of phases in small systems, e.g. nuclei, social and financial networks, clusters, and biological systems, where the traditional definitions of phase transitions are not applicable, is important to obtain a deeper understanding of the phenomena observed in such systems. Within a simple statistical model we investigate the validity and applicability of different classification schemes for phase transtions in small systems. We show that the whole complex temperature plane contains necessary information in order to give a distinct classification.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0104307,
title = {The Origins of Phase Transitions in Small Systems},
author = {Oliver Muelken and Heinrich Stamerjohanns and Peter Borrmann},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0104307},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
3 pages, 4 figures, revtex 4 beta 5, for further information see http://www.smallsystems.de