Related papers: States of matter
Non-equilibrium phase coexistence is commonly observed in both biological and artificial systems, yet understanding it remains a significant challenge. Unlike equilibrium systems, where free energy provides a unifying framework, the absence…
I discuss some compelling suggestions about particles which could be the dark matter in the universe, with special attention to experimental searches for them.
The properties of nearby galaxies that can be observed in great detail suggest that a better theory rather than cold dark matter (CDM) would describe in a better way a mechanism by which matter is more rapidly gathered into large-scale…
One goal of this paper is to discuss the classical definition of granular temperature as an extension of its thermodynamic equivalent and a useful concept which provides an important characterization of fluidized granular matter. Following…
Our understanding of the three basic states of matter (solids, liquids and gases) is based on temperature and pressure phase diagrams with three phase transition lines: solid-gas, liquid-gas and solid-liquid lines. There are analytical…
We review a few representative examples of granular experiments or models where phase separation, accompanied by domain coarsening, is a relevant phenomenon. We first elucidate the intrinsic non-equilibrium, or athermal, nature of granular…
It is well known that different preparations of a mixed state cannot be distinguished by a measurement of that state. Yet we show that some other experiments let us make this distinction despite a very general belief that this would not be…
[A brief review intended for a general physics colloquium audience.] Astrophysicists now know that 80% of the matter in the universe is `dark matter', composed of neutral and weakly interacting elementary particles that are not part of the…
We discuss the difference between cohesive and non-cohesive granular media in the context of a recent report of "dry quicksand." Weak low density states with properties like dry quicksand are readily formed in common household powders. In…
Recent NMR experiments on supercooled toluene and glycerol by Hinze and Bohmer show that small rotation angles dominate with only few large molecular rotations. These results are here interpreted by assuming that viscous liquids are…
Dynamical heterogeneities in a colloidal fluid close to gelation are studied by means of computer simulations. A clear distinction between some fast particles and the rest, slow ones, is observed, yielding a picture of the gel composed by…
The electromagnetic interaction is characterised by discrete states for bound systems in contrast to continuous states for unbound systems. The difference merely arises because the characteristic equations do not exhibit the same behaviour…
A new type of two phase coexistence in a vibrated granular material is reported, in the limit where energy transfer between the particles and the bottom wall occurs due to discrete collisions. A horizontally homogeneous bed develops…
A measurement has been proposed by B. d'Espagnat that would distinguish from one another some ensembles that are differently prepared but correspond to the same density matrix. Here, the idea is modified so that it becomes applicable to…
To give a common theoretical description of liquid phases of the charged pion matter in a wide temperature interval, the relativistic quantum $\phi^6$ type model is considered. The liquid states of pion condensate and hot pion matter are…
Nanometre- to micrometre-sized solid dust particles play a vital role in star and planet formations. Despite of their importance, however, our understanding of physical and chemical properties of dust particles is still provisional. We have…
A binary mixture made of heavy and light inelastic hard spheres in the free cooling state is considered. First, the regions in the parameter space where the partial granular temperature of the heavy species is larger (or smaller) than that…
The problem of the possible creation of mixed hadron-quark-gluon matter, that can arise at nuclear or heavy-ion collisions, is addressed. It is shown that there can exist several different kinds of such a mixed matter. The main types of…
The generic properties of compact objects made of two different fluids of dark matter are studied in a scale invariant approach. We investigate compact objects with a core-shell structure, where the two fluids are separated, and with mixed…
Dark matter is one of the pillars of the current standard model of structure formation: it is assumed to constitute most of the matter in the Universe. However, it can so far only be probed indirectly through its gravitational effects, and…