Related papers: Love might be a second-order phase transition
Across natural and human-made systems, transition points mark sudden changes of order and are thus key to understanding overarching system features. Motivated by recent experimental observations, we here uncover an intriguing class of…
We discuss first-order phase transitions that are broadened by disorder, but still remain first order on the local mesoscopic level. Using vortex-matter as our paradigm, we argue that phase transitions in general can be broadened by two…
Liquid crystals in two dimensions undergo a first-order isotropic-to-quasi-nematic transition, provided the particle interactions are sufficiently ``sharp and narrow''. This implies phase coexistence between isotropic and quasi-nematic…
We have studied the phase transition of the contact process near a multiple junction of $M$ semi-infinite chains by Monte Carlo simulations. As opposed to the continuous transitions of the translationally invariant ($M=2$) and semi-infinite…
We perform simulations of random Ising models defined over small-world networks and we check the validity and the level of approximation of a recently proposed effective field theory. Simulations confirm a rich scenario with the presence of…
Systems that exhibit complex behaviours are often found in a particular dynamical condition, poised between order and disorder. This observation is at the core of the so-called criticality hypothesis, which states that systems in a…
Mixed-order phase transitions display a discontinuity in the order parameter like first-order transitions yet feature critical behavior like second-order transitions. Such transitions have been predicted for a broad range of equilibrium and…
This paper addresses the question of the brain's critical dynamics after an injury such as a stroke. It is hypothesized that the healthy brain operates near a phase transition (critical point), which provides optimal conditions for…
Phase transitions (PTs) are generally classified into second-order and first-order transitions, each exhibiting different intrinsic properties. For instance, a first-order transition exhibits latent heat and hysteresis when a control…
The very existence of a phase transition for spin glasses in an external magnetic field is controversial, even in high dimensions. We carry out massive simulations of the Ising spin-glass in a field, in six dimensions (which, according to…
The observation of critical-like behavior in cortical networks represents a major step forward in elucidating how the brain manages information. Understanding the origin and functionality of critical-like dynamics, as well as their…
Criticality is hypothesized as a physical mechanism underlying efficient transitions between cortical states and remarkable information processing capacities in the brain. While considerable evidence generally supports this hypothesis,…
The properties of a front between two different phases in the presence of a smoothly inhomogeneous external field that takes its critical value at the crossing point is analyzed. Two generic scenarios are studied. In the first, the system…
Bose condensed light can form new phases [1] in a dye filled cavity due to the presence of the orientational disorder created by dye molecules which are essentially frozen on the time scale of the photonic thermalization (few ps). At longer…
Highly personalysed and subjective review of studies of the equilibrium, pulsations and stability of stars with the first-order phase transition.
We study one- and two-dimensional models which undergo a transition between active and absorbing phases. The transition point in these models is of novel type: jump of the order parameter coincides with its power-law singularity. Some…
Quantum phase transitions encompass a variety of phenomena that occur in quantum systems exhibiting several possible symmetries. Traditionally, these transitions are explored by continuously varying a control parameter that connects two…
The pattern of isentropes in the vicinity of a first-order phase transition is proposed as a key for a sub-classification. While the confinement--deconfinement transition, conjectured to set in beyond a critical end point in the QCD phase…
Phase transitions between two competing vacua of a given theory are quite common in physics. We discuss how to construct the space-time solutions that allow the description of phase transitions between different branches (or asymptotics) of…
This theory combines a thermodynamic approach with a dynamic one in order to describe glass transition. Glass transition is regarded as an inaccessible second order phase transition, which is interrupted because of premature critical…