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Concurrent molecular dynamics simulations and ab initio calculations show that densification of silica under pressure follows a ubiquitous two-stage mechanism. First, anions form a close-packed sub-lattice, governed by the strong repulsion…
In the absence of magnetic field or spin-orbit coupling the one-parameter scaling theory predicts localization of all states in two-dimensional (2D) disordered systems, for any amount of disorder. However, a 2D metallic phase has been…
We suggest that the transition to superconductivity in a single crystal of Ba_{0.6}K_{0.4}BiO_3 with a T_c = 32K, and having critical fields with anomalous temperature dependencies and vanishing discontinuities in specific heat and magnetic…
For the first order transition of the Ising model below $T_c$, Isakov has proven that the free energy possesses an essential singularity in the applied field. Such a singularity in the control parameter, anticipated by condensation theory,…
We propose a method to probe the nature of phase transitions in lattice QCD at finite temperature and density, which is based on the investigation of an effective potential as a function of the average plaquette. We analyze data obtained in…
Chiral phase transition is investigated in an $SU(3)_L \times SU(3)_R$ symmetric vector meson extended linear sigma model with additional constituent quarks and Polyakov loops (extended Polyakov quark meson model). The parameterization of…
The temperature phase transition in the N-component scalar field theory with spontaneous symmetry breaking is investigated in the perturbative approach. The second Legendre transform is used together with the consideration of the gap…
We consider the weakly first order phase transition between the isotropic and ordered phases of nematics in terms of the behavior of topological line defects. Analytical and Monte Carlo results are presented for a new coarse-grained lattice…
Structurally disordered materials continue to pose fundamental questions, including that of how different disordered phases ("polyamorphs") can coexist and transform from one to another. As a widely studied case, amorphous silicon (a-Si)…
Using both analytical arguments and detailed numerical evidence we show that the first order transition in the type-I 2D Abelian Higgs model can be understood in terms of the statistical mechanics of vortices, which behave in this regime as…
Two-level atoms interacting with a one mode cavity field at zero temperature have order parameters which reflect the presence of a quantum phase transition at a critical value of the atom-cavity coupling strength. Two popular examples are…
This is an analytic study of the problem of transitions between normal and superconducting phases for a sample which encloses a magnetic flux. A preliminary study of this problem, based on numerical minimization of the free energy for a…
The structure of amorphous silicon (a-Si) has been studied for decades. The two main theories are based on a continuous random network and on a `paracrystalline' model, respectively -- the latter being defined as showing localized…
We discuss homogeneous nucleation in a first-order chiral phase transition within an effective field theory approach to low-energy QCD. Exact decay rates and bubble profiles are obtained numerically and compared to analytic results obtained…
The ferromagnetic quantum phase transition in clean metals with a negligible spin-orbit interaction is known to be first order due to a coupling of the magnetization to soft fermionic particle-hole excitations. A spin-orbit interaction…
We present a theory of the anisotropy tuned quantum phase transition between spin nematic and spin-Peierls phases in S=1 systems with significant bi-quadratic exchange interactions. Based on quantum Monte Carlo studies on finite size…
Silica is the paradigmatic network glass-former and understanding its response to pressure is essential for comprehending the mechanical properties of silica-based materials and the behavior of silicate melts in the Earth's interior. While…
We consider thermal QCD in the large N_C limit, mainly in 1+1 dimensions. The gauge coupling is only taken into account to minimal order, by projection onto colour singlets. An expression for the free energy, exact as N_C goes to infinity,…
We have performed a detailed x-ray diffraction structural study of Zr under pressure and unambiguously identify the existence of a first-order isostructural bcc-to-bcc phase transition near 58 GPa. First-principles quantum molecular…
Some uncertainties are discussed on the high-temperature phase boundaries and critical point parameters for gas-liquid phase transition in silica (SiO2). The thermal and caloric phase diagrams are compared and examined as being predicted by…