Related papers: Pretransitional phenomena in dilute crystals with …

At low temperature a thermodynamic system undergoes a phase transition when a physical parameter passes through a singularity point of the free energy, corresponding to formation of a new order. At high temperature the thermal fluctuations…

We discuss the phenomenology of phase transitions studied with two control variables. Such measurements have become routine with magnetic field and temperature being varied for 1st order magnetic transitions with an ease not conceivable…

The concept of a vestigial nematic order emerging from a "mother" spin or charge density-wave state has been applied to describe the phase diagrams of several systems, including unconventional superconductors. In a perfectly clean system,…

We present a non mean-field model which undergoes a magnetostriction phase transition in the temperature. That is, the crystal becomes sharply contracted and magnetized once the temperature passes below the critical value

The formation and melting of a mono-layered charged dust particle crystal in a DC glow discharge Argon plasma is studied. The nature of the melting/formation process is established as a first order phase transition from the nature of the…

Behavior analogous to a second order phase transition is observed for the homogeneous cooling state of a heavy impurity particle in a granular fluid. The order parameter $\phi $ is the ratio of impurity mean square velocity to that of the…

Structural defects in a crystal are responsible for the "two length-scale" behavior, in which a sharp central peak is superimposed over a broad peak in critical diffuse X-ray scattering. We have previously measured the scaling behavior of…

The following is a thermodynamic analysis of a III order (and some aspects of a IV order) phase transition. Such a transition can occur in a superconductor if the normal state is a diamagnet. The equation for a phase boundary in an H-T (H…

We offer the parameter, interpreted as the "chemical potential", which is sensitive to the first order phase transition: it must decrease with number of evaporating (produced) particles (hadrons) if the (interacting hadron or/and QCD…

Zero-temperature or quantum phase transitions in itinerant electronic systems both with and without quenched disordered are discussed. Phase transitions considered include, the ferromagnetic transition, the antiferromagnetic transition, the…

Polymorphism is ubiquitous in crystalline solids. Amorphous solids, such as glassy water and silicon, may undergo amorphous-to-amorphous transitions (AATs). The nature of AATs remains ambiguous, due to diverse system-dependent behaviors and…

Computer simulations are presented of the isotropic-to-nematic transition in a liquid crystal confined between two parallel plates a distance H apart. The plates are neutral and do not impose any anchoring on the particles. Depending on the…

Discontinuous quantum phase transitions besides their general interest are clearly relevant to the study of heavy fermions and magnetic transition metal compounds. Recent results show that in many systems belonging to these classes of…

We study the 2D crystalline phases of paramagnetic colloidal particles with dipolar interactions and constrained on a periodic substrate. Combining theory, simulation, and experiments we demonstrate a new scenario of first-order phase…

We investigate the phase diagram of a two-dimensional driven-dissipative system of polaritons coupled to the excitonic reservoir. We find that two critical points exists. The first corresponds to the quasi-condensation and the second to a…

We consider first-order phase transitions of the Universe in the radiation-dominated era. We argue that in general the velocity of interfaces is non-relativistic due to the interaction with the plasma and the release of latent heat. We…

We derive an order-parameter field theory for a quantum phase transition between a disordered metal and an exotic (non-s-wave) superconductor. Mode coupling effects between the order parameter and other fermionic soft modes lead to an…

The usual paradigm of open quantum systems falls short when the environment is actually coupled to additional fields or components that drive it out of equilibrium. Here we explore the simplest such scenario, by considering a two level…

First-order phase transitions are characterized by a discontinuous first derivative of the Gibbs free energy, so that volumes and entropies are discontinuous. Such transitions are common in the crystalline state, but extremely rare in…

Alloys with a first-order magnetic transition are central to solid-state refrigeration technology, sensors and actuators, or spintronic devices. The discontinuous nature of the transition in these materials is a consequence of the coupling…