Quantum phase transitions represent fundamental changes between distinct quantum states of matter, driven not by thermal fluctuations but by quantum fluctuations at zero temperature. These transitions ...

Collective models have long provided an essential framework for understanding the behaviour of atomic nuclei by treating them as systems of interacting particles that can exhibit coherent, macroscopic ...

New research offers clearer insight into how phase transitions unfold at the atomic scale in real materials. When ice turns into water, the change happens almost instantly. Once the melting ...

Human history is not governed by thermodynamic laws. Still, the vocabulary of metastability, tipping points, and critical ...

Phase changes -- Stability and instability -- Bifurcations and catastrophes -- Percolation -- Random graphs -- Life origins -- Virus dynamics -- Cell structure ...

The effects of cycles of compression and relaxation during Earth’s early lifetime can be studied using a combination of fast ...

Both a wildfire and activity of digital “neurons” exhibit a phase transition from an active to an absorbing phase. Once a system reaches an absorbing phase, it cannot escape from it without outside ...