Physicists with the U.S. Department of Energy have discovered a new phase of matter—and, with apologies to George R. R. Martin, it's something of "a song of ice and fire." The new phase comes in the ...

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 ...

When a magnet is heated up, it reaches a critical point where it loses magnetization. Called "criticality," this point of high complexity is reached when a physical object is transitioning smoothly ...

In their research, Hasenfratz, Catterall, and Butt used renormalization group (RG) theory to study the more complex phase ...

Quantum phase transitions and topological phases constitute a vibrant domain within condensed matter physics. Unlike classical transitions driven by thermal fluctuations, quantum phase transitions ...

A new study published in Physical Review Letters explores the possibility that a strongly supercooled, first-order phase transition in the early universe could explain gravitational wave signals ...

Directly observing the atomic rearrangement in ferroelectric semiconductor In₂Se₃ paves the way for developing stable and ...

A team of researchers reported the first direct observation of a surprising quantum phenomenon predicted over half a century ago known as a superradiant phase transition, which occurs when two groups ...

This image depicts the ultracold atomic quantum simulator. The red and blue balls represent the fermionic atoms with up and down spins, respectively, arranged in a staggered pattern in 3D space, ...

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

Princeton physicists have discovered an abrupt change in quantum behavior while experimenting with a three-atom-thin insulator that can be easily switched into a superconductor. The research promises ...

In 1935, Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger, two of the most prominent physicists of the day, got into a dispute over the nature of reality. Einstein had done the math and knew that the universe ...