This book presents a short, fairly simple course on the basic theory of phase transitions and its modern applications. In physics, these applications include such modern developments as Bose- Einstein condensation of atoms, high temperature superconductivity, and vortices in superconductors, while in other fields they include small world phenomena and scale-free systems (such as stock markets and the Internet). The advantage of treating all these topics together lies in showing their connection with one another and with the general theory of phase transitions.
This book presents a short, fairly simple course on the basic theory of phase transitions and its modern applications. In physics, these applications include such modern developments as Bose- Einstein condensation of atoms, high temperature superconductivity, and vortices in superconductors, while in other fields they include small world phenomena and scale-free systems (such as stock markets and the Internet). The advantage of treating all these topics together lies in showing their connection with one another and with the general theory of phase transitions.
This book provides a comprehensive review of the theory of phase transitions and its modern applications, based on the five pillars of the modern theory of phase transitions i.e. the Ising model, mean field, scaling, renormalization group and universality. This expanded second edition includes, along with a description of vortices and high temperature superconductivity, a discussion of phase transitions in chemical reaction and moving systems. The book covers a close connection between phase transitions and small world phenomena as well as scale-free systems such as the stock market and the Internet.
This book treats the problem of phase transitions, emphasizing the generality and universality of the methods and models used. The course is basically concentrated on the problems of vacuum degeneration in macroscopic systems and a fundamental concept of quasiaverages by Bogolubov playing a special role in the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena. An analysis of the connection between phase transition and spontaneous symmetry breaking in a macroscopic system allows a unique description of both first- and second-order phase transitions.The unique features of this book are: (i) a unique approach of describing first — as well as second-order phase transitions, based on the Bogolubov concept of quasi-averages.(ii) a detailed presentation of the material and at the same time a review of modern problems.(iii) a general character of developed ideas that could be applied to various particular systems of condensed matter physics, nuclear physics and high-energy physics.
The sophistication of modern tools used in the study of statistical mechanics and field theory is often an obstacle to the easy understanding of new important current results reported in journals. The main purpose of this book is to introduce the reader to the methods of the fluctuation (field) theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena so as to provide a good source for research. The introductory contents are concerned with ideas of description, thermodynamic stability theory related to phase transitions, major experimental facts, basic models and their relationships. Special attention is paid to the mean field approximation and to the Landau expansion for simple and complex models of critical and multicritical phenomena. An instructive representation of the modern perturbation theory and the method of the renormalization group is developed for field models of phase transitions. The essential influence of the fluctuations on the critical behaviour is established together with the theory of correlation functions, Gaussian approximation, the Ginzburg criterion, [symbol]- and 1/n- expansions as practical realizations of the renormalization group ideas. Applications of the theory to concrete aspects of condensed matter physics are considered: quantum effects, Bose condensation, crystal anisotropy, superconductors and liquid crystals, effects of disorder of type randomly distributed quenched impurities and random fields. This volume can be used as an advanced University course book for students with a basic knowledge of statistical physics and quantum mechanics. It could be considered as a complementary text to a standard University course on statistical physics
Abstract Phase transitions and critical phenomena have consistently been among the principal subjects of active studies in statistical physics. The simple act of transforming one state of matter or phase into another, for instance by changing the temperature, has always captivated the curious mind. This book provides an introductory account on the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena, a subject now recognized to be indispensable for students and researchers from many fields of physics and related disciplines. The first five chapters are very basic and quintessential, and cover standard topics such as mean-field theories, the renormalization group and scaling, universality, and statistical field theory methods. The remaining chapters develop more advanced concepts, including conformal field theory, the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, the effects of randomness, percolation, exactly solvable models, series expansions, duality transformations, and numerical techniques. Moreover, a comprehensive series of appendices expand and clarify several issues not developed in the main text. The important role played by symmetry and topology in understanding the competition between phases and the resulting emergent collective behaviour, giving rise to rigidity and soft elementary excitations, is stressed throughout the book. Serious attempts have been directed toward a self-contained modular approach so that the reader does not have to refer to other sources for supplementary information. Accordingly, most of the concepts and calculations are described in detail, sometimes with additional/auxiliary descriptions given in appendices and exercises. The latter are presented as the topics develop with solutions found at the end of the book, thus giving the text a self-learning character.
Critical phenomena is one of the most exciting areas of modern physics. This 2007 book provides a thorough but economic introduction into the principles and techniques of the theory of critical phenomena and the renormalization group, from the perspective of modern condensed matter physics. Assuming basic knowledge of quantum and statistical mechanics, the book discusses phase transitions in magnets, superfluids, superconductors, and gauge field theories. Particular attention is given to topics such as gauge field fluctuations in superconductors, the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, duality transformations, and quantum phase transitions - all of which are at the forefront of physics research. This book contains numerous problems of varying degrees of difficulty, with solutions. These problems provide readers with a wealth of material to test their understanding of the subject. It is ideal for graduate students and more experienced researchers in the fields of condensed matter physics, statistical physics, and many-body physics.
Modern Condensed Matter Physics brings together the most important advances in the field of recent decades. It provides instructors teaching graduate-level condensed matter courses with a comprehensive and in-depth textbook that will prepare graduate students for research or further study as well as reading more advanced and specialized books and research literature in the field. This textbook covers the basics of crystalline solids as well as analogous optical lattices and photonic crystals, while discussing cutting-edge topics such as disordered systems, mesoscopic systems, many-body systems, quantum magnetism, Bose–Einstein condensates, quantum entanglement, and superconducting quantum bits. Students are provided with the appropriate mathematical background to understand the topological concepts that have been permeating the field, together with numerous physical examples ranging from the fractional quantum Hall effect to topological insulators, the toric code, and majorana fermions. Exercises, commentary boxes, and appendices afford guidance and feedback for beginners and experts alike.