Phase transition is a war game. It widely exists in different kinds of complex system beyond physics. Where there is revolution, there is phase transition. The renormalization group transformation, which was proved to be a powerful tool to study the critical phenomena, is actually a game process. The phase boundary between the old phase and new phase is the outcome of many rounds of negotiation between the old force and new force. The order of phase transition is determined by the cutoff of renormalization group transformation. This definition unified Ehrenfest's definition of phase transition in thermodynamic physics. If the strategy manifold has nontrivial topology, the topological relation would put a constrain on the surviving strategies, the transition occurred under this constrain may be called a topological one. If the strategy manifold is open and noncompact, phase transition is simply a game process, there is no table for topology. An universal phase coexistence equation is found, it sits at the Nash equilibrium point. Inspired by the fractal space structure demonstrated by renormalization group theory, a conjecture is proposed that the universal scaling law of a general phase transition in a complex system comes from the coexistence equation around Nash equilibrium point. Game theory also provide us new understanding to pairing mechanism and entanglement in many body physics.
Phase transition is a war game. It widely exists in different kinds of complex system beyond physics. Where there is revolution, there is phase transition. The renormalization group transformation, which was proved to be a powerful tool to study the critical phenomena, is actually a game process. The phase boundary between the old phase and new phase is the outcome of many rounds of negotiation between the old force and new force. The order of phase transition is determined by the cutoff of renormalization group transformation. This definition unified Ehrenfest's definition of phase transition in thermodynamic physics. If the strategy manifold has nontrivial topology, the topological relation would put a constrain on the surviving strategies, the transition occurred under this constrain may be called a topological one. If the strategy manifold is open and noncompact, phase transition is simply a game process, there is no table for topology. An universal phase coexistence equation is found, it sits at the Nash equilibrium point. Inspired by the fractal space structure demonstrated by renormalization group theory, a conjecture is proposed that the universal scaling law of a general phase transition in a complex system comes from the coexistence equation around Nash equilibrium point. Game theory also provide us new understanding to pairing mechanism and entanglement in many body physics.
Critical phenomena, characterized by abrupt changes in macroscopic properties near phase transition points, exhibit universal scaling behavior independent of microscopic details. This paper explores the hypothesis that entropy serves as a fundamental universal scaling law governing these phenomena. We review the theoretical foundations of critical phenomena, including Landau theory and the renormalization group, highlighting the role of critical exponents and scaling functions. We then propose a framework where the configurational entropy, entanglement entropy, and other entropic measures exhibit universal scaling, linking them directly to the underlying critical exponents. Our methodology involves analyzing how entropy behaves under coarse-graining transformations near critical points, identifying a potential entropic fixed point in the renormalization group flow. We present theoretical arguments suggesting that the information content, as quantified by various entropy definitions, reflects the diverging correlation length and the emergent scale invariance at criticality. The discussion extends to how different entropic forms, such as Rényi and Tsallis entropies, might provide a more generalized framework for understanding critical behavior in complex and non-extensive systems. By demonstrating entropy's role as a universal scaling law, this work offers a unifying perspective on critical phenomena, deepening our understanding of phase transitions and the emergence of macroscopic order from microscopic fluctuations.
Phase, as the term is used in thermodynamics, refers to a spatially uniform equilibrium system. Substances undergo phase transitions, changes in phase that occur upon variations of state variables. The chemical potential of substances in coexisting phases has the same value in each of the phases in which coexistence occurs. The specific heat is discontinuous at the van der Waals critical point—a second-order phase transition in the Ehrenfest classification scheme. This chapter shows that one-dimensional systems cannot support phase transitions. Just as with liquid-vapor phase transitions, exponents characterize the critical behavior of magnetic systems. Magnets and fluids are different physical systems, yet they have the same critical behavior. Through the concept of order parameter, Landau theory subsumes the phase-transition behavior of different systems into one theory. A more physical way of demonstrating the existence of a phase transition would be to calculate the order parameter.
Phase transitions represent fundamental transformations of matter, characterized by abrupt changes in macroscopic properties and often associated with singular behavior at critical points. While equilibrium aspects of phase transitions, particularly universal critical exponents and scaling laws, are well-understood, the non-equilibrium processes occurring near criticality, especially the production of entropy, remain a rich area of investigation. This paper explores the intricate relationship between critical entropy production and the emergence of scaling laws in systems undergoing phase transitions. We delve into how the rate of entropy production diverges or exhibits anomalous scaling near critical points, reflecting the system's attempts to dissipate energy and respond to external perturbations as it approaches a state of macroscopic change. By integrating concepts from non-equilibrium thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and renormalization group theory, we aim to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that govern entropy generation in these critical regimes. We discuss theoretical frameworks that predict universal scaling behaviors for entropy production rates, analogous to those observed for equilibrium order parameters and susceptibilities. The implications of these scaling laws extend beyond theoretical physics, offering insights into complex systems, far-from-equilibrium dynamics, and the efficiency of energy conversion processes in critical environments. Our analysis highlights the critical entropy production as a unique signature of non-equilibrium dynamics during phase transitions, providing a deeper understanding of the interplay between fluctuations, dissipation, and universality near points of instability.
Topological phase transitions occur in real materials as well as quantum engineered systems, all of which differ greatly in terms of dimensionality, symmetries, interactions, and driving, and hence require a variety of techniques and concepts to describe their topological properties. For instance, topology may be accessed from single-particle Bloch wave functions, Green's functions, or many-body wave functions. We demonstrate that despite this diversity, all topological phase transitions display a universal feature: namely, a divergence of the curvature function that composes the topological invariant at the critical point. This feature can be exploited via a renormalization-group–like methodology to describe topological phase transitions. This approach serves to extend notions of correlation function, critical exponents, scaling laws and universality classes used in Landau theory to characterize topological phase transitions in a unified manner.
We presented the topological current of Ehrenfest definition of phase transition. It is shown that different topology of the configuration space corresponds to different phase transition, it is marked by the Euler number of the interaction potential. The two phases separated by the coexistence curve is assigned with different winding numbers of opposite sign. We also found an universal equation of coexistence curve, from which one can arrive the phase diagram of any order classical and quantum phase transition. The topological quantum phase transition theory is established, and is applied to the Bose-Hubbard model, the phase diagram of the first order quantum PT is in agreement with recent progress.
This chapter describes the physics of phase transitions and critical phenomena. After introducing the thermodynamics of phase transitions, the general considerations are made explicit by presenting statistical mechanical calculations on a lattice gas model in the mean-field approximation. Phase transitions occur in macroscopic systems when one or more external parameters like temperature, pressure, electrical field, magnetic field, etc are varied. The chapter demonstrates the utility of the alternative formulations of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in the context of phase transitions and shows how their use clarifies and unifies the theory of phase transitions. It deals with the basic thermodynamic description of a single component fluid. To understand different phases and associated transitions, one studies how the couplings flow in the parameter space under repeated Renormalization Group (RG) transformations. The flows around the fixed point are easily studied by linearizing the RG equations around the fixed points and determining the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the linearized RG transformations.