Gerald H. Pollack · Wei-Chun Chin
Editors

2008

Why phase transitions? Phase transitions occur throughout nature. The most familiar example is the one that occurs in water: the abrupt, discontinuous transition from a liquid to a gas or a solid, induced by a subtle environmental change. Practically magical, the ever- so-slight shift of temperature or pressure can induce an astonishing transition from one entity to another that bears little resemblance to the first.