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The Physics of Phase Transitions

Concepts and Applications

  • Textbook
  • © 2002

Overview

Authors:
  1. Pierre Papon

    1. Laboratoire de Physique Thermique, École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de Paris (ESPCI), Paris, France

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  2. Jacques Leblond

    1. Laboratoire de Physique Thermique, École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de Paris (ESPCI), Paris, France

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  3. Paul H. E. Meijer

    1. Department of Physics, Catholic University of America, USA

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  • Authoritative course of phase transitions well written and illustrated
  • Outstanding without competition
  • Includes 42 problems with complete answers
  • With a foreword by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Advanced Texts in Physics (ADTP)

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages I-XVII
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics of Phase Transitions

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 1-35

  3. Dynamics of Phase Transitions

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 37-78

  4. Phase Transitions in Liquids and Solids: Solidification and Melting

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 79-122

  5. Phase Transitions in Fluids

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 123-162

  6. The Glass Transition

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 163-184

  7. Gelation and Transitions in Biopolymers

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 185-209

  8. Transitions and Collective Phenomena in Solids. New Properties

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 211-245

  9. Collective Phenomena in Liquids: Liquid Crystals and Superfluidity

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 247-298

  10. Microstructures, Nanostructures and Phase Transitions

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 299-325

  11. Transitions in Thin Films

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 327-336

  12. Phase Transitions under Extreme Conditions and in Large Natural and Technical Systems

    • Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond, Paul H. E. Meijer
    Pages 337-378

  13. Back Matter

    Pages 379-397
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Keywords

About this book

We learned in school that matter exists in three forms: solid, liquid and gas, as well as other more subtle things such as the fact that "evaporation produces cold. " The science of the states of matter was born in the 19th century. It has now grown enormously in two directions: 1) The transitions have multiplied: first between a solid and a solid, par­ ticularly for metallurgists. Then for magnetism, illustrated in France by Louis Neel, and ferro electricity. In addition, the extraordinary phenomenon of su­ perconductivity in certain metals appeared at the beginning of the 20th cen­ tury. And other superfluids were recognized later: helium 4, helium 3, the matter constituting atomic nuclei and neutron stars . . . There is now a real zoology of transitions, but we know how to classify them based on Landau's superb idea. 2) Our profound view of the mechanisms has evolved: in particular, the very universal properties of fluctuations near a critical point - described by Kadanoff's qualitative analysis and specified by an extraordinary theoretical tool: the renormalization group. Without exaggerating, we can say that our view of condensed matter has undergone two revolutions in the 20th century: first, the introduction of quantum physics in 1930, then the recognition of "self-similar" structures and the resulting scaling laws around 1970. .

Reviews

From the reviews: 

Pierre Papon and his co-authors succeed in covering a much wider range of transitions than I have ever seen in one book before … Overall, we have here a treatment of strikingly wide perspective, and many readers who may not be motivated to work right through the book will find individual chapters interesting and instructive. I defy anyone who is interested in phase transformations not to learn something from this book." Nature

Authors and Affiliations

  • Laboratoire de Physique Thermique, École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de Paris (ESPCI), Paris, France

    Pierre Papon, Jacques Leblond

  • Department of Physics, Catholic University of America, USA

    Paul H. E. Meijer

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