This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena. The content covers a period of more than 100 years of theoretical research of condensed matter phases and phase transitions providing a clear interrelationship with experimental problems. It starts from certain basic University knowledge of thermodynamics, statistical physics and quantum mechanics. The text is illustrated with classic examples of phase transitions. Various types of phase transition and (multi)critical points are introduced and explained. The classic aspects of the theory are naturally related with the modern developments. This interrelationship and the field-theoretical renormalization group method are presented in details. The main applications of the renormalization group methods are presented. Special attention is paid to the description of quantum phase transitions. This edition contains a more detailed presentation of the renormalization group method and its applications to particular systems.

The successful calculation of critical exponents for continuous phase transitions is one of the main achievements of theoretical physics over the last quarter-century. This was achieved through the use of scaling and field-theoretic techniques which have since become standard equipment in many areas of physics, especially quantum field theory. This book provides a thorough introduction to these techniques. Continuous phase transitions are introduced, then the necessary statistical mechanics is summarized, followed by standard models, some exact solutions and techniques for numerical simulations. The real-space renormalization group and mean-field theory are then explained and illustrated. The final chapters cover the Landau-Ginzburg model, from physical motivation, through diagrammatic perturbation theory and renormalization to the renormalization group and the calculation of critical exponents above and below the critical temperature.

A Primer to the Theory of Critical Phenomena provides scientists in academia and industry, as well as graduate students in physics, chemistry, and geochemistry with the scientific fundamentals of critical phenomena and phase transitions. The book helps readers broaden their understanding of a field that has developed tremendously over the last forty years. The book also makes a great resource for graduate level instructors at universities. - Provides a thorough and accessible treatment of the fundamentals of critical phenomena - Offers an in-depth exposition on renormalization and field theory techniques - Includes experimental observations of critical effects - Includes live examples illustrating the applications of the theoretical material

Introducing a unified framework for describing and understanding complex interacting systems common in physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, and the social sciences, this comprehensive overview of dynamic critical phenomena covers the description of systems at thermal equilibrium, quantum systems, and non-equilibrium systems. Powerful mathematical techniques for dealing with complex dynamic systems are carefully introduced, including field-theoretic tools and the perturbative dynamical renormalization group approach, rapidly building up a mathematical toolbox of relevant skills. Heuristic and qualitative arguments outlining the essential theory behind each type of system are introduced at the start of each chapter, alongside real-world numerical and experimental data, firmly linking new mathematical techniques to their practical applications. Each chapter is supported by carefully tailored problems for solution, and comprehensive suggestions for further reading, making this an excellent introduction to critical dynamics for graduate students and researchers across many disciplines within physical and life sciences.

This volume links field theory methods and concepts from particle physics with those in critical phenomena and statistical mechanics, the development starting from the latter point of view. Rigor and lengthy proofs are trimmed by using the phenomenological framework of graphs, power counting, etc., and field theoretic methods with emphasis on renormalization group techniques. The book introduces quantum field theory to those already grounded in the concepts of statistical mechanics and advanced quantum theory, with sufficient exercises in each chapter for use as a textbook in a one-semester graduate course.

This book is the second volume of review papers on advanced problems of phase transitions and critical phenomena, following the success of the first volume in 2004. Broadly, the volume aims to demonstrate that the phase transition theory, which experienced its 'golden age' during the 70s and 80s, is far from over and there is still a good deal of work to be done, both at the fundamental level and in respect of applications.The topics presented in this volume include: critical behavior as explained by the non-perturbative renormalization group, critical dynamics, a spacetime approach to phase transitions, self-organized criticality, and exactly solvable models of phase transitions in strongly correlated systems. As the first volume, this book is based on the review lectures that were given in Lviv (Ukraine) at the “Ising lectures” — a traditional annual workshop on phase transitions and critical phenomena which brings together scientists working in the field with university students and those who are interested in the subject.

This edited volume provides an essential resource for urban morphology, the study of urban forms and structures, offering a much-needed mathematical perspective. Experts on a variety of mathematical modeling techniques provide new insights into specific aspects of the field, such as street networks, sustainability, and urban growth. The chapters collected here make a clear case for the importance of tools and methods to understand, model, and simulate the formation and evolution of cities. The chapters cover a wide variety of topics in urban morphology, and are conveniently organized by their mathematical principles. The first part covers fractals and focuses on how self-similar structures sort themselves out through competition. This is followed by a section on cellular automata, and includes chapters exploring how they generate fractal forms. Networks are the focus of the third part, which includes street networks and other forms as well. Chapters that examine complexity and its relation to urban structures are in part four.The fifth part introduces a variety of other quantitative models that can be used to study urban morphology. In the book’s final section, a series of multidisciplinary commentaries offers readers new ways of looking at the relationship between mathematics and urban forms. Being the first book on this topic, Mathematics of Urban Morphology will be an invaluable resource for applied mathematicians and anyone studying urban morphology. Additionally, anyone who is interested in cities from the angle of economics, sociology, architecture, or geography will also find it useful. "This book provides a useful perspective on the state of the art with respect to urban morphology in general and mathematics as tools and frames to disentangle the ideas that pervade arguments about form and function in particular. There is much to absorb in the pages that follow and there are many pointers to ways in which these ideas can be linked to related theories of cities, urban design and urban policy analysis as well as new movements such as the role of computation in cities and the idea of the smart city. Much food for thought. Read on, digest, enjoy." From the foreword by Michael Batty

Standing as the first unified textbook on the subject, Liquid Crystals and Their Computer Simulations provides a comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of liquid crystals and of their Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics computer simulations. Liquid crystals have a complex physical nature, and, therefore, computer simulations are a key element of research in this field. This modern text develops a uniform formalism for addressing various spectroscopic techniques and other experimental methods for studying phase transitions of liquid crystals, and emphasises the links between their molecular organisation and observable static and dynamic properties. Aided by the inclusion of a set of Appendices containing detailed mathematical background and derivations, this book is accessible to a broad and multidisciplinary audience. Primarily intended for graduate students and academic researchers, it is also an invaluable reference for industrial researchers working on the development of liquid crystal display technology.

This book presents a systematic and coherent approach to phase transitions and critical phenomena, namely the coherent-anomaly method (CAM theory) based on cluster mean-field approximations. The first part gives a brief review of the CAM theory and the second part a collection of reprints covering the CAM basic calculations, the Blume-Emery-Griffiths model, the extended Baxter model, the quantum Heisenberg model, zero-temperature phase transitions, the KT-transition, spin glasses, the self-avoiding walk, contact processes, branching processes, the gas-liquid transition and even non-equilibrium phase transitions.

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.