Providing a comprehensive introduction with the necessary background material to make it accessible for a wide scientific audience, Kinetics of Phase Transitions discusses developments in domain-growth kinetics. This book combines pedagogical chapters from leading experts in this area and focuses on incorporating various experimentally releva

A clear, concise and rigorous textbook covering phase transitions in the context of advances in electronic structure and statistical mechanics.

Phase Transition Dynamics, first published in 2002, provides a fully comprehensive treatment of the study of phase transitions. Building on the statistical mechanics of phase transitions, covered in many introductory textbooks, it will be essential reading for researchers and advanced graduate students in physics, chemistry, metallurgy and polymer science.

This 2006 work began with the author's exploration of the applicability of the finite deformation theory of elasticity when various standard assumptions such as convexity of various energies or ellipticity of the field equations of equilibrium are relinquished. The finite deformation theory of elasticity turns out to be a natural vehicle for the study of phase transitions in solids where thermal effects can be neglected. This text will be of interest to those interested in the development and application of continuum-mechanical models that describe the macroscopic response of materials capable of undergoing stress- or temperature-induced transitions between two solid phases. The focus is on the evolution of phase transitions which may be either dynamic or quasi-static, controlled by a kinetic relation which in the framework of classical thermomechanics represents information that is supplementary to the usual balance principles and constitutive laws of conventional theory.

This book introduces new concepts in the phenomenon of 1st order phase transitions. It discusses the concept of kinetic arrest at a certain temperature, with this temperature being dependent on the second control variable (magnetic field, or pressure). It discusses interesting manifestations of this phenomenon when the 1st order transition is broadened, i.e. occurs over a finite range of temperatures. Many examples of this phenomenon, observed recently in many materials, will also be discussed.

This volume collects several in-depth articles giving lucid discussions on new developments in statistical and condensed matter physics. Many, though not all, contributors had been in touch with the late S-K Ma. Written by some of the world's experts and originators of new ideas in the field, this book is a must for all researchers in theoretical physics. Most of the articles should be accessible to diligent graduate students and experienced readers will gain from the wealth of materials contained herein.

Assembling recent research and theories, this book describes the phase and state transitions that affect technological properties of biological materials occurring in food processing and storage. It covers the role of water as a plasticizer, the effect of transitions on mechanical and chemical changes, and the application of modeling in predicting stability rates of changes. The volume presents methods for detecting changes in the physical state and various techniques used to analyze phase behavior of biopolymers and food components. This book should become a valuable resource for anyone involved with food engineering, processing, storage, and quality, as well as those working on related properties of pharmaceuticals and other biopolymers. - Contains descriptions of nonfat food solids as"biopolymers"which exhibit physical properties that are highly dependent on temperature, time, and water content - Details the effects of water on the state and stability of foods - Includes information on changes occuring in state and physicochemical properties during processing and storage - The only book on phase and state transitions written specifically for the applications in food industry, product development, and research - No recent competition

In this completely revised edition, all the chapters have been updated to reflect the current state of crystal growth kinetics. At the same time, fifteen percent additional content now allows coverage of computer-assisted modeling of second-order phase changes, microstructure development, novel data and images of coarsening mechanisms, with the most significant single addition being breakthrough results on spinodal decomposition -- published here for the first time in book form. The refined didactical approach with a streamlined presentation now allows readers to grasp the kinetic concepts even more easily, coherently introducing the field of kinetic processes, especially those involved in crystal growth, and explaining such phenomena as diffusion, nucleation, segregation and phase transitions at a level accessible to graduate students. In addition to the basic kinetic concepts, the textbook presents modern applications where these processes play a major role, including ion implantation, plasma deposition and rapid thermal processing.

A classical metastable state possesses a local free energy minimum at infinite sizes, but not a global one. This concept is phase size independent. We have studied a number of experimental results and proposed a new concept that there exists a wide range of metastable states in polymers on different length scales where their metastability is critically determined by the phase size and dimensionality. Metastable states are also observed in phase transformations that are kinetically impeded on the pathway to thermodynamic equilibrium. This was illustrated in structural and morphological investigations of crystallization and mesophase transitions, liquid-liquid phase separation, vitrification and gel formation, as well as combinations of these transformation processes. The phase behaviours in polymers are thus dominated by interlinks of metastable states on different length scales. This concept successfully explains many experimental observations and provides a new way to connect different aspects of polymer physics.* Written by a leading scholar and industry expert* Presents new and cutting edge material encouraging innovation and future research* Connects hot topics and leading research in one concise volume

The use of high-pressure techniques has become popular for studying the nature of substances and phenomena occurring in them, especially as a means of obtaining new materials (synthesis under high pressure) and processing known materials (hydroextrusion). A product of many years of research by the authors and their colleagues, Phase Transitions in Solids under High Pressure discusses the relationships of phase transformations in solids under high pressure, the mechanism of these transformations, crystal geometry, the effect of deformation, the conditions of formation, and preservation of the high-pressure phases under normal pressure. The book begins with an introduction that describes the relationship of the thermodynamics of phase transformations and the kinetics of the transformations. This is followed by a chapter explaining the equipment and mostly original procedures for investigating phase transformation in solids under high hydrostatic and quasi-hydrostatic pressures. The book covers phase transformations under high pressure in a wide temperature range in the elements carbon, silicon, germanium, titanium, zirconium, iron, gallium, and cerium as well as in titanium- and iron-based alloys and AIBVII, AIIBVI, and AIIIBV compounds. In addition, the book examines the kinetics of phase transformations in iron-based alloys in isobaric–isothermal conditions. The authors present results for phase transformations in deformation under high pressure, describe several non-trivial effects associated with phase transformations under high pressure, and analyze the kinetics and hysteresis of high-temperature and low-temperature phase transformations. They conclude by describing the role of investigations under high pressure for determining general relationships governing phase transformations in solids.