Investigation of the fractal and scaling properties of disordered systems has recently become a focus of great interest in research. Disordered or amorphous materials, like glasses, polymers, gels, colloids, ceramic superconductors and random alloys or magnets, do not have a homogeneous microscopic structure. The microscopic environment varies randomly from site to site in the system and this randomness adds to the complexity and the richness of the properties of these materials. A particularly challenging aspect of random systems is their dynamical behavior. Relaxation in disordered systems generally follows an unusual time-dependent trajectory. Applications of scaling and fractal concepts in disordered systems have become a broad area of interdisciplinary research, involving studies of the physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology and engineering aspects of random systems.This book is intended for specialists as well as graduate and postdoctoral students working in condensed-matter or statistical physics. It provides state-of-the-art information on the latest developments in this important and timely topic. The book is divided into three parts: Part I deals with critical phenomena, Part II is devoted to discussion of slow dynamics and Part III involves the application of scaling concepts to random systems. The effects of disorder at the mesoscopic scale as well as the latest results on the dynamical properties of disordered systems are presented. In particular, recent developments in static and dynamic scaling theories and applications of fractal concepts to disordered systems are discussed.

Do humans behave much like atoms? Sociophysics, which uses tools and concepts from the physics of disordered matter to describe some aspects of social and political behavior, answers in the affirmative. But advocating the use of models from the physical sciences to understand human behavior could be perceived as tantamount to dismissing the existence of human free will and also enabling those seeking manipulative skills . This thought-provoking book argues it is just the contrary. Indeed, future developments and evaluation will either show sociophysics to be inadequate, thus supporting the hypothesis that people can primarily be considered to be free agents, or valid, thus opening the path to a radically different vision of society and personal responsibility. This book attempts to explain why and how humans behave much like atoms, at least in some aspects of their collective lives, and then proposes how this knowledge can serve as a unique key to a dramatic leap forwards in achieving more social freedom in the real world. At heart, sociophysics and this book are about better comprehending the richness and potential of our social interaction, and so distancing ourselves from inanimate atoms.

This book is the fourth in the series of review papers on advanced problems of phase transitions and critical phenomena, the first three volumes appeared in 2004, 2007, and 2012. It presents reviews in those aspects of criticality and related subjects that have currently attracted much attention due to new and essential contributions. The contents are divided into five chapters, and they include: anomalous diffusion, kinetics of pattern formation, scaling, renormalization group approaches in soft matter and socio-physics, Monte Carlo simulation of critical Casimir forces.As with the first three volumes, 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 aims to bring together scientists working in these fields with university students and those who are interested in the subject.

Investigation of the fractal and scaling properties of disordered systems has recently become a focus of great interest in research. Disordered or amorphous materials, like glasses, polymers, gels, colloids, ceramic superconductors and random alloys or magnets, do not have a homogeneous microscopic structure. The microscopic environment varies randomly from site to site in the system and this randomness adds to the complexity and the richness of the properties of these materials. A particularly challenging aspect of random systems is their dynamical behavior. Relaxation in disordered systems generally follows an unusual time-dependent trajectory. Applications of scaling and fractal concepts in disordered systems have become a broad area of interdisciplinary research, involving studies of the physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology and engineering aspects of random systems. This book is intended for specialists as well as graduate and postdoctoral students working in condensed-matter or statistical physics. It provides state-of-the-art information on the latest developments in this important and timely topic. The book is divided into three parts: Part I deals with critical phenomena, Part II is devoted to discussion of slow dynamics and Part III involves the application of scaling concepts to random systems. The effects of disorder at the mesoscopic scale as well as the latest results on the dynamical properties of disordered systems are presented. In particular, recent developments in static and dynamic scaling theories and applications of fractal concepts to disordered systems are discussed.

Do humans behave much like atoms? Sociophysics, which uses tools and concepts from the physics of disordered matter to describe some aspects of social and political behavior, answers in the affirmative. But advocating the use of models from the physical sciences to understand human behavior could be perceived as tantamount to dismissing the existence of human free will and also enabling those seeking manipulative skills . This thought-provoking book argues it is just the contrary. Indeed, future developments and evaluation will either show sociophysics to be inadequate, thus supporting the hypothesis that people can primarily be considered to be free agents, or valid, thus opening the path to a radically different vision of society and personal responsibility. This book attempts to explain why and how humans behave much like atoms, at least in some aspects of their collective lives, and then proposes how this knowledge can serve as a unique key to a dramatic leap forwards in achieving more social freedom in the real world. At heart, sociophysics and this book are about better comprehending the richness and potential of our social interaction, and so distancing ourselves from inanimate atoms.

This title documents the burgeoning eco art movement from A to Z, presenting a panorama of artistic responses to environmental concerns, from Ant Farms anti-consumer antics in the 1970s to Marina Zurkows 2007 animation that anticipates the havoc wreaked upon the planet by global warming.