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Statistical mechanics

Dynamics and Dynamical Systems

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Thermodynamics Of Coherent Structures Near Phase Transitions, Julia M. Meyer, Ivan Christov Aug 2017

Thermodynamics Of Coherent Structures Near Phase Transitions, Julia M. Meyer, Ivan Christov

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Phase transitions within large-scale systems may be modeled by nonlinear stochastic partial differential equations in which system dynamics are captured by appropriate potentials. Coherent structures in these systems evolve randomly through time; thus, statistical behavior of these fields is of greater interest than particular system realizations. The ability to simulate and predict phase transition behavior has many applications, from material behaviors (e.g., crystallographic phase transformations and coherent movement of granular materials) to traffic congestion. Past research focused on deriving solutions to the system probability density function (PDF), which is the ground-state wave function squared. Until recently, the extent to which …


The Tangled Tale Of Phase Space, David D. Nolte Dec 2009

The Tangled Tale Of Phase Space, David D. Nolte

David D Nolte

(Preview of Chapter 6: Galileo Unbound: Oxford 2018) Phase space has been called one of the most powerful inventions of modern science.  But its historical origins are clouded in a tangle of independent discovery and mis-attributions that persist today.  This Physics Today article unravels the twisted tale of the discovery and the naming of phase space that began with Liouville in 1838, but by no means ended there, culminating in an encyclopedia article of 1911 that had unintended and lasting etymological side effects never intended by its authors.