Phase transition

introduction

• A quantum system can undergo a radical change of its ground-state as a parameter in its Hamiltonian, such as pressure, magnetic field or impurity concentration, is tuned through a critical value, and such a quantum phase transition signals the change from one state of matter

to another.

• This insight has provided an important link between statistical mechanics, quantum many-body physics and high energy physics, and these

fields now share a large body of theoretical techniques and results.

articles

• Hohenberg, P. C., and A. P. Krekhov. ‘An Introduction to the Ginzburg-Landau Theory of Phase Transitions and Nonequilibrium Patterns’. arXiv:1410.7285 [cond-Mat], 27 October 2014. http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.7285.