Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, Cargese, Corsica, France, 18-31 July, 1988"

Phase transitions are involved in phenomena ranging from the initial stages of the creation of the Universe to the existence of biological objects. It is natural to as whether any phenomena analogous to phase transitions are possible in disordered substances like liquids and glasses. The possibility of such transitions is still very much a matter of debate. Neither the nature nor the features of transformations in liquids and glasses are yet clear, nor is the nature of the order parameters. Investigations in recent years have shown that transformations in liquids and glasses lead to a drastic change of their physical properties and short-range order structure.
The papers collected here contribute to a better understanding of the physics of disordered systems and phase transformations in them. An unambiguous identification of transitions in liquids and glasses requires further high-precision experimental study of the thermodynamic and structural properties in the vicinity of transitions in order to test existing theoretical models and develop new, more accurate ones.

We have shown that simple power-law dynamics is expected for flexible fractal objects. Although the predicted behavior is well established for linear polymers, the situationm is considerably more complex for colloidal aggregates. In the latter case, the observed K-dependence of (r) can be explained either in terms of non-asymptotic hydrodynamics or in terms of weak power-law polydispersity. In the case of powders (alumina, in particular) apparent fractal behavior seen in static scattering is not found in the dynamics. ID. W. Schaefer, J. E. Martin, P. Wiitzius, and D. S. Cannell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 52,2371 (1984). 2 J. E. Martin and D. W. Schaefer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 5:1,2457 (1984). 3 D. W. Schaefer and C. C. Han in Dynamic Light Scattering, R. Pecora ed, Plenum, NY, 1985) p. 181. 4 P. Sen, this book. S J. E. Martin and B. J. Ackerson, Phys. Rev. A :11, 1180 (1985). 6 J. E. Martin, to be published. 7 D. A. Weitz, J. S. Huang, M. Y. Lin and J. Sung, Phys. Rev. Lett. 53,1657 (1984) . 8 J. E. Martin, D. W. Schaefer and A. J. Hurd, to be published; D. W. Schaefer, K. D. Keefer, J. E. Martin, and A. J. Hurd, in Physics of Finely Divided Matter, M. Daoud, Ed., Springer Verlag, NY, 1985. 9 D. W. Schaefer and A. J. Hurd, to be published. lOJ. E. Martin, J. Appl. Cryst. (to be published).

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Propagation of Correlations in Constrained Systems, Cargese, Corsica, France, July 2-14, 1990"

Phase transitions are involved in phenomena ranging from the initial stages of the creation of the Universe to the existence of biological objects. It is natural to as whether any phenomena analogous to phase transitions are possible in disordered substances like liquids and glasses. The possibility of such transitions is still very much a matter of debate. Neither the nature nor the features of transformations in liquids and glasses are yet clear, nor is the nature of the order parameters. Investigations in recent years have shown that transformations in liquids and glasses lead to a drastic change of their physical properties and short-range order structure.
The papers collected here contribute to a better understanding of the physics of disordered systems and phase transformations in them. An unambiguous identification of transitions in liquids and glasses requires further high-precision experimental study of the thermodynamic and structural properties in the vicinity of transitions in order to test existing theoretical models and develop new, more accurate ones.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Propagation of Correlations in Constrained Systems, Cargese, Corsica, France, July 2-14, 1990

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, Cargese, Corsica, France, 18-31 July, 1988

We have shown that simple power-law dynamics is expected for flexible fractal objects. Although the predicted behavior is well established for linear polymers, the situationm is considerably more complex for colloidal aggregates. In the latter case, the observed K-dependence of (r) can be explained either in terms of non-asymptotic hydrodynamics or in terms of weak power-law polydispersity. In the case of powders (alumina, in particular) apparent fractal behavior seen in static scattering is not found in the dynamics. ID. W. Schaefer, J. E. Martin, P. Wiitzius, and D. S. Cannell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 52,2371 (1984). 2 J. E. Martin and D. W. Schaefer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 5:1,2457 (1984). 3 D. W. Schaefer and C. C. Han in Dynamic Light Scattering, R. Pecora ed, Plenum, NY, 1985) p. 181. 4 P. Sen, this book. S J. E. Martin and B. J. Ackerson, Phys. Rev. A :11, 1180 (1985). 6 J. E. Martin, to be published. 7 D. A. Weitz, J. S. Huang, M. Y. Lin and J. Sung, Phys. Rev. Lett. 53,1657 (1984) . 8 J. E. Martin, D. W. Schaefer and A. J. Hurd, to be published; D. W. Schaefer, K. D. Keefer, J. E. Martin, and A. J. Hurd, in Physics of Finely Divided Matter, M. Daoud, Ed., Springer Verlag, NY, 1985. 9 D. W. Schaefer and A. J. Hurd, to be published. lOJ. E. Martin, J. Appl. Cryst. (to be published).

This set of materials for doing experiments and using computer simulations in science draws upon a variety of fields: biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics. The experiments are unified through the theme of identifying random behavior at the microscopic level in nature, which lead to the formation of patterns at the macroscopic level. With an accompanying CD-ROM and rich web site this book provides interesting laboratory experiments and computer simulations through which readers can learn science.