Nonequilibrium Systems (IMAGE)

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

Nonequilibrium Systems

Caption

Two Argonne physicists offered a way to mathematically describe a particular physics phenomenon called a phase transition in a system out of equilibrium (that is, with energy moving through it) by using imaginary numbers. The illustration relates the phase transition to the change between mathematical Mobius transformations (a, b, and c). The theory of out-of-equilibrium physics is a long-sought goal in the field, and could eventually help us design better electronics.

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Vinokur/Galda/Argonne National Laboratory

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