There is in general no accurate theoretical description of the behavior of a system as it passes through its critical point. Current work, both experimental and theoretical, attempts to provide a unified theory that will be applicable to many different kinds of phase transition.
NEW EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES have been joined by novel theoretical approaches to give great impetus to the study of phase transitions. The systems studied include vapors near their critical points, ferromagnets near their Curie temperatures, antiferromagnets near their Néel points and the superfluid transitions. All these phase transitions, although apparently very different, show surprising similarities in their behavior near the critical point.
With strong magnetic fields and intense lasers or pulsed electric currents, physicists can reconstruct the conditions inside astrophysical objects and create nuclear-fusion reactors.
A crude device for quantification shows how diverse aspects of distantly related organisms reflect the interplay of the same underlying physical factors.
