Foreword by Walter J. Freeman. The induction of unconsciousness using anesthetic agents demonstrates that the cerebral cortex can operate in two very different behavioral modes: alert and responsive vs. unaware and quiescent. But the states of wakefulness and sleep are not single-neuron properties---they emerge as bulk properties of cooperating populations of neurons, with the switchover between states being similar to the physical change of phase observed when water freezes or ice melts. Some brain-state transitions, such as sleep cycling, anesthetic induction, epileptic seizure, are obvious and detected readily with a few EEG electrodes; others, such as the emergence of gamma rhythms during cognition, or the ultra-slow BOLD rhythms of relaxed free-association, are much more subtle. The unifying theme of this book is the notion that all of these bulk changes in brain behavior can be treated as phase transitions between distinct brain states. Modeling Phase Transitions in the Brain contains chapter contributions from leading researchers who apply state-space methods, network models, and biophysically-motivated continuum approaches to investigate a range of neuroscientifically relevant problems that include analysis of nonstationary EEG time-series; network topologies that limit epileptic spreading; saddle--node bifurcations for anesthesia, sleep-cycling, and the wake--sleep switch; prediction of dynamical and noise-induced spatiotemporal instabilities underlying BOLD, alpha-, and gamma-band Hopf oscillations, gap-junction-moderated Turing structures, and Hopf-Turing interactions leading to cortical waves.

This volume describes the current state of knowledge of random spatial processes, particularly those arising in physics. The emphasis is on survey articles which describe areas of current interest to probabilists and physicists working on the probability theory of phase transition. Special attention is given to topics deserving further research. The principal contributions by leading researchers concern the mathematical theory of random walk, interacting particle systems, percolation, Ising and Potts models, spin glasses, cellular automata, quantum spin systems, and metastability. The level of presentation and review is particularly suitable for postgraduate and postdoctoral workers in mathematics and physics, and for advanced specialists in the probability theory of spatial disorder and phase transition.

An engaging undergraduate introduction to the statistical mechanics of phase transitions Statistical mechanics deploys a powerful set of mathematical approaches for studying the thermodynamic properties of complex physical systems. This textbook introduces students to the statistical mechanics of systems undergoing changes of state, focusing on the basic principles for classifying distinct thermodynamic phases and the critical phenomena associated with transitions between them. Uniquely designed to promote active learning, Statistical Mechanics of Phases and Phase Transitions presents some of the most beautiful and profound concepts in physics, enabling students to obtain an essential understanding of a computationally challenging subject without getting lost in the details. Provides a self-contained, conceptually deep introduction to the statistical mechanics of phases and phase transitions from a modern perspective Carefully leads students from spontaneously broken symmetries to the universality of phase transitions and the renormalization group Encourages student-centric active learning suitable for both the classroom and self-study Features a wealth of guided worksheets with full solutions throughout the book that help students learn by doing Includes informative appendixes that cover key mathematical concepts and methods Ideal for undergraduate physics majors and beginning graduate students Solutions manual for all end-of-chapter problems (available only to instructors)

This volume contains the invited contributions that were presented at the Predeal International Summer School in Nuclear Physics 2006. It covers the recent achievements in the fields of nuclear structure, double beta decay, nuclear multifragmentation, kaon and dilepton production in heavy ion collisions, and the quark-gluon plasma. The treatment is both theoretical and experimental, with emphasis on the collective aspects and related phase transitions. The papers are authored by many leading researchers in the field.

In this book, the authors use molecular dynamics simulations to conduct a comprehensive study of the compression/superheating limit and phase transition of 2D (monolayer, bilayer, and trilayer) water/ice constrained in graphene nanocapillaries. When subjected to nanoscale confinement and under ultrahigh pressure, water and ice behave quite differently than their bulk counterparts, partly because the van der Waals pressure can spark a water-to-ice transformation, known as the metastability limit of two-dimensional (2D) liquids. From a mechanical standpoint, this liquid-to-solid transformation characterizes the compression limit (or metastability limit) of 2D water. The findings presented here could help us to better understand the phase behavior of 2D confined water/ice.

These books presents a wide spectrum of research and development activities in the field of High Pressure Science and Technology. These book provide comprehensive and interdisciplinary descriptions of recent research accomplishments in the biological, chemical, Earth, materrals, physical, physiological and related sciences.