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This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 18 September 2024. Portable Document Format, a digital file format For other uses, see PDF (disambiguation). Portable Document Format Adobe PDF icon Filename extension.pdf Internet media type application/pdf, application/x-pdf application/x-bzpdf application/x-gzpdf Type code PDF (including a single ...
In physics, a state of matter is one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist. Four states of matter are observable in everyday life: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Many intermediate states are known to exist, such as liquid crystal, and some states only exist under extreme conditions, such as Bose–Einstein condensates and Fermionic ...
The first law of thermodynamics is a formulation of the law of conservation of energy in the context of thermodynamic processes. The law distinguishes two principal forms of energy transfer, heat and thermodynamic work, that modify a thermodynamic system containing a constant amount of matter. The law also defines the internal energy of a ...
The state of a physical system, be it a particle or a system of many particles, is described by a wavefunction. Every physical quantity is described by an operator acting on the system; the measured quantity has a probabilistic nature. The wavefunction obeys the Schrödinger equation. Solving this wave equation predicts the time-evolution of ...
In physics, chemistry, and other related fields like biology, a phase transition (or phase change) is the physical process of transition between one state of a medium and another. Commonly the term is used to refer to changes among the basic states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas, and in rare cases, plasma.
Condensed matter physics is the largest field of contemporary physics. Historically, condensed matter physics grew out of solid-state physics, which is now considered one of its main subfields. [87] The term condensed matter physics was apparently coined by Philip Anderson when he renamed his research group—previously solid-state theory—in ...
Physical changes occur when objects or substances undergo a change that does not change their chemical composition. This contrasts with the concept of chemical change in which the composition of a substance changes or one or more substances combine or break up to form new substances. In general a physical change is reversible using physical ...
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is often characterized as first philosophy, implying that it is more fundamental than other forms of philosophical inquiry. Metaphysics is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some modern theorists understand it as ...