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Thermodynamics

When a phase is born

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Phase changes in matter generally occur by building up from small nuclei of the new phase. Scattering experiments and computer simulations reveal the characteristic size of the smallest of these nuclei.

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Figure 1: The search for the critical nucleus.

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Debenedetti, P. When a phase is born. Nature 441, 168–169 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/441168a

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