View source for Phase transition

A physical phenomenon that occurs in macroscopic systems and consists in the following. In certain equilibrium states of the system an arbitrary small influence leads to a sudden change of its properties: the system passes from one homogeneous phase to another. Mathematically, a phase transition is treated as a sudden change of the structure and properties of the so-called Gibbs distributions describing the equilibrium states of the system, for arbitrary small changes of the parameters determining the equilibrium (cf. [[Gibbs distribution|Gibbs distribution]]; [[Gibbs statistical aggregate|Gibbs statistical aggregate]]).

====References====
<table><TR><TD valign="top">[1]</TD> <TD valign="top">  L.D. Landau,   E.M. Lifshitz,   "Statistical physics" , Pergamon  (1980)  (Translated from Russian)</TD></TR><TR><TD valign="top">[2]</TD> <TD valign="top">  Ya.G. Sinai,   "Theory of phase transitions" , Pergamon  (1982)  (Translated from Russian)</TD></TR></table>



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====References====
<table><TR><TD valign="top">[a1]</TD> <TD valign="top">  H.L. Frisch (ed.)  J.L. Lebowitz (ed.) , ''The equilibrium theory of classical fluids'' , Benjamin  (1964)</TD></TR><TR><TD valign="top">[a2]</TD> <TD valign="top">  H.E. Stanley,   "Introduction to phase transitions and critical phenomena" , Pergamon  (1971)</TD></TR></table>