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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
The DOE has recently announced 5 grand challenges that the panel believes are essential to the technologies of the future and to sustaining the technologies of the present. One of these grand challenges is to understand matter and processes away from equilibrium, especially far from equilibrium. One aspect that needs to be considered in understanding these processes and the properties of materials is how precisely do they change phase. This is important for understanding the structural stability of materials such as metals and glasses, the nature of failure itself not only in materials but in biological and social systems and certain aspects of the failure of faults in earthquake systems. In my talk I will discuss the kinetics of the phase transition process in their various forms and what is currently known about them. In addition I will discuss the challenges to understanding processes such as nucleation and unstable state ordering.
Host: Eddy Timmmermans, CNLS