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statistical physics

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An illustration of a demon’s face.
explainers

How Maxwell’s Demon Continues to Startle Scientists

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
April 22, 2021
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The thorny thought experiment has been turned into a real experiment — one that physicists use to probe the physics of information.

Art for "Scientists Discover Exotic New Patterns of Synchronization"
patterns

Scientists Discover Exotic New Patterns of Synchronization

By Natalie Wolchover
April 4, 2019
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In a world seemingly filled with chaos, physicists have discovered new forms of synchronization and are learning how to predict and control them.

In Theory

How Complex Wholes Emerge From Simple Parts

By John Rennie
December 20, 2018
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Throughout nature, throngs of relatively simple elements can self-organize into behaviors that seem unexpectedly complex. Scientists are beginning to understand why and how these phenomena emerge without a central organizing entity.

Crystal diffraction art for "A Chemist Shines Light on a Surprising Prime Number Pattern"
prime numbers

A Chemist Shines Light on a Surprising Prime Number Pattern

By Natalie Wolchover
May 14, 2018
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When a crystallographer treated prime numbers as a system of particles, the resulting diffraction pattern created a new view of existing conjectures in number theory.

Michael Assis folding a large, beige sheet or Miura-ori
statistical physics

The Atomic Theory of Origami

By Marcus Woo
October 31, 2017
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By reimagining the kinks and folds of origami as atoms in a lattice, researchers are uncovering strange behavior hiding in simple structures.

School of Fish
biophysics

Swirling Bacteria Linked to the Physics of Phase Transitions

By Gabriel Popkin
May 4, 2017
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The new experiments suggest that simple models can explain the behavior of thousands of interacting organisms.

Q&A

‘Digital Alchemist’ Seeks Rules of Emergence

By Natalie Wolchover
March 8, 2017
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Computational physicist Sharon Glotzer is uncovering the rules by which complex collective phenomena emerge from simple building blocks.

statistical physics

At the Far Ends of a New Universal Law

By Natalie Wolchover
October 15, 2014
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A potent theory has emerged explaining a mysterious statistical law that arises throughout physics and mathematics.

ecology

The Thermodynamic Theory of Ecology

By Veronique Greenwood
September 3, 2014
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Nature’s large-scale patterns emerge from incomplete surveys that borrow ideas from information theory.


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