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Disorder and Critical Phenomena Through Basic Probability Models École d'Été de Probabilités de Saint-Flour XL - 2010 /

Understanding the effect of disorder on critical phenomena is a central issue in statistical mechanics. In probabilistic terms: what happens if we perturb a system exhibiting a phase transition by introducing a random environment? The physics community has approached this very broad question by aimi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Clasificación:Libro Electrónico
Autor principal: Giacomin, Giambattista (Autor)
Autor Corporativo: SpringerLink (Online service)
Formato: Electrónico eBook
Idioma:Inglés
Publicado: Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin Heidelberg : Imprint: Springer, 2011.
Edición:1st ed. 2011.
Colección:École d'Été de Probabilités de Saint-Flour ; 2025
Temas:
Acceso en línea:Texto Completo
Descripción
Sumario:Understanding the effect of disorder on critical phenomena is a central issue in statistical mechanics. In probabilistic terms: what happens if we perturb a system exhibiting a phase transition by introducing a random environment? The physics community has approached this very broad question by aiming at general criteria that tell whether or not the addition of disorder changes the critical properties of a model: some of the predictions are truly striking and mathematically challenging. We approach this domain of ideas by focusing on a specific class of models, the "pinning models," for which a series of recent mathematical works has essentially put all the main predictions of the physics community on firm footing; in some cases, mathematicians have even gone beyond, settling a number of controversial issues. But the purpose of these notes, beyond treating the pinning models in full detail, is also to convey the gist, or at least the flavor, of the "overall picture," which is, in many respects, unfamiliar territory for mathematicians.
Descripción Física:XI, 130 p. 12 illus. online resource.
ISBN:9783642211560