Pierre Toledano - Böcker

This book deals with the phenomenological theory of first-order structural phase transitions, with a special emphasis on reconstructive transformations in which a group-subgroup relationship between the symmetries of the phases is absent. It starts with a unified presentation of the current approach to first-order phase transitions, using the more recent results of the Landau theory of phase transitions and of the theory of singularities. A general theory of reconstructive phase transitions is then formulated, in which the structures surrounding a transition are expressed in terms of density-waves, providing a natural definition of the transition order-parameters, and a description of the corresponding phase diagrams and relevant physical properties. The applicability of the theory is illustrated by a large number of concrete examples pertaining to the various classes of reconstructive transitions: allotropic transformations of the elements, displacive and order-disorder transformations in metals, alloys and related structures, crystal-quasicrystal transformations.

This important and timely book deals with the theoretical and experimental investigation of the phase transitions which occur in complex fluid systems, namely lyotropic systems, microemulsions, colloids, biological membranes, and ferrofluids. It contains 17-odd review papers from the major contributors to this rapidly growing field of research, summarizing the main results obtained in the description and understanding of the phase transitions taking place between the isotropic, nematic, cholesteric, lamellar, hexagonal, and cubic mesophases of complex fluids.