Recent developments have led to a good understanding of universality: why phase transitions in systems as diverse as magnets, fluids, liquid crystals, and superconductors can be brought under the same theoretical umbrella and accurately described by simple models. This book describes the physics underlying universality and then lays out the theoretical approaches now available for studying phase transitions. Traditional techniques, mean-field theory, series expansions, and the transfer matrix, are described; the Monte Carlo method is covered; and two chapters are devoted to the renormalization group which led to a breakthrough in the field. The book will be useful as a textbook for a course in phase transitions, as an introduction for graduate students undertaking research in related fields, and as an overview for scientists in other disciplines who work with phase transitions but who are not aware of the current tools of theoretical physics.

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