We present exact results on the low-temperature behavior of the square lattice ±J Ising model, with a concentration c of ferromagnetic bonds and a concentration 1−c of antiferromagnetic bonds. We find that for T below a characteristic temperature T0, the system is “frozen” in the sense...

This talk will summarize the present status of an ongoing research program designed to answer the question posed in the title. Since a snapshot of liquid water with a subpicosecond shutter speed reveals that this system (a hydrogen-bonded liquid) is above its percolation threshold, it is...

This manuscript is a brief summary of a talk designed to address the question of whether two of the pillars of the field of phase transitions and critical phenomena—scale invariance and universality—can be useful in guiding research on interpreting empirical data on economic fluctuations....

In recent years, physicists have started applying concepts and methods of statistical physics to study economic problems. The word “Econophysics” is sometimes used to refer to this work. Much recent work is focused on understanding the statistical properties of financial time series. One...

One plus one dimensional growth of an Eden model with acceleration sites is investigated by simulations, where the acceleration sites which are distributed at random before the process starts become immediately Eden cells if the surface of Eden cluster touches them. The critical concentration of...

An analysis of diffusion in a supercooled liquid based solely in the density of diffusive directions and the value of energy barriers shows how the potential energy landscape (PEL) approach is capable of explaining the α and β relaxations and the fragility of a glassy system. We find that the...

We discuss a family of clusters C corresponding to the region whose boundary is formed by a fractional Brownian path y(i) and by the moving average function yn(i)≡1n∑k=0n−1y(i−k). Our model generates fractal directed patterns showing spatio-temporal complexity, and we demonstrate that...

When a mixture of small and large grains is poured between two vertical slabs, the mixture spontaneously stratifies in alternating layers of small and large grains. We describe a possible mechanism and we develop a model that reproduces stratification of the large and small grains in alternating...

Angell and his collaborators have underscored the importance of studying water under all extremes of pressure—squeezing to high pressures and stretching to negative pressures. Here we review recent results of molecular dynamics simulations of two models of liquid water, the extended simple...

We present an overview of recent research applying ideas of statistical physics to try to better understand puzzles regarding economic fluctuations. One of these puzzles is how to describe outliers, phenomena that lie outside of patterns of statistical regularity. We review evidence consistent...