Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Phase Transitions

Phase Transitions

Whether solid, liquid, or gas, a substance's state depends on the order and arrangement of its particles (atoms, molecules, or ions). Particles in the solid pack closely together, generally in a pattern. The particles vibrate about their fixed positions but do not move or squeeze past their neighbors. In liquids, although the particles are closely spaced, they are randomly arranged. The position of the particles are not fixed—that is, they are free to move past their neighbors to occupy...

Phase Transitions

Phase Transitions

A phase transition is the process in which a substance changes from one state of matter to another, like from a solid to a liquid, liquid to gas, or vice versa, at a specific temperature and under given pressure conditions. This change is spontaneous and is affected by alterations in temperature and pressure. These parameters impact the strength of the forces between molecules (intermolecular forces) in the substance.During a phase transition, both the initial and final phases of the substance...

Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation

Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation

The physical form of a substance changes on changing its temperature. For example, raising the temperature of a liquid causes the liquid to vaporize (convert into vapor). The process is called vaporization—a surface phenomenon. Vaporization occurs when the thermal motion of the molecules overcome the intermolecular forces, and the molecules (at the surface) escape into the gaseous state. When a liquid vaporizes in a closed container, gas molecules cannot escape. As these gas phase molecules...

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing

Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...

Fermi Level Dynamics

Fermi Level Dynamics

The vacuum level denotes the energy threshold required for an electron to escape from a material surface. It is usually positioned above the conduction band of a semiconductor and acts as a benchmark for comparing electron energies within various materials.
Electron affinity in semiconductors refers to the energy gap between the minimum of its conduction band and the vacuum level and it is a critical parameter in determining how easily a semiconductor can accept additional electrons.
The work...

Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition

Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition

Some solids can transition directly into the gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state, via a process known as sublimation. At room temperature and standard pressure, a piece of dry ice (solid CO2) sublimes, appearing to gradually disappear without ever forming any liquid. Snow and ice sublimate at temperatures below the melting point of water, a slow process that may be accelerated by winds and the reduced atmospheric pressures at high altitudes. When solid iodine is warmed, the solid sublimes...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Circuits as a simple platform for the emergence of hydrodynamics in deterministic chaotic many-body systems.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Designing Open Quantum Systems for Enabling Quantum-Enhanced Sensing through Classical Measurements.

Physical review letters·2025

Same author

Bounds on Fluctuations of First Passage Times for Counting Observables in Classical and Quantum Markov Processes.

Journal of statistical physics·2025

Same author

Hybrid Sub- and Superradiant States in Emitter Arrays with Quantized Motion.

Physical review letters·2025

Same author

Space-Time Correlations in Monitored Kinetically Constrained Discrete-Time Quantum Dynamics.

Physical review letters·2025

Same author

Discrete generative diffusion models without stochastic differential equations: A tensor network approach.

Physical review. E·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 29, 2026

Combining Microfluidics and Microrheology to Determine Rheological Properties of Soft Matter during Repeated Phase Transitions

Combining Microfluidics and Microrheology to Determine Rheological Properties of Soft Matter during Repeated Phase Transitions

Published on: April 19, 2018

Quantum trajectory phase transitions in the micromaser.

Juan P Garrahan¹, Andrew D Armour, Igor Lesanovsky

¹School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|September 21, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The study reveals that single-atom maser dynamics exhibit multiple space-time phase transitions, observable in quantum jump trajectories. These transitions, influenced by standard and nonequilibrium parameters, offer new insights into micromaser behavior.

More Related Videos

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor

Published on: November 11, 2013

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs

Published on: June 8, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 29, 2026

Combining Microfluidics and Microrheology to Determine Rheological Properties of Soft Matter during Repeated Phase Transitions

Combining Microfluidics and Microrheology to Determine Rheological Properties of Soft Matter during Repeated Phase Transitions

Published on: April 19, 2018

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor

Published on: November 11, 2013

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs

Published on: June 8, 2018

Area of Science:

Quantum Optics
Thermodynamics
Statistical Mechanics

Background:

The single-atom maser (or micromaser) is a fundamental quantum optical system.
Understanding its complex dynamics is crucial for quantum technologies.
Previous studies focused mainly on stationary-state properties.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the non-equilibrium dynamics of the micromaser.
To explore phase transitions within quantum jump trajectories.
To connect dynamical behavior to stationary-state properties.

Main Methods:

Application of the thermodynamics of quantum jump trajectories.
Classification of trajectories using dynamical observables (e.g., atom state changes).
Analysis of phase transitions in trajectory ensembles.

Main Results:

Discovery of multiple space-time phase transitions in micromaser dynamics.
Identification of first-order and continuous phase transitions.
Demonstration that transitions are controlled by standard and nonequilibrium counting fields.

Conclusions:

The micromaser exhibits a rich dynamical phase structure beyond stationary-state analysis.
Quantum jump trajectory thermodynamics provides a powerful tool for studying non-equilibrium quantum systems.
Dynamical phase behavior offers a new perspective on micromaser physics.