Add BrightSurf on Google Email

The importance of data for crowd safety in public spaces

Researchers propose new method to capture complex human movement in public spaces, addressing limitations of traditional approaches. By standardizing data measurement, they aim to improve crowd safety predictions and design safer spaces.

SourceSissa Medialab·JournalJournal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment·TypeExperimental study·DateApr 15, 2026

Discovery of a new superfluid phase in non-Hermitian quantum systems

Researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo have discovered a stable superfluid that inherently hosts singularities known as exceptional points. The study reveals how dissipation can stabilize this unique superfluid phase, which features a finite order parameter and emerges deep inside a strongly interacting phase.

SourceInstitute of Science Tokyo·JournalPhysical Review Letters·TypeComputational simulation/modeling·DateJan 12, 2026

The (metabolic) cost of life

A new paper proposes a way to calculate the thermodynamic costs of metabolic processes, ranking them according to their biological efficiency. The method estimates the improbability of a network behaving in a certain way, considering maintenance and restriction costs.

SourceSissa Medialab·JournalJournal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment·TypeComputational simulation/modeling·DateJan 6, 2026

Supercritical fluids once thought uniform found to contain liquid clusters

Researchers at Pohang University of Science & Technology experimentally demonstrated the existence of nanometer-sized liquid clusters in supercritical fluids, overturning the prevailing notion of a single phase. These clusters persisted for up to an hour and have significant implications for industrial processes and natural environments.

SourcePohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH)·JournalCommunications Physics·DateSep 30, 2025

Turbulence with a twist

UC San Diego researchers Guru K. Jayasingh and Nigel Goldenfeld have predicted that a pipe's curvature can lead to a discontinuous turbulent transition beyond a critical flow velocity. This phenomenon is mathematically equivalent to the freezing of water, leveraging tricritical directed percolation theory.

SourceUniversity of California - San Diego·JournalPhysical Review Letters·TypeData/statistical analysis·DateSep 11, 2025

HKUST team develops novel sampling method to innovate statistical mechanics

A research team led by Prof. PAN Ding and Dr. LI Shuo-Hui has developed a novel direct sampling method based on deep generative models for statistical mechanics. This method enables efficient sampling of the Boltzmann distribution across a continuous temperature range, overcoming energy barriers in simulations.

SourceHong Kong University of Science and Technology·JournalPhysical Review Letters·TypeObservational study·DateSep 3, 2025

Few diffusers and many bottlenecks: the French labor market according to statistical physics

A new study applies network analysis to large-scale data from the French labor market, identifying four main clusters: diffusers, channels, hubs, and condensers. Diffuser occupations offer wide exit opportunities but are hard to enter, while channels and hubs face accessibility issues.

SourceSissa Medialab·JournalJournal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment·TypeData/statistical analysis·DateMay 27, 2025

Are birds flying atoms?

A new study by an international team, including MIT and CNRS, observed that similarities exist between the behavior of birds in flight and physical systems. The research suggests that the transition from disorder to coordination is not as different between particles and biological elements as previously thought.

SourceSissa Medialab·JournalJournal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment·TypeComputational simulation/modeling·DateAug 8, 2024

The unexpected connection between brewing coffee and understanding turbulence

A team of researchers led by Nigel Goldenfeld and Björn Hof used statistical mechanics to study turbulence in fluid flows. They discovered that the transitions between laminar and turbulent flows occur through a non-equilibrium phase transition, known as directed percolation, at the critical point of the transition.

SourceUniversity of California - San Diego·JournalNature Physics·TypeComputational simulation/modeling·DateJun 3, 2024

Cars as particles

A mathematical model developed by Alexandre Solon and Eric Bertin describes the movement of particles in situations similar to cars on a road or bacteria attracted to a nutrient source. The model identifies conditions that favor traffic jams, including high vehicle density and driver inertia.

SourceSissa Medialab·JournalJournal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment·TypeComputational simulation/modeling·DateApr 30, 2024

New wind field models accurately describe wind gusts

Researchers at the University of Oldenburg have developed a new statistical model that accurately describes wind turbulence and generates fully three-dimensional wind fields using limited measurement points. This breakthrough enables precise wind turbine load estimation and improves wind farm planning, with applications in various fiel...

SourceUniversity of Oldenburg·JournalPRX Energy·TypeData/statistical analysis·DateNov 15, 2022

Tiny animal hairs could act as sensitive compass needles

Research by Kirill Kavokin found that around 100 hair cells in an animal's inner ear can act as effective biological compass needles, allowing them to detect the magnetic field. This discovery could bring biologists closer to understanding the origins of magnetoreception and identifying mechanisms responsible.

SourceSpringer·JournalThe European Physical Journal Special Topics·DateSep 26, 2022

Breaking laws, making glass

At temperatures near absolute zero, systems of atoms violate basic laws of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. A novel non-equilibrium state, coined as dynamical glass phase, is observed where energy is not evenly distributed, leading to a new understanding of complex systems.

SourceInstitute for Basic Science·JournalPhysical Review Letters·DateJun 10, 2018

Monkey fights help explain tipping points in animal societies

Researchers analyzed conflicts within a captive community of macaque monkeys to understand how agitated individuals can trigger large-scale brawls. They found that a small number of agitated monkeys can destabilize the system, but individual differences among group members may allow for more controlled distance from criticality.

SourceSanta Fe Institute·JournalNature Communications·DateFeb 10, 2017

Inequality and investment bubbles

Research by physics professor Victor Yakovenko links income inequality with bursting financial bubbles. He models income distribution using statistical physics, finding a long tail in the upper 3% of incomes that correlates with investment downturns.

SourceJoint Quantum Institute·JournalReviews of Modern Physics·DateApr 19, 2012