Physics:Quantum matter/state of matter
A state of matter is a general classification of matter based on its macroscopic physical behavior, such as structure and motion of its constituent particles.
Description
States of matter describe broad categories such as solids, liquids, gases, and plasma. These categories reflect how particles are arranged and how they move.
They are closely related to phases, but are typically used in a more general and descriptive sense.
Properties
- describes macroscopic behavior
- related to particle arrangement
- influenced by temperature and pressure
Description
state of matter is a matter-scale concept used to organize how quantum theory describes atoms, particles, fields, condensed matter, plasma, or spacetime-related systems. In the Quantum Collection it is placed by scale so the reader can move from materials and molecules down to subatomic degrees of freedom.
Quantum context
At this scale, the relevant behavior is controlled by quantized states, interactions, conservation laws, and the way excitations or particles are observed. The concept is normally linked to measurable properties such as energy, momentum, charge, spin, spectra, scattering rates, or collective modes.
Role in the collection
This page provides a compact reference point for related pages in Book II. It should be read together with nearby matter-scale topics and the corresponding foundations in quantum mechanics.[1]
See also
Table of contents (84 articles)
Index
Full contents
References
Source attribution: Physics:Quantum matter/state of matter
