Talk:List of states of matter

Superconductor?

Why do superconductors have their own state of matter on this page? Are'nt they just solids with some interesting properties, like zero resistance? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.5.106.186 (talk) 16:09, 24 September 2016 (UTC)

Transition from the non-superconducting to the superconducting state is a phase transition, and it involves discontinuities in thermodynamic properties and spontaneously broken symmetry just like e.g. liquid-solid transition. The only difference is that it happens between electrons in a solid, and not between atoms or molecules. It is thus justified to call it a state of electronic matter. Magnetic states (ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic etc.) and the other states studied in condensed matter physics are similar and should also be added to the list. Jähmefyysikko (talk) 14:59, 28 December 2021 (UTC)

Modern?

What does modern mean? Since when by what definition? On what authority? Idontusenumbers (talk) 10:14, 16 July 2020 (UTC)

Textbooks make that distinction, we just repeat it here. --mfb (talk) 14:17, 16 July 2020 (UTC)

Plasma uncommon on Earth?

The atmosphere is part of Earth, and lightning is common, so with lightning being plasma, I don't think plasma is uncommon on Earth.

2600:1700:4CA1:3C80:C80A:3758:378E:71C1 (talk) 06:54, 7 August 2022 (UTC)

Magnetoactive phase transitional matter

I'm trying to de-orphan Magnetoactive phase transitional matter should it be listed as a type of matter on this page? CT55555(talk) 02:20, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

Removed 'bosonic correlated insulator'

I removed the following text:

Bosonic correlated insulator: Consists of a crystal of excitons in a matter system. When excitons reach a certain density and light intensity, a bosonic correlated insulator is formed and an insulating effect is provided due to the excitons’ immobility. "What happened here is that we discovered the correlation that drove the bosons into a highly ordered state," According to Richen Xiong of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Bosons under ultracold temperatures usually form a condensate, but with both light and increased density and interactions at relatively higher temperatures, excitons organize themselves into a symmetric solid and an insulator with a neutral  charge.

I think this should only be re-added when there is an article about it. However, based on the research article, it is a kind of Mott insulator (but for bosons), so it could also be discussed in that article. Jähmefyysikko (talk) 15:07, 5 December 2023 (UTC)

Think we should remove Mesomorphic states and Supercritical fluid

These do not appear to be unique states of matter (definitely supercritical fluid is not a unique state) when I do some researching online and find actual physics discussing them. They likely belong somewhere else, maybe in the states of matter or phase transition pages? There are other newer states that should be added as well. Jjamulla (talk) 15:44, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Not sure I understand the problem. "Mesomorphic phases" is indeed a class of states between liquid and solid, not a single state, if that's what you mean. But so is "liquid crystal", of which there are multiple types. The same is true with superconductivity.

Supercritical fluid (SCF) on the other hand is something that can be found on the phase diagram. It's true that there is no phase transition between SCF and gas, or between SCF and liquid. Because of this, one can go smoothly from gas to liquid, and gas, liquid and supercritical fluid can also be considered to form a single phase on the P-T diagram.

There is no strict definition of what a 'phase' is, so I would err on the side of inclusion here. Jähmefyysikko (talk) 16:10, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Unless "we" are physics' we should probably go by the literature. This article is lacking sources. A phase transition is not a state of matter, they are two different things. In the literature I read (1 only so far), a SCF is NOT a unique state of matter. I don't believe a liquid crystal is either, nor a plastic crystal. There are two different wiki pages I assume for a reason on states of matter and phase changes. This page is on a list of states of matter. Jjamulla (talk) 16:29, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

What do you mean by "unique state of matter"? I would claim that "phase of matter" and "state of matter" are phrases that are used interchangeably. Do you agree, or do we need to discuss that? Jähmefyysikko (talk) 16:36, 3 September 2024 (UTC)