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Fluid phases

Going supercritical

The critical point of a fluid is defined as the point beyond which it ceases to exhibit distinct liquid- or gas-like states. A crossover between liquid-like and gas-like behaviour observed by inelastic X-ray scattering suggests subtle effects involving nanoscale fluctuations in the one-phase region above the critical point.

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Figure 1: The emergence of relationships between classical states of matter.

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McMillan, P., Stanley, H. Going supercritical. Nature Phys 6, 479–480 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1711

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