Fundamentals of Solid-State Phase Transitions,
Ferromagnetism and Ferroelectricity
by
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My experimental work on the problem of solid-state phase transitions began in mid 50's in Moscow, USSR, in the laboratory headed by late A. I. Kitaigorodskii, a noted expert in organic crystals. They were continued in the Crystallophysics Laboratory, which I headed, of the USSR Academy of Sciences Institute of Biophysics, and then, after my emigration in 1977 to U.S.A., in New York University. The initial idea of the study was in line with the conventional views. Knowing that two crystal forms of simple organic substance p-dichlorobenzene were similar, with the unit cell parameters close to each other, it was decided to investigate the kind of "deformation" converting the initial structure into the resultant. Here I would like to tell to everyone whose views on the phase transitions were also incorrect: it was not my fault that the real nature of the phase transitions turned out profoundly different. The result was stunning: instead of "deformation", a growth of perfectly face-shaped single crystals was observed within the transparent solid medium. Moreover, they had arbitrary orientations notwithstanding the three-dimensional order of the medium. The theory was based on quite different premises and did not foresee these phenomena. The status of the theory of solid-state phase transitions appears to me a rare one, if not unique. Rapid progress of the modern science as a whole is beyond question and, at first glance, this may seem to hold true for its branch investigating solid-state phase transitions. In reality, however, this particular science rolls back from an erroneous to even more erroneous interpretation of the phenomenon it is to account for. This is a regress against the background of general scientific progress. Every time we are told that the phenomenon of phase transitions is even more complicated than it was thought to be. Many highly qualified and noted scientists contribute to this process by developing more and more sophisticated theories based on the same wrong assumptions to replace the previous simpler versions proved to be unsatisfactory. Yet, the regress is not total: there also is accumulation of facts that have already come into fundamental conflict with the theory. The divergence between the theory and experiment is so great that the theory cannot be patched any more to absorb evidence. It ignores evidence, and first of all that a solid-state phase transition is always a nucleation-and-growth, rather than a cooperative phenomenon. Is this generally unusual in science? In a sense, it is not. Scientific development proceeds by trial and error. An erroneous theory frequently tries to survive by modifying and complicating itself and diluting its original premises in the face of new evidence. What is, however, unusual in the case under consideration is that this resistance lingers already for many decades, while evidence is treated as if it were nonexistent. The consequences are ruinous for a large piece of solid-state physics owing to ramifications to many processes where solid-state rearrangements take place. One of the ramifications concerns ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity.
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About the Book
The author’s experimental discoveries in the field of solid-state phase transitions have brought about exhaustive explanation of this phenomenon, including the puzzling nature of "lambda-anomalies." These phase transitions are found always to be a nucleation and crystal growth in a solid medium, while "second (or higher) order" phase transitions are a misconception: they do not exist. Ramifications of this new understanding are substantial. In this book, the reader will find the first unified account for fundamentals of the three great areas of solid-state physics - phase transitions, ferromagnetism, and ferroelectricity, free of the inconsistencies of the conventional theories.
About the Author
"Mnyukh’s pioneering work on phase transformations in crystals had made him a reputation both at home and abroad." [Newsweek, August 8, 1977]
"Dr. Yuri Mnyukh was trained in the then Soviet Union and received his doctorate in 1959 from the Soviet Academy of Sciences Institute of Crystallography. For many years he worked as a research scientist in the Crystallophysics Laboratory headed by the world famous A.Kitaigorodskii. From 1966-1973, Dr. Mnyukh was the Director of the Crystallophysics Laboratory of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Institute of Biophysics. As a consequence of his membership in a human rights movement, his employment was terminated, and he came to the U.S. Dr. Mnyukh is a talented experimentalist and specialized in the study of solid-state phase transitions." [Professor Martin Pope, New York University]
"[Dr. Y. Mnyukh] has an incisive and critical mind... His work was always of impeccable quality and met the highest criteria of scientific integrity." [Professor N. Geacintov, Chairman of Department of Chemistry and Director of Solid-State Laboratory, New York University]
"You have a stellar reputation as a scientist." [Oxford University Press to the author]