Breakthrough in three areas of solid-state physics: phase transitions, ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity
The author's experimental discoveries in the field of solid-state phase transitions have brought a complete 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 (see photo on the book cover), while "second (or higher) order" phase transitions are a misconception: they do not exist. Ramifications of this new understanding are substantial. This book presents an Occam's razor to the multitude of theories around today. 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.
how to order
This book is described by Charles Dickens, with Mr. Blotton representing Yuri Mnyukh

     "It was at this moment that Mr. Pickwick made that immortal discovery... The stone was uneven and broken,... but the following fragment of an inscription was clearly to be deciphered:  
+
B I L S T
U M
P S H I
S. M.
A R K  
     ...Mr. Pickwick lectured upon the discovery... and entered into a variety of ingenious and erudite speculations on the meaning of the inscription... [He] himself wrote a Pamphlet, containing ninety-six pages of very small print, and twenty-seven different readings of the inscription. … [He] was elected an honorary member of seventeen native and foreign societies...
     Mr. Blotton, indeed - and the name will be doomed to the undying contempt of those who cultivate the mysterious and the sublime - ...presumed to state a view of the case, as degrading as ridiculous. [He] ... observed... that he had seen the man from whom the stone was purchased; that the man presumed the stone to be ancient, but solemnly denied the antiquity of the inscription - inasmuch as he represented it to have been rudely carved by himself ...  
'BILL STUMPS, HIS MARK'...  
     But this base attempt to injure Mr. Pickwick recoiled upon the head of its calumnious author. The seventeen learned societies unanimously voted the presumptuous Blotton an ignorant meddler... And to this day the stone remains, an illegible monument of Mr. Pickwick's greatness... "

Ferromagnetism

A radical new ferromagnetism is presented. It is based on the radical new understanding of solid-state phase transitions in general. They are always nucleation in crystal defects and growth by atomic/molecular rearrangement at interfaces. When crystal structure changes, so do all its physical properties, magnetization included. Change in magnetization resulted from the change of crystal structure, and not the other way round. Orientation of spins in crystal lattice is set by the orientation of particles carrying them. In case of structural rearrangements at domain interfaces (e.g. under the action of external magnetic field), the new state of magnetization resulted from the new orientation of crystal lattice and its constituent particles. This new concept instantly eliminates the major problems ferromagnetism faced:

¨ Stability of ferromagnetic state. In order to explain why a system of parallel spins is stable the Weiss/Heisenberg’s strong molecular/exchange field was introduced. But it has failed on many levels, including wrong sine of the exchange integral. Solution: The molecular field does not exist. Contribution of magnetic interaction to the total crystal free energy is small as compared to that of chemical bonding and other components. Ferromagnetic crystal is stable due to lover total free energy in spite of a small destabilizing effect of magnetic interaction.

¨ First-order ferromagnetic phase transitions. The current theory treats ferromagnetic phase transitions as second-order (critical phenomenon), but sufficiently accurate experimental studies find them to be first order (consequently, not a critical phenomenon). The attempts to incorporate first-order phase transitions by the current theory defy logic. Solution: All phase transitions in solid state, ferromagnetic or not, are nucleation and growth. As to the remaining few "second-order" phase transitions, they are destined to be re-classified.

¨ Origin of magnetic hysteresis. While a vast theoretical literature on this topic currently exists, the interpretation of magnetization as rotation of spins in the crystal structure makes reasonable explanation of the hysteresis impossible. Solution: Magnetic hysteresis is that of structural rearrangements at interfaces, both in magnetic phase transitions and magnetization of domain systems. The phase transitions require 3-D nucleation to start; both processes require 2-D nucleation to proceed. The nucleation is heterogeneous, localized in specific crystal defects – microcavities – where nucleation lags are encoded. These nucleation lags are the cause of magnetic hysteresis.

The above new fundamentals of ferromagnetism make its manifestations and related phenomena simple and easily understandable: Curie temperature with mysterious Cp- λ-peak, hysteresis loops, magnetization, domain structure, "Barkhausen effect, memory, magnetostriction, Bloch wall", antiferromagnetism, more…  


Ferroelectricity

The new account for ferromagnetism presented in the book drastically simplifies understanding of ferroelectrics as having identical nature after electric dipoles are substituted for magnetic dipoles.
The theoretical unification resulted from the elimination of Weiss/Hisenberg molecular field from the theory of ferromagnetism.