Disordered systems

Physical systems whose properties are shaped by randomness or irregularity in their structure, interactions, or external conditions. Their behavior can differ sharply from that of ordered systems, even when the underlying components are similar.

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Anderson localization: The suppression of wave transport caused by interference in a disordered medium. Random scattering can trap electrons or waves rather than let them propagate.
Random variable: A quantity whose possible values are assigned probabilities by a probability distribution. Random variables provide a basic language for describing disorder.
Amorphous solid: A solid whose atoms lack the long-range periodic arrangement found in crystals. It is a direct example of disorder in material structure.
Ordered system: A physical system whose components or states exhibit regular, often repeating organization. It is the direct structural counterpart to systems shaped by irregularity.
Spin glass: A magnetic system whose randomly competing interactions produce many frozen, metastable spin configurations. It shows how disorder and frustration create complex collective states.
Statistical mechanics: The framework that connects microscopic states and probabilities to macroscopic physical properties. It translates ensembles of irregular configurations into measurable bulk behavior.
Amorphous silicon: A noncrystalline form of silicon used in thin-film electronics and photovoltaic devices. Its structural disorder enables large-area films while changing electronic transport.
Thermal disorder: Fluctuating deviations from order caused by finite-temperature motion. Unlike quenched structural randomness, thermal disorder changes dynamically with temperature.
Percolation theory: The mathematical study of connected clusters formed when sites or bonds are occupied randomly. Connectivity thresholds determine whether transport can cross a disordered structure.
Crystal structure: The periodic arrangement of atoms or molecules in a crystalline solid. Its long-range periodicity provides a baseline against which structural disorder is defined.