Critical exponents (phase transitions)

Critical exponents are a set of numbers that describe how physical quantities behave near continuous phase transitions. A phase transition is a transformation between different states of matter, such as solid, liquid, and gas, or changes between ordered and disordered phases, like in magnets or fluids. Continuous (or second-order) phase transitions occur without a latent heat and are characterized by diverging correlation lengths, specific heat, and other thermodynamic properties.