Advances in nanoscale science show that the properties of many materials
are dominated by internal structures. In molecular cases, such as window
glass and proteins, these internal structures obviously have a network
character. However, in many partly disordered electronic materials,
almost all attempts at understanding are based on traditional continuum
models. This workshop focuses first on the phase diagrams and phase
transitions of materials known to be composed of molecular networks.
These phase properties characteristically contain remarkable features,
such as intermediate phases that lead to reversibility windows in glass
transitions as functions of composition. These features arise as a
result of self-organization of the internal structures of the
intermediate phases. In the protein case, this self-organization is the
basis for protein folding.
The second focus is on partly disordered electronic materials whose
phase properties exhibit the same remarkable features. In fact, the
phenomenon of High Temperature Superconductivity, discovered by Bednorz
and Mueller in 1986, and now the subject of 75,000 research papers, also
arises from such an intermediate phase. More recently discovered
electronic phenomena, such as giant magnetoresistance, also are made
possible only by the existence of such special phases.
This book gives an overview of the methods and results obtained so far
by studying the characteristics and properties of nanoscale
self-organized networks. It demonstrates the universality of the network
approach over a range of disciplines, from protein folding to the newest
electronic materials.
