The amazing phases of small systems

Small systems, notably clusters of tens or hundreds of atoms or molecules, exhibit forms almost precisely analogous to the phases of bulk systems. However their small sizes make these systems behave in ways quite different from their bulk counterparts. These differences can be elucidated and related to the behavior of bulk systems. Understanding these relationships gives us new insights into the traditional, classical bulk phase transitions, and shows us some unique properties of phases and phase equilibrium of nanoscale systems. To cite this article: R.S. Berry, C. R. Physique 3 (2002) 319–326.