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The materials interpretation is a cooling-rate gradient in a near-eutectoid steel. Before transformation, the parent thermodynamic phase is austenite. A small section can cool rapidly enough to suppress diffusional decomposition and form martensite, a supersaturated, highly strained transformation product. A much thicker interior cools more slowly and can transform diffusively to pearlite: alternating ferrite and cementite lamellae grouped into colonies. Bainite or mixed products are also possible for intermediate histories.

The likely contrast is therefore a martensite-rich rapidly cooled region and a more pearlitic slowly cooled interior. Brittle fracture is promoted by the highly strained martensitic state, residual stresses and local stress concentration. A larger intact interior need not share the same microstructure or local loading. The observations are consistent with this contrast, not a measurement proving pure thermodynamic phases everywhere.

The sketches below are generic steel microstructures, rather than a component design or fabrication prescription. No cooling curve, dimensions or transformation diagram is provided, so exact thermodynamic phase fractions, plate sizes and a universally pearlitic centre cannot be inferred.

For $N$ distinguishable lattice sites occupied by $N_i$ mutually indistinguishable atoms of each species, the number of configurations isUsing Stirling's approximation,For one mole, $N=N_A$ and $k_B{N}_A=R$, soEquiatomic configurational entropy follows when the composition has $X_i=1/n$, givingThe reference is the unmixed configurational arrangement, and the model assumes random site occupation without short-range order. It counts configurational entropy, not all vibrational, electronic or magnetic entropy. A large number of elements does not by itself guarantee a stable single solid solution: competing thermodynamic phases and the enthalpy term also enter the Gibbs free energy.

At equilibrium between two thermodynamic phases of a pure substance, their molar Gibbs free energies are equal. Along a coexistence line,Subtracting the two differentials givesFor a nonzero volume change,The second equality uses $\Delta g=\Delta h-T\Delta s=0$ on coexistence. Total entropy and volume changes may be used instead if they refer to the same amount of material. The ratio must use one consistent transformation direction, so reversing the labels changes both signs and leaves the slope unchanged. This is the general Clapeyron equation; the ideal-vapour approximation often called Clausius-Clapeyron makes further assumptions not needed for two solids.

Diamond can be metastable: its Gibbs free energy is higher than graphite's under ambient conditions, but transformation is kinetically inhibited. Conversion requires substantial rearrangement of the strong carbon-bond network and the formation and growth of a new thermodynamic phase, with an activation and nucleation barrier.

At room temperature the rate can be extremely small even though the free-energy change favors graphite. Thermodynamic stability specifies the preferred equilibrium state, not the time needed to reach it. Persistence of diamond therefore does not contradict graphite's ambient equilibrium stability.

Use the same molar amount for both thermodynamic phases. A hexagonal cell built from two basal lattice vectors at120degrees has volume $(\sqrt{3}/2)a^{2}c$, not the volume of a three-times-larger full hexagonal prism. With four atoms per stated graphite cell,Diamond has eight atoms per conventional cubic cell, soFor graphite transforming to diamond,ThereforeThe positive slope reflects diamond's smaller entropy and volume. Higher temperature favors the higher-entropy graphite thermodynamic phase, requiring greater pressure to compensate in favor of the smaller-volume diamond thermodynamic phase.

This estimate treats the supplied ambient molar entropies and volumes as applicable near coexistence and neglects their changes through thermal expansion, compressibility and heat capacity. It gives an approximate gradient, not the transition pressure or a complete high-pressure thermodynamic phase boundary; an intercept would require an additional free-energy datum.

At two-phase equilibrium, the endpoints of a common tangent to the two molar free-energy curves give the coexisting compositions. They are not the separate curve minima. Reading the graph gives approximately $x_{B,\alpha }\simeq 0.02$ and $x_{B,m}\simeq 0.64$, with a few atomic-percent graphical uncertainty.

Let $f_{\alpha }$ be the fraction of atoms in the precipitate thermodynamic phase. Conservation of the overall B fraction givesand henceAbout85percent remains in the B-richer matrix. Smooth readings of the original curves put the result near14–15percent; the graph does not justify many significant figures. The result is an atomic or molar thermodynamic phase fraction. Its identification with a volume fraction in the next estimate requires comparable atomic volumes of the two thermodynamic phases.

Assume the two thermodynamic phases have similar atomic volumes, so use $f_V\simeq 0.15$. Model the stated average pitch $L=1\mu \mathrm{m}$ by one sphere per representative cubic volume $L^3$. If the sphere diameter is $d$,Using the more literal lever-rule reading0.145 gives about0.65micrometres instead, within graphical uncertainty. The central estimate is therefore a diameter of roughly two-thirds of a micrometre.

A random distribution does not make a nearest-neighbor mean distance exactly equal to the cube root of inverse number density. The representative cubic spacing is an explicit geometric closure, not evidence that the precipitates actually form a cubic lattice. Unequal molar volumes or a different spacing statistic would change the inferred size.

At equilibrium at room temperature the phases are pure Ag and pure Cu, with mass fractions $0.80$ and $0.20$. A representative solidification structure contains primary Ag-rich grains or dendrites surrounded by a finer two-phase eutectic aggregate. Subsequent equilibrium solute rejection modifies both constituents as they cool.

The $42.1\%$ primary-$\alpha$ and $57.9\%$ eutectic-constituent fractions calculated at the eutectic arrest describe how the liquid froze. They are not the final pure-Ag and pure-Cu phase fractions. For example, just below the arrest the total copper-rich phase fraction is $(20-9)/(92-9)=11/83=0.1325$; it rises to $0.20$ as solubility is lost on further equilibrium cooling. The distinction separates a microstructural constituent from a thermodynamic phase.

Faster solidification usually refines the dendrite and eutectic spacings. If solid-state diffusion cannot keep up, composition gradients, supersaturated solids and delayed precipitation can persist. Their exact fractions then depend on the thermal history; faster cooling does not change the alloy's overall $20\%$ copper inventory. Complete long-term equilibration would restore the same equilibrium phase compositions and mass fractions.

Pearlite is a microstructural arrangement of two phases, ferrite and cementite, rather than a single phase. Ferrite is an iron-rich solid solution; cementite is the carbide $\mathrm{F}{\mathrm{e}}_3\mathrm{C}$. A pearlite colony contains alternating lamellae of these constituents formed by transformation of austenite.

A thermodynamic phase has a specified crystal structure and composition range with locally homogeneous properties on the appropriate scale. The word pearlite instead describes how distinct phases are arranged. Its lamellar spacing and orientation can change while the identities of its two phases remain the same.

An order parameter distinguishes equilibrium thermodynamic phases. For a scalar magnetic system, a slowly varying coarse-grained scalar field $\varphi (x)$ represents local magnetization, and its uniform expectation $M=⟨\varphi ⟩$ is the order parameter. Under spin inversion symmetry, $\varphi \mapsto -\varphi$ and $h\mapsto -h$. The disordered phase has $M=0$ at $h=0$, while a pure ordered phase has $M\ne 0$. In a finite symmetric system the average still vanishes at $h=0$; spontaneous symmetry breaking means taking the thermodynamic limit before $h\to 0^{+}$ or $h\to 0^{-}$ to select a pure thermodynamic phase.

Landau-Ginzburg theory assigns a local free-energy functionalSpin inversion symmetry forbids odd powers at zero conjugate field; locality and slow variation motivate the gradient expansion. The gradient energy penalizes interfaces and determines long-wavelength response. Integrating $e^{-\mathcal{F}/(k_{B}T)}$ over fields includes fluctuations, whereas the Landau approximation replaces that integral by its stable stationary configuration. For a uniform phase this reduces to minimizing $V(M)$. If $f$ is the equilibrium free-energy density, then $M=-\partial f/\partial h$, so the order parameter is also the thermodynamic response to its conjugate field.

A phase diagram divides a space of control parameters into equilibrium thermodynamic phases, marking phase coexistence boundaries and thermodynamic critical points. Its dimension counts independently variable controls, not spatial dimensions. An explicit three-dimensional example uses the controls $(r,u,h)$ of a sextic even Landau potential:Here $M$ is a scalar order parameter, $h$ its conjugate field, and $r$ a thermal control. The equilibrium magnetization minimizes $V$ globally. At $h=0$, $u>0$, the boundary $r=0$ is a continuous phase transition. At $h=0$, $u<0$, the boundary $r=3u^2/(16v)$ is a first-order phase transition between $M=0$ and $M=\pm \sqrt{-3u/(4v)}$. The two boundaries meet at the tricritical point $r=u=h=0$. A fixed strictly positive quartic coupling alone cannot produce this tricritical point; the stabilizing sextic term is essential when the quartic coefficient is tuned through zero.

The full phase diagram also contains the $h=0$ phase coexistence sheet between positive and negative ordered phases. Crossing it changes the sign of $M$ discontinuously. For $u<0$, the three-phase line $r=3u^2/(16v)$ is the junction of this sheet and two tricritical wings, on which two unequal same-sign equilibrium magnetizations coexist at nonzero $h$. The tricritical wing critical edges are lines of ordinary thermodynamic critical points; they terminate the first-order sheets and meet at the tricritical point. Away from these boundaries, varying $h$ produces a smooth crossover.

For an explicit construction of the tricritical wings, write their two coexisting order parameters as $M_1=s-d$ and $M_2=s+d$, with $s>0$ and $0<d\le s$. Equality of their Landau free energies and first derivatives givesIndeed, for these controls the tricritical wing coexistence factorization isThe last factor is $(M+2s{)}^2+s^2-d^2\ge 0$, proving that both specified minima are global. The reflected wing has negative $h$ and negative $M$. Letting $d\to 0$ gives the tricritical wing critical edge $u=-10v{s}^2/3$, $r=5v{s}^4$, $h=8v{s}^5/3$; there $V^{\prime \prime }(s)=V^{\prime \prime \prime }(s)=0$ and $V^{\prime \prime \prime \prime }(s)=40v{s}^2>0$. Letting $d=s$ recovers the three-phase line. This supplies the first-order sheets and their continuous boundary curves, rather than only a zero-field section.

Use $s=|t|$, $x=h/s^{\Delta }$ and separate scaling functions above and below the transition. Up to a nonsingular conversion between physical and dimensionless field, magnetization scaling-function matching givesOn the ordered side take $h\to 0^{+}$ after the thermodynamic limit, selecting one pure thermodynamic phase. A finite nonzero $g_{m,-}(0^{+})$ impliesThe critical isotherm must have a finite nonzero limit at fixed small $h$ as $s\to 0$. Thus $g_m(x)\sim C\mathrm{sgn}(x)|x{|}^{1/\delta }$ at large $|x|$. Cancellation of the residual power of $s$ requiresThe absolute value and branch choice matter: spontaneous zero-field magnetization is below $T_c$, whereas the symmetry-unbroken thermodynamic phase has $m(t,0)=0$. The field crossover exponent is not the scaling dimension of the magnetization field.

The susceptibility is the integrated connected correlation function, up to a nonsingular field-normalization factor:Above the transition at zero field the subtraction vanishes. In an ordered thermodynamic phase it is essential; integrating the disconnected constant would incorrectly give a volume divergence unrelated to the desired response.

With a microscopic cutoff $a$ and $r=|\mathbf{x}|$, radial integration and $u=r/\xi$ giveIf $g(0)$ is finite, its large-distance tail decays sufficiently rapidly and $\eta <2$, the dimensionless integral approaches a finite nonzero constant. ThusShort-distance contributions give a regular background. This is the Fisher scaling relation; it concerns the fluctuating connected part of the source correlation ansatz.

The magnetization correlator is an average of a phase difference, not merely its lowest Taylor expansion. Gaussian phase averaging giveswhereThe coincident value is ultraviolet-regularized at a microscopic scale $a$. At large $r$:

Thus two is the lower critical dimension for conventional positive-temperature continuous-symmetry order under the short-range assumptions. Two dimensions can still have quasi-long-range order and a thermodynamic transition; zero limiting magnetization does not forbid them. The $d>2$ spin wave result describes an admissible low-temperature ordered thermodynamic phase, not order at arbitrarily high temperature. The Mermin-Wagner theorem supplies the more general no-order statement below or at two dimensions.^[ref]

Renormalization compares the same long-distance physics at different observation scales. The starting object is a microscopic or cutoff statistical Hamiltonian ${\mathcal{H}}_g$ with every symmetry-allowed coupling $g$. Because a critical correlation length is much larger than a lattice spacing, repeatedly eliminating short-distance detail can reveal scale-invariant behavior.

In a real-space transformation choose a normalized blocking kernel $B(S|s)$ for retained variables. DefineSumming over $S$ proves exact preservation of $Z$ before truncation. The transformed Hamiltonian generally gains longer-range and many-body interactions and a field-independent constant. Observables must be blocked consistently. In momentum-shell language split $\varphi ={\varphi }_{<}+{\varphi }_{>}$, integrate $\Lambda /b<|q|<\Lambda$, then use $x^{\prime }=x/b$ and a field rescaling to restore cutoff and kinetic normalization. Coarse-graining, rescaling and tracking generated interactions are distinct steps.

Repeated transformations generate a flow $g^{\prime }=R_b(g)$ with composition $R_b{R}_c=R_{bc}$ when the same exact coarse-graining family is used. Losing degrees of freedom generally makes this a semigroup, despite its conventional group name. A renormalization-group fixed point is invariant after rescaling. At a continuous transition the large-distance theory approaches a critical renormalization-group fixed point; finite correlation length instead eventually flows into an ordinary thermodynamic phase regime.

Linearize in scaling coordinates $u_i$:For increasing observation length, $y_i>0$ is relevant and must be tuned, $y_i<0$ is irrelevant, and $y_i=0$ is marginal and needs nonlinear analysis. Discrete multipliers $b^{y_i}$ must be compared with one, not with zero. The stable manifold forms the critical surface after relevant directions have been set to zero.

After subtracting regular additive contributions, ordinary hyperscaling givesChoosing $b=|t{|}^{-1/y_t}$ or choosing the field as scale yieldsFor a critical two-point function $G(r)\sim r^{-(d-2+\eta )}$, the order parameter scaling dimension is $x_m=(d-2+\eta )/2$, and its conjugate field has $y_h=d-x_m=(d+2-\eta )/2$. This recovers the Q1 identities while distinguishing the gap exponent $\Delta$ from the field's scaling dimension $y_h$.

As a concrete dimensional check, start from a scalar gradient action. Restoring its coefficient uses ${\varphi }^{\prime }(x^{\prime })=b^{(d-2)/2}{\varphi }_{<}(b{x}^{\prime })$, so at the Gaussian fixed pointQuartic interactions are relevant below four dimensions. They can produce an interacting Wilson-Fisher fixed point, whose exponents differ from naive Gaussian counting. Above four, the quartic coupling is irrelevant at the Gaussian fixed point but dangerous for ordered observables: ${\varphi }_0^2=-r/u$ is singular when $u$ is dropped. Thus the simple two-variable hyperscaling formula is not universal above the upper critical dimension.

Different microscopic systems can flow to the same long-distance renormalization-group fixed point, explaining universality of exponents and normalized scaling forms. Critical temperatures, metric factors and regular free energies remain nonuniversal. Dimension, order parameter symmetry, interaction range and additional soft variables constrain the universality class. Truncations, perturbative expansions and numerics approximate the flow; they must not be confused with the exact elimination definition.^[ref]

For a ferromagnetic nearest-neighbour Ising model on a chain let $s_i=\pm 1$, $K=J/(k_{B}T)>0$ and $h=H/(k_{B}T)$. The dimensionless Hamiltonian is $-K{\sum }_i{s}_i{s}_{i+1}-h{\sum }_i{s}_i$. In one dimension, decimating every other spin closes exactly within the nearest-neighbour family, including its additive constant. This is the exact chain building block of the Migdal-Kadanoff approach; bond moving becomes an additional approximation in higher-dimensional lattices.

For exact zero-field Ising-chain decimation, sum over an intermediate spin $\sigma$ between two retained spins:Parallel and antiparallel end spins give $A{e}^{K^{\prime }}=2\cosh 2K$ and $A{e}^{-K^{\prime }}=2$. HenceFor an even periodic chain, $Z_N(K)=A^{N/2}{Z}_{N/2}(K^{\prime })$. Rescaling the lattice spacing $2a$ back to $a$ completes the renormalization step. Decimation of $b$ successive links gives $\tanh K^{\prime }=(\tanh K{)}^b$, as follows by multiplying the transfer matrix $b$ times.

Let $v=\tanh K$. Then $v^{\prime }=v^2$ on $0\le v\le 1$. The infinite-temperature renormalization-group fixed point $v=0$ attracts every $0\le v<1$; the zero-temperature renormalization-group fixed point $v=1$ is unstable to heating, with slope two. There is no intermediate ferromagnetic renormalization-group fixed point. Equivalently $K^{\prime }\simeq K^2$ for small $K$, while $K^{\prime }\simeq K-\frac{1}{2}\log 2$ for large finite $K$. Thus there is no finite-temperature ordered thermodynamic phase in the short-range chain.

The domain-wall scaling coordinate of an Ising chain near $T=0$ is the domain-wall Boltzmann factor $w=e^{-2K}$. Its recursion and the zero-field correlation length areSince $\xi (K^{\prime })/a=[\xi (K)/a]/2$, the recursion has the correct length scaling. Its exponent is one with respect to $w$; it is not a finite power of physical temperature about $T_c=0$. In the thermodynamic limit, a bond is a domain wall with probability $(1-\tanh K)/2\sim e^{-2K}$, giving the same exponentially large length scale. Their finite energy allows entropy to proliferate walls at any positive temperature.

The Ising-chain decimation constant matters for thermodynamics. With dimensionless free energy per spin $f=-\lim N^{-1}\log Z_N$,The second expression follows independently from transfer eigenvalues $2\cosh K$ and $2\sinh K$ and satisfies the recursion. Multiplying it by $k_{B}T$ restores the physical free energy. Dropping $A$ would preserve normalized retained-spin probabilities but lose the eliminated-spin entropy.

Finite-field Ising-chain decimation is also exact. Use the symmetric transfer matrixand read the new couplings fromHere $W_{++}=e^{2K+2h}+e^{-2K}$, $W_{--}=e^{2K-2h}+e^{-2K}$ and $W_{+-}=2\cosh h$. The latter off-diagonal entry, the field convention split between adjacent bonds and the constant must all be tracked consistently. Near the zero-temperature zero-field renormalization-group fixed point $h^{\prime }\simeq 2h$, while at $K=0$ the independent-spin field is unchanged.

In the higher-dimensional Migdal-Kadanoff approximation, moving bonds creates chains that can be decimated. With bond moving first on a $d$-dimensional hypercubic lattice and length factor $b$, the strengthened links have $b^{d-1}K$, giving the conventionFor $d=1$ no transverse bonds move, so this reduces to the exact chain result. In higher dimensions it discards geometric correlations and is generally approximate on the original lattice; moving and decimating in another order yields another approximation, not a contradictory exact chain formula.^[ref]

Change is compatible with natural kinds, provided there is a defensible basis for tracking membership and explaining the changing properties. Requiring every property to remain unchanged would exclude nearly all physical objects. The important distinction is between variation within a kind, a transition out of it, and changes in the population that constitutes it.

Chemical elements offer a relatively sharp case. A carbon atomic nucleus has atomic number six, meaning six protons. Its isotope depends also on its neutron number; the ionization state of a carbon chemical atom can change without changing its chemical element. Temperature, position and velocity can also change. Classifying these objects together is useful because the relevant common constitution supports further inference, not because their entire property lists are identical at every moment.

A nuclear reaction that changes the proton number is different: it can produce a nucleus of another chemical element. This does not refute the original classification. It identifies a process under which membership changes. A theory of natural kinds should permit transformations between kinds rather than require its members to exist forever. The ordinary criterion also has a domain: an arbitrary mixture containing carbon is not itself a single carbon chemical atom.

Water makes a complementary point. A sample can undergo melting or boiling, changing density, rigidity and transport properties while retaining its ordinary chemical identification. The claim must be qualified: a bulk sample contains interacting molecules, and its detailed composition can include dissociation products. It need not consist at every instant exclusively of isolated identical water molecules. Nevertheless, changes of thermodynamic phase are explained through the constitution and organization of the material, rather than by treating every different appearance as a new unrelated substance.

These examples might suggest that some fixed microscopic essence is always required. Species put pressure on that inference. Individuals develop and differ; the distribution of inherited traits can change across generations through natural selection, genetic drift and gene flow. A demand that every member share an unchanging diagnostic appearance would misrepresent this history. It would also make a change in the frequency of one trait automatically create a new species, which is not how the relevant evolutionary processes work.

Homeostatic property cluster theory provides one alternative. Traits can tend to occur together because common development, shared ancestry and interactions within a population sustain their association. The traits need not be universal, and the maintaining processes need not freeze their frequencies. A population can change while retaining enough historical and causal continuity to support useful inference.^[ref] This is not a claim that every species concept gives the same boundaries. Reproductive relations, descent and ecological processes can motivate different criteria for different investigations.

An objection remains: if both members and their traits change, what prevents a natural kind from becoming a mere convenient label? The answer cannot be resemblance alone or an arbitrary chain of small changes. The proposed grouping must track processes that support reliable explanations and suitably qualified predictions. If the processes maintaining a cluster break down, or a lineage divides into independently evolving populations, continuing to use one label may cease to serve the relevant inquiry. Membership can be uncertain near such transitions without making every central case arbitrary.

There is also no requirement that all natural kinds have the same basis of unity. The atomic number criterion and a historically sustained population answer different scientific questions. Imposing the former structure on every biological grouping would mistake one successful form of classification for a universal metaphysical rule.

Changing properties therefore do not by themselves defeat naturalness. The scientific work lies in identifying which variations a kind tolerates, which transformations end membership, and why its remaining unity supports inference. A classification earns its status through that explanatory achievement, not through the fiction that nature is motionless.

An equation of state relates equilibrium state variables such as pressure, volume, temperature and material amount. At fixed composition, it reduces the number of independent thermodynamic variables. It does not by itself specify all caloric properties: information such as heat capacity or internal energy is also needed.

At a liquid-gas first-order transition, an equilibrium isotherm can contain a constant-pressure interval in which changing total volume changes the phase fractions. A metastable single-phase extrapolation can instead show a region with $(\partial p/\partial V{)}_T>0$; that region has negative isothermal compressibility and is mechanically unstable. Thermodynamic phase coexistence requires equal temperature, pressure and chemical potential, and a consistent free-energy description replaces the unstable region by coexistence. For an appropriate analytic fluid equation of state, a liquid-gas critical point occurs where $(\partial p/\partial V{)}_T=({\partial }^{2}p/\partial V^2{)}_T=0$.

These tests diagnose the phase behaviour represented by that equation of state. They do not guarantee detection of every possible transition involving an additional order parameter which the mechanical equation omits.

For the variable-latent-heat saturation curve of a pure saturated water atmosphere, the total pressure equals the saturation pressure. The exact Clausius-Clapeyron relation along the phase coexistence curve iswhere $v_v,v_c$ are the specific volumes of the vapor and condensed thermodynamic phase. Neglecting $v_c$ and using the ideal gas law, $v_v=R_{\mathrm{wv}}T/p$, givesThe triple point provides the integration constant. Below it, the prescribed latent heat is constant, soAbove it, write $K=L_{\ast }/[R_{\mathrm{wv}}(T_c-T_{\ast })]$. Integrating $K(T_c/T^2-1/T)$ givesThese are the requested implicit temperature profiles $T(p)$. Both branches meet at $(T_{\ast },p_{\ast })$, and each is monotone before the limiting liquid-gas critical point. The lower branch describes equilibrium with ice, rather than a stable liquid surface. A stable liquid ocean surface belongs to the upper branch; the colder upper atmosphere may use the lower branch. Hydrostatic balance is needed to convert this relation into a height profile, but not to obtain $T(p)$.

Write the particle volume fraction as $\eta =(4\pi a^3/3)n_p$. In a stable, repulsion-dominated colloid, low $\eta$ gives a disordered fluid. Increasing $\eta$ makes the interaction between neighboring particles important and can produce an ordered crystal, separated from the fluid by a phase coexistence curve. Increasing the Debye–Hückel screening length at fixed charge strengthens the repulsion at a given separation and allows freezing at smaller geometrical volume fraction.

The geometric intuition is that particles behave as though they occupy more than their bare diameter: roughly, an effective exclusion diameter $d_{\mathrm{eff}}$ extends out to the separation where $U_{\mathrm{el}}$ is of order $k_{B}T$. A hard sphere comparison then uses ${\eta }_{\mathrm{eff}}\sim \eta [d_{\mathrm{eff}}/(2a){]}^3$. This explains the trend; it is not an exact freezing criterion.

At short Debye–Hückel screening length and negligible attraction, the diagram approaches hard sphere fluid–crystal coexistence. For longer-ranged soft repulsion, body-centered cubic lattice and face-centered cubic lattice crystals can both be stable, with the former often appearing towards the softer, lower-density freezing boundary. Screened-Coulomb simulations exhibit both these crystal structures.^[ref]

No universal quantitative diagram follows from $(\eta ,{\lambda }_D)$ alone: the charge, Hamaker constant and surface conditions must also be fixed. If salt suppresses the stabilizing barrier enough for Van der Waals force attraction to dominate, a colloid-poor/colloid-rich separation or aggregation can replace part of this repulsive reference diagram. Dense colloidal glasses or colloidal gels may also be observed after kinetic arrest; they should not be mistaken for additional thermodynamic equilibrium thermodynamic phases.