cond-mat.stat-mech papers

Statistical mechanics explores how the chaotic motion of countless tiny particles gives rise to the predictable laws governing heat, pressure, and phase transitions. This field bridges the gap between the microscopic world of atoms and the macroscopic reality we experience daily, offering deep insights into why materials behave the way they do.

On Gist.Science, we process every new preprint in this category as it appears on arXiv to make these complex findings accessible to everyone. For each paper, we provide both a plain-language explanation for the curious reader and a detailed technical summary for specialists, ensuring that groundbreaking research is never lost behind a wall of jargon.

Below are the latest papers in statistical mechanics, freshly curated and summarized to help you understand the cutting edge of this fascinating discipline.

🔬 physics

When higher-order interactions matter: reducibility, parsimony, and microscopic organization

The paper argues that while graph-based models can mathematically reproduce higher-order dynamics, formal representability alone is insufficient for model selection because the true measure of parsimony and adequacy depends on the specific scientific question, as reducing group interactions to pairwise graphs often obscures critical microscopic organization and shifts complexity into effective dynamics.

Alex Arenas, Federico Battiston, Andrea Gabrielli2026-09-18

🔬 condensed matter

Higher-Order Interactions in Complex Systems: Mechanisms, Behaviour, Representation and Reducibility

This review clarifies the distinction between higher-order mechanisms, their resulting behaviors, and their representations in complex systems, arguing that identical behaviors can stem from different mechanisms while no single mechanism guarantees universal outcomes, and it establishes a framework for assessing the reducibility of higher-order models to lower-order ones using information-theoretic and inferential methods.

Francisco J. Pérez-Reche2026-09-18

🔬 condensed matter

Landau diamagnetism and the de Haas-van Alphen effect from a single geometric construction

This paper presents an elementary zero-temperature geometric construction that unifies the derivation of Landau diamagnetism and the de Haas-van Alphen effect by demonstrating how state transfers between congruent triangles yield the former, while residual contributions near extremal Fermi surface cross sections naturally generate the latter's oscillations.

Sung-Hoon Lee2026-09-18

⚛️ high-energy theory

Learning the Emergent Bulk Geometry of the Three Dimensional Ising Model

Using machine learning on Monte Carlo data from the critical 3D Ising model, this study demonstrates that the emergent bulk geometry cannot be described by a single classical metric, as the radial profiles required to reproduce the two-point functions of the $\sigma$ and $\epsilon$ operators are mutually incompatible.

Ritam Basu2026-09-18

🔬 condensed matter

Formal Fluctuation-Response Relations for Non-Stationary Systems: The Dynamic Conjugate Variable

This paper derives fluctuation-response relations for non-stationary Markovian systems by introducing a novel two-time dynamic conjugate variable, which generalizes standard single-time conjugates and unifies various known results under the sole assumption of differentiable transition probabilities.

Igor M. Sokolov2026-09-18

⚛️ high-energy theory

Exploring multi-parameter optimization in FRG

This paper proposes and validates a multi-parameter optimization strategy using the principle of minimal sensitivity within the functional renormalization group framework, demonstrating that employing compactly supported polynomial regulators up to fourth-order derivative expansion significantly improves the accuracy of critical exponent predictions for the 3D Ising universality class compared to previous single-parameter analyses.

A. Codello, G. P. Vacca, D. Zarrilli2026-09-18

🔬 physics

Betweenness centrality in dense spatial networks

This paper proposes a finite-density expansion for calculating betweenness centrality in spatial networks, demonstrating that the lowest non-trivial order captures path straightness and yields excellent agreement with numerical simulations across various graph types, thereby providing a robust framework for analyzing large spatial networks.

Vincent Verbavatz, Marc Barthelemy2026-09-17

⚛️ quantum physics

Dynamics of a small quantum system open to a bath with thermostat

This paper presents a rigorous perturbation theory for a small quantum system coupled to a thermostat-regulated bath, deriving a reduced time-evolution equation that captures non-Markovian correlations and yields a Redfield-like master equation where the steady state is thermostat-independent but the transient dynamics are thermostat-dependent.

Chulan Kwon, Ju-Yeon Gyhm2026-09-17

🔬 condensed matter

A self-consistent current response theory of jamming and vibrational modes in low-temperature amorphous solids

This paper presents a first-principles, self-consistent theory based on Euclidean random matrices and the Zwanzig-Mori formalism that explains the un-jamming instability, vibrational anomalies, and scaling behaviors of sound speed and density of states in low-temperature amorphous solids, with predictions confirmed by numerical simulations.

Florian Vogel, Philipp Baumgärtel, Matthias Fuchs2026-09-17

🔬 condensed matter

Wind-driven collisions between floes explain the observed dispersion of Arctic sea ice

This study demonstrates that stochastic granular simulations accounting for wind-driven collisions between ice floes accurately reproduce observed Arctic sea ice dispersion and velocity distributions, resolving previous discrepancies with Brownian models and establishing a predictive framework based on local floe-scale processes.

Bryan Shaddy, P. Alex Greaney, Bhargav Rallabandi2026-09-17

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