Theseeminglysimpleprocessofphasechanges--thosetransitionsbetweenstatesofmatter--ismorecomplexthanpreviously1known,accordingtoresearchbasedatPrincetonUniversity,PekingUniversityandNewYorkUniversity.Theirstudy,whichappearsinthejournalScience,revealstheneedtorethinkoneofscience'sbuildingblocksand,withit,howsomeofthebasicprinciplesunderlying2thebehaviorofmatteraretaughtinourclassrooms.Theresearchersexaminedthewaythataphasechange,specificallythemeltingofasolid,occursatamicroscopic3levelanddiscoveredthatthetransitionisfarmoreinvolvedthanearliermodelshadaccountedfor.Thisresearchshowsthatphasechangescanfollowmultiplepathways,whichiscountertowhatwe'vepreviouslyknown,explainsMarkTuckerman,aprofessorofchemistryandapplied4mathematicsatNewYorkUniversityandoneofthestudy'sco-authors.Thismeansthesimpletheoriesaboutphasetransitionsthatweteachinclassesarejustnotright.AccordingtoTuckerman,scientistswillneedtochangethewaytheythinkofandteachonphasechanges.Theworkstemsfroma10-yearprojectatPrincetontodevelopamathematicalframeworkandcomputeralgorithmstostudycomplexbehaviorinsystems,explainedseniorauthorWeinanE,aprofessorinPrinceton'sDepartmentofMathematicsandPrograminAppliedandComputationalMathematics.Phasechangesprovedtobeacrucialtestcasefortheiralgorithm,Esaid.EandTuckermanworkedwithAmitSamanta,apostdoctoralresearcheratPrincetonnowatLawrenceLivermoreNationalLaboratory,andTang-QingYu,apostdoctoralresearcheratNYU'sCourantInstituteofMathematicalSciences.Itwasatestcasefortheratherpowerfulsetoftoolsthatwehavedevelopedtostudyhardquestionsaboutcomplexphenomena5suchasphasetransitions,Esaid.Themeltingofarelatively6simpleatomicsolidsuchasametal,provedtobeenormouslyrich.Withtheunderstandingwehavegainedfromthiscase,wenextaimtoprobemorecomplexmolecular7solidssuchasice.词汇表:1previouslyadv.以前,先前(地)参考例句:Thebicycletyreblewoutatapreviouslydamagedpoint.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。Letmedigressforamomentandexplainwhathadhappenedpreviously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。2underlyingadj.在下面的,含蓄的,潜在的参考例句:Theunderlyingthemeofthenovelisveryserious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。Thiswordhasitsunderlyingmeaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。3microscopicadj.微小的,细微的,极小的,显微的参考例句:It'simpossibletoreadhismicroscopichandwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。Aplant'slungsarethemicroscopicporesinitsleaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。4appliedadj.应用的;v.应用,适用参考例句:Sheplanstotakeacourseinappliedlinguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。Thiscreamisbestappliedtothefaceatnight.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。5phenomenan.现象参考例句:Adecouldn'trelatethephenomenawithanytheoryheknew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。Theobjectoftheseexperimentswastofindtheconnection,ifany,betweenthetwophenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系,如果存在着任何联系的话。6relativelyadv.比较...地,相对地参考例句:TherabbitisarelativelyrecentintroductioninAustralia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。Theoperationwasrelativelypainless.手术相对来说不痛。7molecularadj.分子的;克分子的参考例句:Theresearchwillprovidedirectinsightintomolecularmechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。Forthepressuretobecomezero,molecularbombardmentmustcease.当压强趋近于零时,分子的碰撞就停止了。更多英语学习方法:企业英语培训