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Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines and, through its inclusion of astronomy, perhaps the oldest. Over much of the past two millennia, physics, chemistry, biology, and certain branches of mathematics were a part of natural philosophy, but during the Scientific Revolution in the 17th century these natural sciences emerged as unique research endeavors in their own right.Physics intersects with many interdisciplinary areas of research, such as biophysics and quantum chemistry, and the boundaries of physics are not rigidly defined. New ideas in physics often explain the fundamental mechanisms studied by other sciences and suggest new avenues of research in academic disciplines such as mathematics and philosophy.

physics

Advances in physics often enable advances in new technologies. For example, advances in the understanding of electromagnetism, solid-state physics, and nuclear physics led directly to the development of new products that have dramatically transformed modern-day society, such as television, computers, domestic appliances, and nuclear weapons;[6] advances in thermodynamics led to the development of industrialization; and advances in mechanics inspired the development of calculus.

Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic physical properties of matter.[74][75] In particular, it is concerned with the "condensed" phases that appear whenever the number of particles in a system is extremely large and the interactions between them are strong.[76]

The most familiar examples of condensed phases are solids and liquids, which arise from the bonding by way of the electromagnetic force between atoms.[77] More exotic condensed phases include the superfluid[78] and the Bose–Einstein condensate[79] found in certain atomic systems at very low temperature, the superconducting phase exhibited by conduction electrons in certain materials,[80] and the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases of spins on atomic lattices.[81]

Condensed matter physics is the largest field of contemporary physics. Historically, condensed matter physics grew out of solid-state physics, which is now considered one of its main subfields.[82] The term condensed matter physics was apparently coined by Philip Anderson when he renamed his research group—previously solid-state theory—in 1967.[83] In 1978, the Division of Solid State Physics of the American Physical Society was renamed as the Division of Condensed Matter Physics.[82] Condensed matter physics has a large overlap with chemistry, materials science, nanotechnology and engineering.