In the journal physical review B, there is a section called "Inhomogenous, disordered and partially ordered systems". Could someone please explain to me what each of the three means?
Physical Review B is one of the primary journals for condensed matter physics. The particular section you refer to is about the physics of disorder and randomness. An inhomogeneous system is one that differs from place to place. For example, one might study the growth of carbon on a silicon substrate. The growth may not be uniform, the carbon may clump into islands. Another example is glass, a system with an internal organization which differs from place to place. A disordered system is one that contains impurities or defects that disrupt a pattern. For example, many materials are crystalline, formed of regular arrays of atoms. However, these arrays are not perfect, and defects like dislocations can contribute to the properties of the material. The malleability of metals has something to do with the physics of dislocations. Partially ordered systems is just another phrase for something in between order and disorder. Hope this helps.
