#broken symmetry

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A superconducting disc lifting clear of a curved permanent-magnet track in a shallow stainless tray of liquid nitrogen, still tilted and drifting partway along the curve, with vapour spilling over the tray lip

More Is Different: Emergence and Phase Transitions

Emergence is not a slogan about complexity. It is a claim about broken symmetry, singular limits and universality classes, and the renormalisation group says precisely why microscopic detail drops out.

By Brecht Corbeel · August 8, 2026 · 17 min read

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