Nonequilibrium phase transitions

A brief review is provided of the subject of nonequilibrium phase transitions occurring in various systems in different disciplines. All these systems exhibit a similar kind of ordering phenomena at a macroscopic level and can therefore be classified in terms of appropriate order parameters. Typical order parameter equations are discussed in the light of Landau’s phenomenological theory of phase transitions. The instabilities occurring in a few chemical reactions are discussed in some detail and the role of fluctuations pointed out. Mention is also made of the possibility of viewing some metallurgical phenomena as examples of nonequilibrium phase transitions.