cooperative phenomenon
cooperative phenomenon
[kō′äp·rəd·iv fə′näm·ə‚nän] (solid-state physics)
A process that involves a simultaneous collective interaction among many atoms or electrons in a crystal, such as ferromagnetism, superconductivity, and order-disorder transformations.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.