What are the states of matter? (physics)?

Question

I was watching QI, and there was a question of how many states of matter there was, and obviously most would say 3 or 4, but they said 6, as they also counted Bose-Einstein-condensate and Fermionic condensate. This made me curious, so I did a bit of read up. 

As far as I can tell, they are both low-temperature superfluids. But there are several low-temperature superfluids which have much the same characteristica, so why are some counted and some not?

So what actually defines a state of matter? 

If we base it on the differences in molecular interrelationships, which is very easy to see for the first 3 states of matter, then why is glass or liquid crystal not separate states? To me, it seems they indeed form very different 'patterns' or interrelationships between their molecules than the other states.
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There is a long list which are not considered states of matter (supersolids, degenerate matter, string-net liquid, super glass, dark matter (though, I suppose we don't know enough about that one to categorize it as anything), other kinds of plasma (or does the current state of plasma include both this and the regular ionized gas-kind?), other kinds of low-temperature states, many kinds of grid-like states, which are not counted...

So making a short, simple list of states of matter seems flawed, so maybe there ought to be just the 3 classical states of matter, defined as the common states, natrually occuring on earth, and then keep the rest which are more theoretical, cosmology-relevant, or lab-created states on another list, so to say? Or what? Are there any out there who are very knowledgeable on the subject, and can tell me a bit about what physicist think should be included on the list of states? I find it very interesting :D

az_lender · Accepted Answer

States encountered in nature include not only solid, liquid, and gas,
but also plasma, which is probably the most common state of ordinary
matter in the universe.  I say "ordinary matter" to distinguish it from
"dark matter," an entity postulated to account for discrepancies 
between galactic masses and their rotational speeds.

Whether to include fermionic and bosonic superfluids as "states of matter"
seems to be a matter of fashion.  Not many years ago, some would have
insisted that the many distinct phases of water-ice be treated as separate
"states of matter" since there is a thermodynamic barrier to the phase 
transition among them.  You are right, glasses have sometimes been
considered a "state" separate from solids.

While it might be possible to invent a definition of "states of matter" that
forces a choice of some exact number of the above candidate "states,"
it seems that those inventing such definitions usually have their own
preferred list of states in mind, and they base the definition on that,
rather than the other way around.

bugayong · Answer

by the indisputable fact that is, count number (in the international) exists in 3 states : good, liquid & gas. a blend of the first 2 (good & liquid) is called 'condensed' state, the perfect party being condensed milk. The very last 2 (liquid & gas) signify 'fluid' state. SSP is a subset of CMP. In SS, count number exists in crystalline state the position in you'll stumble on a blend of a myriad crystals of organic elements. it really is the rule of thumb and that i do not want to bypass into exceptions. the guy atoms are held to the crystalline structures by skill of atomic forces. So, the atom needs some power to dissociate from the shape and that is observed as 'dissociation power'. If all atoms have energies above the dissociation power then the best starts to creep and then move. It will grow to be a liquid. nonetheless the atoms are sure by skill of forces like 'team spirit' if all are same atoms, or 'adhesion' between atoms of different resources.

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What are the states of matter? (physics)?

2 Answers