Our current, well-established understanding of phases of matter primarily relates to systems that are at or near thermal equilibrium. However, there is a rich world of systems that are not in a state of equilibrium, which could host new and fascinating phases of matter.
![](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/tmb/2020/1-searchingfor.jpg)
Source:
https://phys.org/news/2020-03-discrete-crystals-classical-many-body.html