Criticality
# Criticality

Criticality may refer to:

## Physics terms

* Critical phenomena, the collective name associated with the physics of critical points
   * Critical point (thermodynamics), the end point of a phase equilibrium curve
   * Quantum critical point, a special class of continuous phase transition that takes place at absolute zero

### Nuclear-physics terms

* Critical mass, referring to criticality in nuclear physics, when a nuclear reactor's fissionable material can sustain a chain reaction by itself
* Criticality (status), a milestone in the commissioning of a nuclear power plant
* Criticality accident, an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction
* Nuclear criticality safety, the prevention of nuclear and radiation accidents resulting from an inadvertent, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
* Prompt critical, an assembly for each nuclear fission event

## Other terms

* Critical thinking, in education
* Criticality index, in risk analysis
* Criticality matrix, a representation (often graphical) of failure modes along with their probabilities and severities
* Self-organized criticality, a property of (classes of) dynamical systems which have a critical point as an attractor
