Finally, fluids with an even higher molecular complexity can exhibit non-classical behavior in the single-phase vapor region near saturation. They are called Bethe-Zel’dovich-Thompson (BZT) fluids, from the name of physicists Hans Bethe, Yakov Zel'dovich, and Philip Thompson, who first worked on these kinds of fluids.
For thermodynamic conditions lying in the non-classical regime, the non-monotone evolution of the Mach number in isentropic expansions can be found even in subsonic conditions. In fact, for values of , positive values of  can be reached also in subsonic flows (). In other words, the non-monotone Mach number evolution is also possible in the convergent section of an isentropic nozzle.
Moreover, a peculiar phenomenon of the non-classical regime is the so-called inverted gas-dynamics. In the classical regime, expansions are smooth isentropic processes, while compressions occur through shock waves, which are discontinuities in the flow. If gas-dynamics is inverted, the opposite occurs, namely rarefaction shock waves are physically admissible and compressions occur through smooth isentropic processes.
As a consequence of the negative value of , two other peculiar phenomena can occur for BZT fluids: shock splitting and composite waves. Shock splitting occurs when an inadmissible pressure discontinuity evolves in time by generating two weaker shock waves. Composite waves, instead, are referred to as phenomena in which two elementary waves propagate as a single entity.
Experimental evidence of a non-classical gas-dynamic regime is not available yet. The main reasons are the complexity of performing experiments in such challenging thermodynamic conditions and the thermal stability of these very complex molecules.