Related papers: Correlation length for amorphous systems

We discuss various definitions of decoherence and how it can be measured. We compare and contrast decoherence in quantum systems with an infinite number of eigenstates (such as the free particle and the oscillator) and spin systems. In the…

Particles in structural glasses rattle around temporary equilibriumpositions, that seldom change through a process which is much faster than the relaxation time, known as particle jump. Since the relaxation of the system is due to the…

Concentrated colloidal suspensions are a well-tested model system which has a glass transition. Colloids are suspensions of small solid particles in a liquid, and exhibit glassy behavior when the particle concentration is high; the…

Dynamical heterogeneities -- strong fluctuations near the glass transition -- are believed to be crucial to explain much of the glass transition phenomenology. One possible hypothesis for their origin is that they emerge from soft…

Symmetries are so involved in crystallographic detail that it is indispensable when crystal cell or lattice is mentioned. For nanocrystals, however, many are 'systemic symmetries', meaning that the whole structures of nanocrystal particles…

The excitation-chain theory of the glass transition, proposed in an earlier publication, predicts diverging, super-Arrhenius relaxation times and, {\it via} a similarly diverging length scale, suggests a way of understanding the relations…

Topological phases of matter are often understood and predicted with the help of crystal symmetries, although they don't rely on them to exist. In this chapter we review how topological phases have been recently shown to emerge in amorphous…

The study of spin-glass dynamics, long considered the paradigmatic complex system, has reached important milestones. The availability of single crystals has allowed the experimental measurement of spin-glass coherence lengths of almost…

A different perspective on the long-standing problem of amorphous solidification is offered, based on an alternative definition of a solid as a porous medium. General, model-free results are obtained concerning the growing dynamic length…

The similarity in atomic structure between liquids and glasses has stimulated a long-standing hypothesis that the nature of glasses may be more fluid like, rather than an apparent solid. In principle, the nature of glasses can be…

The topic of the glass transition gives rise to a a wide diversity of views. It is, accordingly, characterized by a lack of agreement on which would be the most profitable theoretical perspective. In this chapter, I provide some elements…

When the discrete time-translation symmetry of isolated, periodically driven systems is spontaneously broken, a new phase of matter can emerge. We review some recent developments on both the theoretical underpinnings and experimental…

We discuss the possibility of making the {\it initial} definitions of mutually different (possibly interacting, or even entangled) systems in the context of decoherence theory. We point out relativity of the concept of elementary physical…

General features of microscopic and macroscopic chiral structures can be discussed under the standard of orthogonal group theory. Configuration space of systems, not physical space, is taken into account. This change of perspective allows…

When strained beyond the linear regime, soft colloidal glasses yield to steady-state plastic flow in a way that is similar to the deformation of conventional amorphous solids. Due to the much larger size of the colloidal particles with…

The glassy state is known to undergo slow structural relaxation, where the system progressively explores lower free-energy minima which are either amorphous (ageing) or crystalline (devitrification). Recently, there is growing interest in…

A generalized formal framework for decoherence, that can be used both in open and closed quantum systems, is sketched. In this context, the relationship between the decoherence of a closed system and the decoherence of its subsystems is…

Theoretical challenges in understanding the nature of glass and the glass transition remain significant open questions in statistical and condensed matter physics. As a prototypical example of complex physical systems, glasses and the…

For a three dimensional system we answer two questions, how simple a particle system might be to show the quasicrystal order and, what system features are the most important for quasicrystal formation? One-component system of particles with…

We demonstrate the simple and deep equivalence between quantum coherence and nonclassicality and the definite way in which they determine metrological resolution. Moreover, we define a coherence observable consistent with a classical…