Related papers: Can the glass transition be explained without a gr…
We present a nonlocal Monte Carlo algorithm with particle swaps that greatly accelerates thermalization of soft sphere binary mixtures in the glassy region. Our first results show that thermalization of systems of hundreds of particles is…
Several theories of the glass transition propose that the structural relaxation time {\tau}{\alpha} is controlled by a growing static length scale {\xi} that is determined by the free energy landscape but not by the local dynamical rules…
We review the Random First Order Transition Theory of the glass transition, emphasizing the experimental tests of the theory. Many distinct phenomena are quantitatively predicted or explained by the theory, both above and below the glass…
The dramatic slowdown of glass-forming liquids has been variously linked to increasing dynamic and static correlation lengths. Yet, empirical evidence is insufficient to decide among competing theories. The random first order theory (RFOT)…
The origins of rapid dynamical slow down in glass forming liquids in the growth of static length scales, possibly associated with identifiable structural ordering, is a much debated issue. Growth of medium range crystalline order (MRCO) has…
We use a swap Monte Carlo algorithm to numerically prepare bulk glasses with kinetic stability comparable to that of glass films produced experimentally by physical vapor deposition. By melting these systems into the liquid state, we show…
Computer simulations are used to study a three-dimensional polydisperse model glassformer in a replica-coupling setup where an attractive field $\propto - \varepsilon Q$ of strength $\varepsilon$ can adjust the similarity of the system to a…
When a liquid is cooled below its melting temperature, if crystallization is avoided, it forms a glass. This phenomenon, called glass transition, is characterized by a marked increase of viscosity, about 14 orders of magnitude, in a narrow…
We use the swap Monte Carlo algorithm to analyse the glassy behaviour of sticky spheres in equilibrium conditions at densities where conventional simulations and experiments fail to reach equilibrium, beyond predicted phase transitions and…
Mode coupling theory (MCT) has been successful in explaining the observed sequence of time relaxations in dense fluids. Previous expositions of this theory showing this sequence have required the existence of an ideal glass transition…
We analyse numerically thermal fluctuations of the static overlap between equilibrium configurations in a glass-forming liquid approaching the glass transition. We find that the emergence of slow dynamics near the onset temperature…
We analyze the ways in which the random first order phase transition (RFOT) of the glass transition differs from the well-studied regular first order and second order (or continuous) phase transitions. Just as is the case in the latter two…
The dynamical glass transition is typically taken to be the temperature at which a glassy liquid is no longer able to equilibrate on experimental timescales. Consequently, the physical properties of these systems just above or below the…
The Random First Order Transition Theory (RFOT) predicts that transport proceeds by cooperative movement of particles in domains whose sizes increase as a liquid is compressed above a characteristic volume fraction, $\phi_d$. The rounded…
We discuss some generic features of the dynamics of glass-forming liquids close to the glass transition singularity of the idealized mode-coupling theory (MCT). The analysis is based on a recent model by one of the authors for the…
We explore the glassy dynamics of soft colloids using microgels and charged particles interacting by steric and screened Coulomb interactions, respectively. In the supercooled regime, the structural relaxation time $\tau_\alpha$ of both…
The glass transition is considered within two toys models, a mean field spin glass and a directed polymer in a correlated random potential. In the spin glass model there occurs a dynamical transition, where the system condenses in a state…
Understanding and controlling physical aging, i.e. the spontaneous temporal evolution of out-of-equilibrium systems, represents one of the greatest tasks in material science. Recent studies have revealed the existence of a complex atomic…
It was recently demonstrated that a simple Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm involving the swap of particle pairs dramatically accelerates the equilibrium sampling of simulated supercooled liquids. We propose two numerical schemes integrating the…
While perfect crystals may exhibit a purely elastic response to shear all the way to yielding, the response of amorphous solids is punctuated by plastic events. The prevalence of this plasticity depends on the number of particles $N$ of the…