Related papers: Theory of Crystallization versus Vitrification
We construct a mean field theory for the lattice model of a structural glass and solve it using the replica method and one step replica symmetry breaking ansatz; this theory becomes exact in the limit of infinite dimensions. Analyzing…
Supercooled liquids are kinetically trapped materials in which the transition to a thermodynamically more stable state with long-range order is strongly suppressed. To assess the glass-forming abilities of a liquid empirical rules exist,…
Generalized mode-coupling theory (GMCT) constitutes a systematically correctable, first-principles theory to study the dynamics of supercooled liquids and the glass transition. It is a hierarchical framework that, through the incorporation…
Herein, fundamentals of topology and symmetry breaking are used to understand crystallization and geometrical frustration in topologically close-packed structures. This frames solidification from a new perspective that is unique from…
Despite two decades of studies, the formation of metallic glasses, very promising systems for industrial applications, still remains mostly unexplained. This lack of knowledge hinders the search for new systems, still performed with…
We examine the vitrification and melting of asymmetric star polymers mixtures by combining rheological measurements with mode coupling theory. We identify two types of glassy states, a {\it single} glass, in which the small component is…
Due to its non-crystalline nature, the glassy state has remained one the most exciting scientific challenges. To study such materials, Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations have been extensively used because they provide a direct view into…
A molecular theory of the glass transition of network forming liquids is developed using a combination of self-consistent phonon and liquid state approaches. Both the dynamical transition and the entropy crisis characteristic of random…
In this work, we study the crystalline nuclei growth in glassy systems focusing primarily on the early stages of the process, at which the size of a growing nucleus is still comparable with the critical size. On the basis of molecular…
Thermodynamic multi-component solution solidification approach to liquid-to-glass transition is proposed and actual mechanisms underlying vitrification, other than viscous slowdown, are identified. Due to polydisperse aggregation in liquid…
The conventional theory of homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation in a supersaturated vapor is tested by Monte Carlo simulations of the lattice gas (Ising) model with nearest-neighbor attractive interactions on the simple cubic lattice.…
We discuss the microscopic mechanisms by which low-temperature amorphous states, such as ultrastable glasses, transform into equilibrium fluids, after a sudden temperature increase. Experiments suggest that this process is similar to the…
Recently, it was shown that a theoretical description of nucleation based on fluctuating hydrodynamics and classical density functional theory can be used to determine non-classical nucleation pathways for crystallization (Lutsko, Sci. Adv.…
While statistical mechanics provides a comprehensive framework for the understanding of equilibrium phase behavior, predicting the kinetics of phase transformations remains a challenge. Classical nucleation theory (CNT) provides a…
We utilize the generalized entropy theory (GET) of glass formation to address one of the most singular and least understood properties of polymer glass-forming liquids in comparison to atomic and small molecule liquids -- the often…
Features of the crystallization kinetics define directly the rate characteristics: the crystal nucleation rate, the crystal growth rate and the so-called kinetic rate factor known also as the attachment rate (of particles to the surface of…
We examine nonequilibrium features of collapse behavior in model polymers with competing crystallization and glass transitions using extensive molecular dynamics simulations. By comparing to "colloidal" systems with no covalent bonds but…
We present computer simulations of a simple bead-spring model for polymer melts with intramolecular barriers. By systematically tuning the strength of the barriers, we investigate their role on the glass transition. Dynamic observables are…
The emergence of glassy dynamics and the glass transition in dense disordered systems is still not fully understood theoretically. Mode-coupling theory (MCT) has shown to be effective in describing some of the non-trivial features of glass…
Structural aspects of crystal nucleation in undercooled liquids are explored using a nonlinear hydrodynamic theory of crystallization proposed recently [G. I. Toth et al., J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 26, 055001 (2014)], which is based on…