A Random First Order Theory of Liquid -Glass Transition
Xia, Xiaoyu
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/80474
Description
Title
A Random First Order Theory of Liquid -Glass Transition
Author(s)
Xia, Xiaoyu
Issue Date
2001
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Wolynes, Peter G.
Department of Study
Physics
Discipline
Physics
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Physics, Condensed Matter
Language
eng
Abstract
"It is believed that all classical fluids could form glasses if cooled sufficiently fast so as to avoid crystallization. Various phenomena including violation of the usual Arrhenius law, stretched relaxations, deviations from the Stokes-Einstein relation in hydrodynamics, and aging have been observed in the laboratory. In this thesis, a microscopically motivated theory of glassy dynamics based on an underlying random first order transition is developed to explain the magnitude and variation of free energy barriers for glassy relaxation. A variety of empirical correlations embodied in the concept of liquid ""fragility"" are shown to be quantitatively explained by such a model. Fragility parameters, the size of heterogeneities, the degree of stretching of relaxations, and the enhancement of translational diffusion are derived from theory. The wide variety of kinetic behaviors in liquids of quite disparate chemical nature reflects quantitative rather than qualitative differences in their energy landscapes as it turns out."
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