Arrest of flow and emergence of activated processes at the glass transition of a suspension of particles with hard spherelike interactions

By combining aspects of the coherent and self-intermediate scattering functions, we show that the arrest of particle number density fluctuations spreads from the position of the main structure factor peak. We propose that this arrest impairs the system's ability to respond to diffusing momentum...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2009-04, Vol.102 (16), p.168301-168301, Article 168301
Main Authors: van Megen, W, Martinez, V A, Bryant, G
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:By combining aspects of the coherent and self-intermediate scattering functions, we show that the arrest of particle number density fluctuations spreads from the position of the main structure factor peak. We propose that this arrest impairs the system's ability to respond to diffusing momentum currents, leading to an enhanced resistance to flow. From the stretching of the coherent intermediate scattering functions in the glass, we read a manifestation of the undissipated thermal energy-the source of the ergodicity restoring processes that short-circuit the sharp transition to a perfect glass.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.168301