Dynamic Criticality in Glass-Forming Liquids

2003/10/31 by Stephen Whitelam, Ludovic Berthier, Juan P. Garrahan · 6 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Condensed matter physics #Critical exponent #Critical phenomena #Critical point (mathematics) #Criticality #Directed percolation #Dynamic scaling #Glass transition #Material Dynamics and Properties #Mathematical analysis #Mathematical physics #Mathematics #Molecular dynamics #Percolation (cognitive psychology) #Phase Equilibria and Thermodynamics #Phase transition #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Renormalization group #Scaling #Statistical physics #Supercooling #Theoretical and Computational Physics #Thermodynamics #Universality (dynamical systems) #cond-mat.soft #cond-mat.stat-mech

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.92.185705

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 185705 (2004) · 4 pages, 2 figures

openalex publication_date 2004/05/06 · arxiv created 2004/05/07 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We propose that the dynamics of supercooled liquids and the formation of glasses can be understood from the existence of a zero-temperature dynamical critical point. To support our proposal, we derive a dynamic field theory for a generic kinetically constrained model, which we expect to describe the dynamics of a supercooled liquid. We study this field theory using the renormalization group (RG). Its long time behavior is dominated by a zero-temperature critical point, which for d>2 belongs to the directed percolation universality class. Molecular dynamics simulations seem to confirm the existence of dynamic scaling behavior consistent with the RG predictions.

Citations

• Nanometer Scale Dielectric Fluctuations at the Glass Transition
• Non-equilibrium critical phenomena and phase transitions into absorbing states
• Formation of Glasses from Liquids and Biopolymers
• Fragilities of liquids predicted from the random first order transition theory of glasses
• Models of Hierarchically Constrained Dynamics for Glassy Relaxation
• Los fieles difuntos
• Glassy dynamics of kinetically constrained models
• Supercooled Liquids and Glasses
• Spatially Heterogeneous Dynamics in Supercooled Liquids

Cited by

• Relaxation and physical aging in network glasses: a review
• Length scale for the onset of Fickian diffusion in supercooled liquids
• Fluctuations in glassy systems
• Spontaneous and induced dynamic fluctuations in glass formers. I. General results and dependence on ensemble and dynamics
• Slow dynamics in glassy soft matter
• Dynamical heterogeneity in soft-particle suspensions under shear