2022/08/11 by Giulio Biroli, Biroli, Giulio, Jean‐Philippe Bouchaud +1 · 1 citation
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn) #FOS: Physical sciences #Material Dynamics and Properties #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #Theoretical and Computational Physics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2208.05866
openalex publication_date 2022/08/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The Random First Order Transition (RFOT) theory started with the pioneering work of Kirkpatrick, Thirumalai and Wolynes. It leverages the methods and advances of the theory of disordered systems. It fares remarkably well at reproducing the salient experimental facts of super-cooled liquids. Yet, direct and indisputable experimental validations are missing. In this short survey, we will review recent investigations that broadly support all static aspects of RFOT, but also those for which the standard dynamical extension of the theory appears to be struggling, in particular in relation with facilitation effects. We discuss possible solutions and open issues.