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Space-time Thermodynamics of the Glass Transition

Mauro Merolle·Juan P. Garrahan·David Chandler
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Abstract

We consider the probability distribution for fluctuations in dynamical action and similar quantities related to dynamic heterogeneity. We argue that the so-called "glass transition" is a manifestation of low action tails in these distributions where the entropy of trajectory space is sub-extensive in time. These low action tails are a consequence of dynamic heterogeneity and an indication of phase coexistence in trajectory space. The glass transition, where the system falls out of equilibrium, is then an order-disorder phenomenon in space-time occurring at a temperature T_g which is a weak function of measurement time. We illustrate our perspective ideas with facilitated lattice models, and note how these ideas apply more generally.

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Mauro Merolle, Juan P. Garrahan, David Chandler. 2005-08-08. Space-time Thermodynamics of the Glass Transition. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0504820102

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