Amorphous-amorphous transition and the two-step replica symmetry breaking phase

TL;DR

This paper investigates the amorphous-amorphous transition using an exactly solvable multi-spin model, revealing complex glass phases and a novel two-step replica symmetry breaking solution.

Contribution

It introduces a new two-step replica symmetry breaking solution in a solvable model, expanding understanding of amorphous phase transitions.

Findings

Identification of multiple low-temperature glass phases

Discovery of a physically consistent two-step RSB solution

Revelation of complex metastable states in amorphous systems

Abstract

The nature of polyamorphism and amorphous-to-amorphous transition is investigated by means of an exactly solvable model with quenched disorder, the spherical s+p multi-spin interaction model. The analysis is carried out in the framework of Replica Symmetry Breaking theory and leads to the identification of low temperature glass phases of different kinds. Besides the usual `one-step' solution, known to reproduce all basic properties of structural glasses, also a physically consistent `two-step' solution arises. More complicated phases are found as well, as temperature is further decreased, expressing a complex variety of metastable states structures for amorphous systems.