Random-field-like criticality in glass-forming liquids

TL;DR

This paper develops a scalar field theory for the glass transition, revealing that the critical behavior near the transition in constrained liquids aligns with the universality class of the random-field Ising model, with quenched disorder from a reference configuration.

Contribution

It introduces a field-theoretical approach linking glass transition criticality to the random-field Ising model, highlighting the role of quenched disorder from equilibrium configurations.

Findings

Critical point in constrained liquids maps to the random-field Ising model.

Quenched disorder arises from a reference equilibrium configuration.

The approach suggests universality in glass transition criticality.

Abstract

We introduce an approach to derive an effective scalar field theory for the glass transition; the fluctuating field is the overlap between equilibrium configurations. We apply it to the case of constrained liquids for which the introduction of a conjugate source to the overlap field was predicted to lead to an equilibrium critical point. We show that the long-distance physics in the vicinity of this critical point is in the same universality class as that of a paradigmatic disordered model: the random-field Ising model. The quenched disorder is provided here by a reference equilibrium liquid configuration. We discuss to what extent this field-theoretical description and the mapping to the random field Ising model hold in the whole supercooled liquid regime, in particular near the glass transition.