Criteria of amorphous solidification

TL;DR

This paper offers a new perspective on amorphous solidification by defining a solid as a porous medium, deriving criteria for dynamic length divergence and particle motion arrest, linking structure and dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a model-free framework for understanding amorphous solidification based on a novel definition of solids as porous media.

Findings

Dynamic length grows with solidification

Divergence of dynamic length leads to particle arrest

Criteria for dynamic length divergence are established

Abstract

A different perspective on the long-standing problem of amorphous solidification is offered, based on an alternative definition of a solid as a porous medium. General, model-free results are obtained concerning the growing dynamic length accompanying solidification and its relation to the growing relaxation time. Criteria are derived for the dynamic length to diverge and for its divergence to entail the arrest of particle motion.