Comment on: "Static correlations functions and domain walls in glass-forming liquids: The case of a sandwich geometry" [J. Chem. Phys. 138, 12A509 (2013)]

TL;DR

This paper argues that the observed overlap functions in glass-forming liquids can be explained by simple liquid physics near disordered substrates, challenging the original interpretation that invoked glassy phenomenology.

Contribution

It provides an alternative explanation for the behavior of overlap functions, supported by an analytic study of the 1D Ising model, without relying on complex glassy theories.

Findings

Overlap functions can be understood through simple liquid physics.

Analytic results from the 1D Ising model support this explanation.

Challenging the need for glassy phenomenology in this context.

Abstract

In this Comment, we argue that the behavior of the overlap functions reported in the commented paper can be fully understood in terms of the physics of simple liquids in contact with disordered substrates, without appealing to any particular glassy phenomenology. This suggestion is further supported by an analytic study of the one-dimensional Ising model provided as Supplementary Material.