# The Polycluster Theory for the Structure of Glasses: Evidence from Low Temperature Physics

## TL;DR

This paper proposes a polycluster atomic structure model for glasses, explaining low-temperature magnetic and compositional effects through an extended tunneling model based on non-homogeneous local potentials.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel polycluster theory linking atomic structure to low-temperature phenomena in glasses, supported by experimental evidence and microscopy imaging.

## Key findings

- Extended tunneling model explains low-temperature effects.
- Non-homogeneous atomic structure supported by microscopy.
- Model aligns with experimental observations near glass transition.

## Abstract

The problems of the intermediate-range atomic structure of glasses and of the mechanism for the glass transition are approached from the low-temperature end in terms of a scenario for the atomic organization that justifies the use of an extended tunneling model. The latter is crucial for the explanation of the magnetic and compositional effects discovered in non-metallic glasses in the Kelvin and milli-Kelvin temperature range. The model relies on the existence of multi-welled local potentials for the effective tunneling particles that are a manifestation of a non-homogeneous atomic structure deriving from the established dynamical heterogeneities that characterize the supercooled liquid state. It is shown that the extended tunneling model can successfully explain a range of experiments at low temperatures, but the proposed non-homogeneous atomic structure scenario is then tested in the light of available high resolution electron microscopy imaging of the structure of some glasses and on the behaviour near the transition.