From viscous fluids to elastic solids: A perspective on the glass transition

TL;DR

This paper presents a theory explaining the transition from viscous to elastic behavior in supercooled liquids and glasses, highlighting the emergence of long-range stress fields and diffusive Goldstone modes.

Contribution

It introduces a non-local stress theory that captures the crossover from viscous to elastic correlations and explains long-range stress fields in glasses.

Findings

Long-ranged stress fields originate from shear stress coupling to transverse deformations.

Goldstone mode in colloidal glass is diffusive.

Theory explains the viscous-elastic crossover in supercooled liquids.

Abstract

A theory for the non-local stress in liquids captures the crossover from viscous to elastic correlations upon supercooling. It explains the emergence of long-ranged stress fields in glass which originate from the coupling of shear stress to transverse deformations. The Goldstone mode in colloidal glass is shown to be diffusive.