When physics meets chemistry at dynamic glass transition

TL;DR

This paper explores the complex interplay between physics and chemistry at the glass transition, aiming to unify understanding of the glassy state through interdisciplinary analysis of scaling effects and dynamic fluctuations.

Contribution

It provides a new perspective on the nature of the glassy state by analyzing the intersection of physical laws governing condensed matter and molecular systems.

Findings

Insights into the scaling effects at the glass transition

Understanding of dynamic fluctuations in glassy matter

Proposed framework for unifying physics and chemistry in glass transition

Abstract

Can the laws of physics be unified. One of the most puzzling challenges is to reconcile physics and chemistry, where molecular physics meets condensed-matter physics, resulting from the scaling effect and dynamic fluctuation of glassy matter at the glass transition temperature. Pioneer of condensed-matter physics, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Philip Warren Anderson, wrote in 1995: The deepest and most interesting unsolved problem in condensed-matter physics is probably the theory of the nature of glassy state and the glass transition. In 2005, the question of 'what is the nature of glassy state' was suggested as one of the greatest scientific conundrums over the next quarter-century for Science's 125th anniversary. However, the nature of glassy state and its connection to the glass transition have not been fully understood owing to the interdisciplinary complexity of physics and chemistry, where they are governed by the physical laws at condensed-matter and molecular scales, respectively. Therefore, study on the glass transition becomes essential to explore the working principles of scaling effect and dynamic fluctuation in glassy matter, as well as further reconcile the interdisciplinary complexity of physics and chemistry.