Two characteristic constants of the supercooled liquid transitions of amorphous substances

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new physical mechanism for supercooled liquids involving two characteristic constants, supported by theoretical calculations and experimental data, revealing novel transitions and properties of amorphous substances.

Contribution

It introduces a novel physical state with unique variables and identifies two characteristic constants, ^3 and 2^3, associated with supercooled liquid transitions.

Findings

Identification of two new transitions with characteristic values ^3 and 2^3.

Experimental data shows glass transition near 2^3.

Splitting of relaxation peaks linked to these characteristic constants.

Abstract

Supercooled liquid state is a particularly interesting state in that it exhibits several unusual physical properties. To illustrate, the liquid displays a single peak relaxation frequency at high temperatures, which splits into $\alpha$ relaxation and $\beta$ relaxation in the moderately supercooled regime, with relaxation a disappearing at the glass transition temperature. The mechanism underlying these unusual physical properties of liquids has always been one of the important research topics in condensed matter. Here, a new mechanism is proposed. A distinctive physical state is built, and its most salient feature is that its independent variables are difficult or impossible to measure. Theoretical calculations indicate that there exist two sets of measurable variables in this physical state that cannot be measure exactly simultaneously. Moreover, it is easy to reach an erroneous conclusion, namely that ``a system in this physical state is in a superposition of some real states, until it is measured''. Further theoretical calculations demonstrate that there are two new transitions and that $\mathrm{e}^{3}$ and $2\mathrm{e}^{3}$ are characteristic values of these two transitions, respectively, where $\mathrm{e}$ is Euler's number. Considerable experimental data shows that the characteristic value of glass transition appears to be concentrated near $2\mathrm{e}^{3}$ and the characteristic value of another transition (for example, the splitting of relaxation peak) appears to be concentrated near $\mathrm{e}^{3}$.