Burgers rings as topological signatures of Eshelby-like plastic events in glasses

TL;DR

This paper introduces a topological method using Burgers rings and continuous Burgers vectors to accurately identify and characterize Eshelby-like plastic events in glasses, advancing understanding of their microscopic plasticity mechanisms.

Contribution

It presents a novel topological approach combining analytical and simulation techniques to locate and analyze Eshelby-like plastic events in amorphous solids.

Findings

Successful localization of Eshelby-like structures using Burgers rings

Identification of the center of mass and orientation of plastic events

Enhanced understanding of plastic rearrangements in glasses

Abstract

Eshelby-like quadrupolar structures serve as the fundamental microscopic units for characterizing plastic instabilities in amorphous solids and play a crucial role in explaining their mechanical failure, including the formation of shear bands. However, identifying Eshelby-like plastic events in glasses remains challenging due to their inherent structural and dynamical complexity. In this work, we show that Eshelby-like structures can be precisely identified and localized using a topological invariant known as the continuous Burgers vector. By combining analytical and simulation techniques, we reveal the emergence of a topological Burgers ring around Eshelby plastic events, enabling the precise identification of their center of mass and capturing their orientation as well. This proposed method offers a clear and unambiguous framework to locate and characterize the plastic rearrangements that govern plasticity in glasses.