On the origine of the Boson peak

TL;DR

This paper links the Boson peak in glasses to a phonon-saddle transition coinciding with a dynamical phase transition, providing a theoretical explanation for the peak's origin.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the Boson peak arises from a phonon-saddle transition in the energy landscape, connecting it to the dynamical phase transition in glasses.

Findings

Phonon-saddle transition coincides with the dynamical phase transition.

The Boson peak is a remnant of this transition.

The transition occurs at the same point in the energy landscape.

Abstract

We show that the phonon-saddle transition in the ensemble of generalized inherent structures (minima and saddles) happens at the same point as the dynamical phase transition in glasses, that has been studied in the framework of the mode coupling approximation. The Boson peak observed in glasses at low temperature is a remanent of this transition.