Slow dynamics in glassy soft matter

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in understanding the slow dynamics of glassy soft matter, highlighting experimental, theoretical, and simulation studies on various glass states, out-of-equilibrium behavior, external perturbations, and heterogeneity.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent experimental and theoretical progress in characterizing the complex dynamics of glassy soft materials.

Findings

Identification of two distinct glass states: attractive and repulsive

Insights into the dynamics of systems far from equilibrium

Effects of external perturbations on glassy materials

Abstract

Measuring, characterizing and modelling the slow dynamics of glassy soft matter is a great challenge, with an impact that ranges from industrial applications to fundamental issues in modern statistical physics, such as the glass transition and the description of out-of-equilibrium systems. Although our understanding of these phenomena is still far from complete, recent simulations and novel theoretical approaches and experimental methods have shed new light on the dynamics of soft glassy materials. In this paper, we review the work of the last few years, with an emphasis on experiments in four distinct and yet related areas: the existence of two different glass states (attractive and repulsive), the dynamics of systems very far from equilibrium, the effect of an external perturbation on glassy materials, and dynamical heterogeneity.