The Microscopic Quantum Theory of Low Temperature Amorphous Solids

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new quantum microscopic theory for low temperature amorphous solids, linking excitations to the energy landscape and cooperative motions, explaining universal phonon scattering, the Boson Peak, and thermal properties.

Contribution

It introduces a radical revision of the understanding of excitations in glasses, emphasizing resonant collective tunneling and the energy landscape over traditional disorder-based models.

Findings

Resonant collective tunneling involves around 200 molecular units.

Density of states of TLS depends on glass transition temperature and mosaic length scale.

Quantitative explanations for Boson Peak and thermal conductivity plateau.

Abstract

The quantum excitations in glasses have long presented a set of puzzles for condensed matter physicists. A common view is that they are largely disordered analogs of elementary excitations in crystals, supplemented by two level systems which are chemically local entities coming from disorder. A radical revision of this picture argues that the excitations in low temperature glasses are deeply connected to the energy landscape of the glass when it vitrifies: the excitations are not low excited states built on a single ground state but locally defined resonances, high in the energy spectrum of a solid. According to a semiclassical analysis, the two level systems involve resonant collective tunneling motions of around two hundred molecular units which are relics of the mosaic of cooperative motions at the glass transition temperature $T_g$. The density of states of the TLS is determined by $T_g$ and the mosaic's length scale, which is a weak function of the cooling rate. The universality of phonon scattering in insulating glasses is explained. The Boson Peak and the plateau in thermal conductivity, observed at higher temperatures, are also quantitatively understood within the picture as arising from the same cooperative motions, but now accompanied by thermal activation of the mosaic's vibrational modes. The dynamics of some of the local structural transitions have significant quantum corrections to the semiclassical picture. These corrections lead to a deviation of the heat capacity and conductivity from the standard tunneling model results and explain the anomalous time dependence of the heat capacity. Interaction between tunneling centers contributes to the large and negative value of the Gr\"{u}neisen parameter often observed in glasses.