Theory of Structural Glasses and Supercooled Liquids

TL;DR

This paper reviews the Random First Order Transition Theory of the glass transition, detailing its predictions and experimental tests across various phenomena in supercooled liquids and glasses.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of the RFOT theory, highlighting its quantitative predictions and experimental validations for phenomena around the glass transition.

Findings

Explains viscosity jump and heat capacity change at Tg

Connects relaxation non-exponentiality with fragility

Describes dynamic heterogeneity and deviations from classical laws

Abstract

We review the Random First Order Transition Theory of the glass transition, emphasizing the experimental tests of the theory. Many distinct phenomena are quantitatively predicted or explained by the theory, both above and below the glass transition temperature $T_g$. These include: the viscosity catastrophe and heat capacity jump at $T_g$, and their connection; the non-exponentiality of relaxations and their correlation with the fragility; dynamic heterogeneity in supercooled liquids owing to the mosaic structure; deviations from the Vogel-Fulcher law, connected with strings or fractral cooperative rearrangements; deviations from the Stokes-Einstein relation close to $T_g$; aging, and its correlation with fragility; the excess density of states at cryogenic temperatures due to two level tunneling systems and the Boson Peak.