Scattering of plane-wave atomic vibrations in disordered structures

TL;DR

This paper provides a theoretical analysis of how plane-wave atomic vibrations scatter in disordered solids, demonstrating wave hybridization and validating results with computer simulations of models like vitreous silica.

Contribution

It introduces a spectral density-based theoretical framework for scattering in disordered structures and confirms hybridization phenomena through simulation comparisons.

Findings

Hybridization between transverse and longitudinal waves at similar frequencies

Analytic results align with computer simulations for model systems

Spectral densities effectively describe scattering in disordered solids

Abstract

A theoretical analysis of the scattering of plane-wave atomic excitations in disordered solids has been made in terms of the spectral densities. Hybridization between transverse and longitudinal waves of approximately the same frequency is demonstrated. The analytic results agree well with the results obtained from computer simulation for a toy linear zig-zag chain model and a model of vitreous silica constructed by molecular dynamics.