Glasses are amorphous solids whose constituent particles are caged by their
neighbors and thus cannot flow. This sluggishness is often ascribed to the free
energy landscape containing multiple minima (basins) separated by high
barriers. Here we show, using theory and numerical simulation, that the
landscape is much rougher than is classically assumed. Deep in the glass, it
undergoes a "roughness transition" to fractal basins. This brings about
isostaticity at jamming and marginality of glassy states near jamming. Critical
exponents for the basin width, the weak force distribution, and the spatial
spread of quasi-contacts at jamming can be analytically determined. Their value
is found to be compatible with numerical observations. This advance therefore
incorporates the jamming transition of granular materials into the framework of
glass theory. Because temperature and pressure control which features of the
landscape are experienced, glass mechanics and transport are expected to
reflect the features of the topology we discuss here. Hitherto mysterious
properties of low-temperature glasses could be explained by this approach.
%0 Journal Article
%1 Charbonneau2014Fractal
%A Charbonneau, Patrick
%A Kurchan, Jorge
%A Parisi, Giorgio
%A Urbani, Pierfrancesco
%A Zamponi, Francesco
%D 2014
%J Nature Communications
%K energy\_landscape, fractals, universality glasses jamming
%R 10.1038/ncomms4725
%T Fractal free energy landscapes in structural glasses
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4725
%V 5
%X Glasses are amorphous solids whose constituent particles are caged by their
neighbors and thus cannot flow. This sluggishness is often ascribed to the free
energy landscape containing multiple minima (basins) separated by high
barriers. Here we show, using theory and numerical simulation, that the
landscape is much rougher than is classically assumed. Deep in the glass, it
undergoes a "roughness transition" to fractal basins. This brings about
isostaticity at jamming and marginality of glassy states near jamming. Critical
exponents for the basin width, the weak force distribution, and the spatial
spread of quasi-contacts at jamming can be analytically determined. Their value
is found to be compatible with numerical observations. This advance therefore
incorporates the jamming transition of granular materials into the framework of
glass theory. Because temperature and pressure control which features of the
landscape are experienced, glass mechanics and transport are expected to
reflect the features of the topology we discuss here. Hitherto mysterious
properties of low-temperature glasses could be explained by this approach.
@article{Charbonneau2014Fractal,
abstract = {{Glasses are amorphous solids whose constituent particles are caged by their
neighbors and thus cannot flow. This sluggishness is often ascribed to the free
energy landscape containing multiple minima (basins) separated by high
barriers. Here we show, using theory and numerical simulation, that the
landscape is much rougher than is classically assumed. Deep in the glass, it
undergoes a "roughness transition" to fractal basins. This brings about
isostaticity at jamming and marginality of glassy states near jamming. Critical
exponents for the basin width, the weak force distribution, and the spatial
spread of quasi-contacts at jamming can be analytically determined. Their value
is found to be compatible with numerical observations. This advance therefore
incorporates the jamming transition of granular materials into the framework of
glass theory. Because temperature and pressure control which features of the
landscape are experienced, glass mechanics and transport are expected to
reflect the features of the topology we discuss here. Hitherto mysterious
properties of low-temperature glasses could be explained by this approach.}},
added-at = {2019-06-10T14:53:09.000+0200},
archiveprefix = {arXiv},
author = {Charbonneau, Patrick and Kurchan, Jorge and Parisi, Giorgio and Urbani, Pierfrancesco and Zamponi, Francesco},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/21ae896fe13aa6e17c6b9528e0531bfe1/nonancourt},
citeulike-article-id = {13154142},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1404.6809},
citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://arxiv.org/pdf/1404.6809},
citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4725},
day = 24,
doi = {10.1038/ncomms4725},
eprint = {1404.6809},
interhash = {b5620c93731c46befefda9d4b77f6534},
intrahash = {1ae896fe13aa6e17c6b9528e0531bfe1},
issn = {2041-1723},
journal = {Nature Communications},
keywords = {energy\_landscape, fractals, universality glasses jamming},
month = apr,
posted-at = {2014-06-25 15:19:58},
priority = {2},
timestamp = {2019-08-01T16:08:24.000+0200},
title = {{Fractal free energy landscapes in structural glasses}},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4725},
volume = 5,
year = 2014
}