The work described in this book originates from a major effort to develop a fundamental theory of the glass and the jamming transitions. The first chapters guide the reader through the phenomenology of supercooled liquids and structural glasses and provide the tools to analyze the most frequently used models able to predict the complex behavior of such systems. A fundamental outcome is a detailed theoretical derivation of an effective thermodynamic potential, along with the study of anomalous vibrational properties of sphere systems. The interested reader can find in these pages a clear and deep analysis of mean-field models as well as the description of advanced beyond-mean-field perturbative expansions. To investigate important second-order phase transitions in lattice models, the last part of the book proposes an innovative theoretical approach, based on a multi-layer construction. The different methods developed in this thesis shed new light on important connections among constraint satisfaction problems, jamming and critical phenomena in complex systems, and lay part of the groundwork for a complete theory of amorphous solids.

The subject of jamming and rheology is a broad and interdisciplinary one that is generating increasing interest. This book deals with one of the oldest unsolved problems in condensed matter physics - that of the nature of glass transition in supercooled liquids. Jamming and Rheology is a collection of reprinted articles from several fields, ranging from structural glasses to foams and granular materials. Glassy relaxation and constrained dynamics (jamming) occur at all scales, from microscopic to macroscopic - in the glass transition of supercooled liquids, in fluids confined to thin films, in the structural arrest of particles such as granular materials, and in foams which must be driven by an applied stress in order to flow. Because jamming occurs at the transition between where a flow occurs and where motion stops, it is hoped that there may be a universal feature that describes this transition in all systems. This volume shows that the systems described above share many common phenomenological features, and covers work done by a wide range of scientists and technologists working in areas from physics to chemistry to chemical and mechanical engineering.

This pedagogical and self-contained text describes the modern mean field theory of simple structural glasses. The book begins with a thorough explanation of infinite-dimensional models in statistical physics, before reviewing the key elements of the thermodynamic theory of liquids and the dynamical properties of liquids and glasses. The central feature of the mean field theory of disordered systems, the existence of a large multiplicity of metastable states, is then introduced. The replica method is then covered, before the final chapters describe important, advanced topics such as Gardner transitions, complexity, packing spheres in large dimensions, the jamming transition, and the rheology of glass. Presenting the theory in a clear and pedagogical style, this is an excellent resource for researchers and graduate students working in condensed matter physics and statistical mechanics.

With contributions from 24 global experts in diverse fields, and edited by world-recognized leaders in physical chemistry, chemical physics and biophysics, Structural Glasses and Supercooled Liquids: Theory, Experiment, and Applications presents a modern, complete survey of glassy phenomena in many systems based on firmly established characteristics of the underlying molecular motions as deduced by first principle theoretical calculations, or with direct/single-molecule experimental techniques. A well-rounded view of a variety of disordered systems where cooperative phenomena, which are epitomized by supercooled liquids, take place is provided. These systems include structural glasses and supercooled liquids, polymers, complex liquids, protein conformational dynamics, and strongly interacting electron systems with quenched/self-generated disorder. Detailed calculations and reasoned arguments closely corresponding with experimental data are included, making the book accessible to an educated non-expert reader.

This book gives a pedagogical introduction to the physics of amorphous solids and related disordered condensed matter systems. Important concepts from statistical mechanics such as percolation, random walks, fractals and spin glasses are explained. Using these concepts, the common aspects of these systems are emphasized, and the current understanding of the glass transition and the structure of glasses are concisely reviewed. This second edition includes new material on emerging topics in the field of disordered systems such as gels, driven systems, dynamical heterogeneities, growing length scales etc. as well as an update of the literature in this rapidly developing field.

Deep connections are emerging in the physics of non-thermal systems,such as granular media, and other "complex systems" such as glass formers, spin glasses, colloids or gels. This book discusses the unifying physical theories, developed in recent years, for the description of these systems. The special focus of the book is on recent important developments in the formulation of a Statistical Mechanics approach to granular media and the description of out-of-equilibrium dynamics, such as "jamming" phenomena, ubiquitous in these "complex systems". The book collects contributions from leading researchers in these fields, providing both an introduction, at a graduate level, to these rapidly developing subjects and featuring an up to date, self contained, presentation of theoretical and experimental developments for researchers in areas ranging from Chemistry, to Engineering and Physical Sciences.·the book discusses very hot topics in physical sciences·it includes contributions from the most prominent researchers in the area·it is clearly written and self contained

Describes and interrelates the following processes: cooperative alpha processes in a cold liquid, structural relaxation in the glass near Tg, the Johari-Goldstein beta process, the Williams-Götze process in a warm liquid, fast nonactivated cage rattling and boson peak, and ultraslow Fischer modes.