Dynamical phase transitions and their relation to structural and thermodynamic aspects of glass physics

Abstract

We review recent developments in structural-dynamical phase transitions in trajectory space based on dynamic facilitation theory. An open question is how the dynamic facilitation perspective on the glass transition may be reconciled with thermodynamic theories that posit collective reorganization accompanied by a growing static length scale and, eventually, a vanishing configurational entropy. In contrast, dynamic facilitation theory invokes a dynamical phase transition between an active phase (close to the normal liquid) and an inactive phase, which is glassy and whose order parameter is either a time-averaged dynamic or structural quantity. In particular, the dynamical phase transition in systems with non-trivial thermodynamics manifests signatures of a lower critical point that lies between the mode-coupling crossover and the putative Kauzmann temperature, at which a thermodynamic phase transition to an ideal glass state would occur. We review these findings and discuss such criticality in the context of the low-temperature decrease in configurational entropy predicted by thermodynamic theories of the glass transition.

Topics & Concepts