A cooler view of the glass transition: the static lengthscale “near Tg”


  Yoav G. Pollack  ,  Ricardo Gutiérrez  ,  Itamar Procaccia  
Department of Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute

The search for a static lengthscale accompanying the dramatic slowing down of dynamics at the glass transition for decreasing temperature has been ongoing for decades. Observation of the low temperature growth of a well-defined static lengthscale would resolve the long standing riddle of the nature of the glass transition. The novel approach of in situ vapour deposition allows for the exploration of supercooled liquids at temperatures far lower than previously feasible. The speaker will present surprising preliminary results based on the promising KLP (Karmakar Lerner Procaccia) lengthscale which can shed new light on the character of the glass transition.