The Aperiodic Crystal Picture and Free Energy Barriers in Glasses

Abstract

The aperiodic crystal picture associates the glass transition with freezing into a nonperiodic structure. Dynamics in the glassy state involves activated jumps between different aperiodic free energy minima. Activation barriers may be estimated through the use of freezing theory and the theory of dense solids. The results resemble, but are distinct from, free volume theory. Reasonable fits to experimental data are obtained