A few bubbles in a glass

Abstract

I briefly review a recent series of papers putting forward a coarse-grained theoretical approach to the physics of supercooled liquids approaching their glass transition. After a suitable coarse-graining, the dynamics of the liquid is replaced by that of a mobility field, which can then be analytically treated. The statistical properties of the mobility field then determine those of the liquid. Thermodynamic, spatial, topographic, dynamic properties of the liquid can then be quantitatively described within a single framework, and derive from the existence of an underlying dynamic critical point located at zero-temperature, where timescales and lengthscales diverge.Comment: Paper presented at "Fluctuations and Noise 2004", May 25-28, 2004, Maspalomas, Gran Canaria, Spai