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The Polycluster Theory for the Structure of Glasses: Evidence from Low Temperature Physics

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Book cover Modern Problems of Molecular Physics

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Physics ((SPPHY,volume 197))

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Abstract

The problems of the intermediate-range atomic structure of glasses and of the mechanism for the glass transition are approached from the low-temperature end in terms of a scenario for the atomic organization that justifies the use of an extended tunneling model. The latter is crucial for the explanation of the magnetic and compositional effects discovered in non-metallic glasses in the Kelvin and milli-Kelvin temperature range. The model relies on the existence of multi-welled local potentials for the effective tunneling particles that are a manifestation of a non-homogeneous atomic structure deriving from the established dynamical heterogeneities that characterize the supercooled liquid state. It is shown that the extended tunneling model can successfully explain a range of experiments at low temperatures, but the proposed non-homogeneous atomic structure scenario is then tested in the light of available high resolution electron microscopy imaging of the structure of some glasses and of the behaviour near the glass transition.

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Acknowledgements

The Author is very grateful to Maksym Paliienko and Silvia Bonfanti for their help with data fitting. He gratefully acknowledges stimulating discussions with A.S. Bakai. Part of this work was carried out whilst visiting the Physics Department of McGill University in Montreal (CA). The Author is grateful to Hong Guo for support and to him, to Martin Grant and Mark Sutton for useful discussions. On-going support from INFN-Pavia through Iniziativa Specifica GEOSYM-QFT is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienza ed Alta Tecnologia and To.Sca.Lab, Università dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio 11, 22100, Como, Italy

    Giancarlo Jug

  2. INFN – Sezione di Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Giancarlo Jug

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  1. Giancarlo Jug
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Correspondence to Giancarlo Jug .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Physics, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine

    Leonid A. Bulavin

  2. Department of Medical and Biological Physics, Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine

    Alexander V. Chalyi

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Jug, G. (2018). The Polycluster Theory for the Structure of Glasses: Evidence from Low Temperature Physics. In: Bulavin, L., Chalyi, A. (eds) Modern Problems of Molecular Physics. Springer Proceedings in Physics, vol 197. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61109-9_13

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