The structural origin of the hard-sphere glass transition in granular packing

Chengjie Xia, Jindong Li, Yixin Cao, Binquan Kou, Xianghui Xiao, Kamel Fezzaa, Tiqiao Xiao and Yujie Wang ()
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Chengjie Xia: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Jindong Li: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Yixin Cao: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Binquan Kou: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Xianghui Xiao: Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory
Kamel Fezzaa: Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory
Tiqiao Xiao: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yujie Wang: Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Glass transition is accompanied by a rapid growth of the structural relaxation time and a concomitant decrease of configurational entropy. It remains unclear whether the transition has a thermodynamic origin, and whether the dynamic arrest is associated with the growth of a certain static order. Using granular packing as a model hard-sphere glass, we show the glass transition as a thermodynamic phase transition with a ‘hidden’ polytetrahedral order. This polytetrahedral order is spatially correlated with the slow dynamics. It is geometrically frustrated and has a peculiar fractal dimension. Additionally, as the packing fraction increases, its growth follows an entropy-driven nucleation process, similar to that of the random first-order transition theory. Our study essentially identifies a long-sought-after structural glass order in hard-sphere glasses.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9409

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