What is the simplest model of an amorphous solid?

Eric De Giuli (Ryerson University)

Apr 14. 2021, 15:00 — 15:25

From glasses and emulsions to colloids and granular matter, amorphous solids show surprising universality in correlations, vibrational properties, and rheology. It has become increasingly clear that constraints of mechanical equilibrium control these universal features. Is there a simple model, analogous to the Debye model for crystals, able to explain this? I will review attempts to answer this question from jamming, large-dimension, and field-theoretic approaches, and argue that the latter is useful and parsimonious. Future challenges and gaps in understanding will be outlined.

Further Information
Venue:
Erwin Schrödinger Institute - virtual
Recordings:
Recording
Associated Event:
Interdisciplinary Challenges in Nonequilibrium Physics (Online Workshop)
Organizer(s):
Demian Levis (U Barcelona)
Emanuele Locatelli (U of Vienna)
Jan Smrek (U of Vienna)
Francesco Turci (U Bristol)