Researchers explain the distinctive low-temperature thermal properties of glasses using molecular dynamics simulations. By focusing on string-like defects, they were able to create a unified ...

Glassy state: a new field theory describes amorphous materials such as glass beads. (Courtesy: iStock/schmidt-z) Many common materials such as glass, compacted sand and toothpaste have a solid’s ...

In a crystalline solid, the atoms form an ordered lattice. Crystalline solids respond elastically to small deformations: When the applied strain is removed, the macroscopic stress, as well as the ...

Glassy states represent a fascinating class of disordered materials in which atoms or molecules are frozen into non-crystalline arrangements. Their vibrational properties differ markedly from those of ...

Material engineers and scientists have long wanted to understand the atomic structures of amorphous solids such as glass, rubber and plastics more fully. Unlike the structures of crystalline materials ...

Why do glass and other amorphous materials deform more easily in some regions than in others? A research team from the University of Osaka, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and ...

Why do avalanches start to slide? And what happens inside the "pile of snow?" If you ask yourself these questions, you are very close to a physical problem. This phenomenon not only occurs on mountain ...

Fine-tuning the thermal conductivity of amorphous silicon used in technologies such as solar cells and image sensors should become much easier thanks to the computational topology and machine-learning ...

Low-temperature properties of crystalline solids can be understood using harmonic perturbations around a perfect lattice, as in Debye’s theory. Low-temperature properties of amorphous solids, however, ...

Persistence diagram obtained from the structure of amorphous silicon, examples of the local ring structures corresponding to each point in the diagram, and representative structures including atoms ...

Researchers uncovered how soft regions in amorphous silicon mix order and disorder, offering new insights for designing stronger amorphous materials. Persistence diagram obtained from the structure of ...