Mathematical approach provides a new step in resolving the mystery of glass
Monday, January 19, 2015 - 09:00
in Physics & Chemistry
An interdisciplinary team of mathematicians and physicists has developed a new quantitative approach to understanding the mysterious properties of the materials called glasses. The study is described in a paper in the Nature Publishing Group journal Scientific Reports on January 16, 2015. The research, led by Leonid Berlyand, professor of mathematics at Penn State University and Valerii Vinokur, Argonne Distinguished Fellow in the Materials Science Division of the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, enables a breakthrough in the description of the subclass of glasses, known as a "Coulomb glass," and has wide-ranging application to understanding a variety of glassy systems in nature.