A Study of Supercooled Liquids and Low Temperature Polyamorphism

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Daniel Kivelson of the Chemistry Department of the University of California at Los Angeles is supported by a grant from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Program to continue his studies of supercooled liquids and low temperature polyamorphism. He plans a theoretical and experimental study of supercooled liquids, the glass transition, and a newly identified first order phase change (called glaciation) from a supercooled liquid to a rigid amorphous phase. Kivelson will employ a newly developed thermodynamic (nonmolecular) theory of an avoided critical point, the avoidance being associated with geometric frustration. The project will involve theoretical modeling of supercooled liquids and experimental investigations of the related, apparently amorphous rigid phases. Glasses are non-crystalline states of matter which have unique materials properties of significant commercial importance. Glassy states exist in many chemical systems including polymeric materials and biological systems such as DNA and RNA. Kivelson's research employs both theoretical and experimental approaches to the study of glassy materials in an attempt to obtain a molecular level understanding of the physical properties which are unique to this class of materials.