Experimental Studies of the Liquid-Glass Transition

这个凝聚态物理项目需要光散射技术来研究分子玻璃形成材料Salol。实验将确定分子平移动力学和取向动力学之间耦合的影响。结果将验证Pick， Franosch和他们的同事的理论分析，预测耦合应该如何改变横向和纵向动力学。本研究还将探讨最近发展的分子“模式耦合”理论的一些预测。一项关于糖的玻璃化转变的新研究将从半乳糖和海藻糖开始。这种糖在经常发生玻璃化转变的食品科学中引起了相当大的兴趣，但很少有关于动力学的研究报道。这些研究将与韩国釜山国立大学的同事合作进行，他们的介电和量热研究将补充PI实验室进行的拉曼、布里渊和光子相关光谱。这项研究的更广泛的重要性在于玻璃材料的广泛应用，以及理解驱动玻璃转变的微观过程的重要性，以便开发改进的材料加工程序。研究生正在接受使用最先进的光散射技术的培训，这些技术适用于广泛的材料和特性。在这个凝聚态物理项目中，将结合激光散射技术研究接近液-玻璃转变的液体的性质。由于玻璃材料用于包括光纤和塑料在内的广泛应用，因此为了开发改进的材料加工程序，增加我们对驱动玻璃化转变的微观过程的理解非常重要。这些研究将探索一些新的影响，并将为新的理论预测提供详细的测试。相关的研究将在糖的玻璃化转变进行，这是相当感兴趣的食品科学。在那里，玻璃化转变经常发生，但对动力学的研究很少。该项目将培训研究生使用最先进的光散射技术，该技术适用于广泛的材料及其特性。这些学生将为在学术界、政府或工业实验室的职业生涯做好准备。

This condensed matter physics project entails light-scattering techniques to investigate the molecular glassforming material Salol. The experiments will determine the effects of coupling between molecular translational and orientational dynamics. The results will test theoretical analysis of Pick, Franosch and their coworkers that predicts how the coupling should modify both the transverse and longitudinal dynamics. This investigation will also explore some predictions of the recently developed molecular "mode coupling" theory. A new study of the glass transition in sugars will be pursued, beginning with galactose and trehalose. Such sugars are of considerable interest in food science where the glass transition occurs frequently, but very few studies of dynamics have been reported. These studies will be carried out in collaboration with co-workers at Pusan National University in Korea, whose dielectric and calorimetric studies will complement the Raman, Brillouin, and Photon Correlation spectroscopy performed in the PI's laboratory. The broader importance of this research lies in the widespread application of glassy materials and the importance of understanding the microscopic processes driving the glass transition in order to develop improved material processing procedures. Graduate students are being trained in the use of state-of-the-art light-scattering techniques that are applicable to a wide range of materials and properties. In this condensed matter physics project, the properties of liquids approaching the liquid-glass transition will be studied with a combination of laser light-scattering techniques. Because glassy materials are used in a wide range of applications including fiber optics and plastics, it is important to increase our understanding of the microscopic processes driving the glass transition in order to develop improved material processing procedures. These studies will explore several new effects and will provide detailed tests of new theoretical predictions. A related study will be carried out on the glass transition in sugars, which are of considerable interest in food science. There the glass transition occurs frequently, but very few studies of the dynamics have ever been carried out. The project will train graduate students in the use of state-of-the-art light-scattering techniques that are applicable to a wide range of materials and their properties. These students will be prepared for careers in the academic world, government or industrial laboratories.