Kinetic Theory of Slowly Relaxing Systems

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Hans Andersen of Stanford University is supported by an award from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry program to carry out research on the development of a kinetic theory for slowly relaxing systems of which glasses and proteins are common examples. In prior work supported by NSF, the PI developed a formally exact diagrammatic kinetic theory of liquids that led to a useful picture of dynamics on various time scales. In the current work, he is extending this method to look at temperatures below the critical temperature of mode coupling theory. The singularity which arises in mode coupling theory at that temperature might be an artifact of the theory and may have no relation to the true glass transition. This research will shed light on an important phase transition that occurs in glasses, of which proteins are an interesting example. It is expected to add to the body of techniques available for stimulating complex systems, and may open ways to treat the behavior of systems as complex as a biological cell, thus having a broad impact on a number of fields of science.