Mode-coupling theory and the glass transition in supercooled liquids

Abstract

Mode-coupling theory is an approach to the study of complex behavior in the supercooled liquids which developed from the idea of a nonlinear feedback mechanism. From the coupling of slowly decaying correlation functions the theory predicts the existence of a characteristic temperature T_c above the experimental glass transition temperature T_g for the liquid. This article discusses the various methods used to obtain the model equations and illustrates the effects of structure on dynamics and scaling behavior over different time scales using a wave-vector-dependent model. It compares the theoretical predictions, experimental observations, and computer simulation results, and also considers phenomenological extensions of mode-coupling theory. Numerical solutions of the model equations to study the dynamics from a nonperturbative approach are also reviewed. The review looks briefly at recent observations from landscape studies of model systems of structural glasses and their relation to the mode-coupling temperature T_c. The equations for the mean-field dynamics driven by the p-spin interaction Hamiltonian are similar to those of mode-coupling theory for structural glasses. Related developments in the nonequilibrium dynamics and generalization of the fluctuation-dissipation relation for the structural glasses are briefly touched upon. The review ends with a summary of the open questions and possible future direction of the field.