They propose a series of experiments and computer simulations which will help to clarify the nature of the glass transition and help to elucidate the properties of the glass state itself. They will use their recently developed specific heat spectrometer to investigate the shape and temperature dependence of the distribution of relaxation times that appear above glass transitions. The data will be interpreted in light of the Kauzmann criterion for where the specific heat anomaly can occur. Their computer simulations and nonlinear susceptibility studies are aimed at finding a length scale associated with the glassy relaxation. They also plan to study the secondary relaxations that occur in glasses below Tg and the low temperature specific heat of the same glasses to see if they can be related to one another by some current theories of the glassy state. They will also measure the x-ray diffraction of Arsenic (II) Selenide to be used in conjunction with neutron diffraction measurements to determine the partial structure factors of this glass.
