David Chandler of the University of California, Berkeley is supported by an award from the Chemical Theory, Models and Computational Methods Program in the Chemistry division to carry out research in the area of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, specifically to elucidate the underlying driving forces and implications of glass transitions. These are transitions of complex systems driven far from equilibrium, transitions manifested in the structure trajectory space. Theoretical techniques have only recently allowed for their systematic analysis, and results from these techniques are now being used in this research to further explore the molecular origins of glass transitions in systems ranging from simple to complex mixtures. In particular, this research aims at predictive theory for the energies and structures of elementary excitations in glass. It should answer how these properties relate to the preparation of the glass, to responses of glass to stress, and to changes in components. The theory should have a degree of generality to reveal implications for other classes of materials, making predictions that can be tested by experiment, and with practical approximations and insights guided by unambiguous results derived from molecular simulation.
The work is at the frontier of contemporary statistical physics. Scientists have long understood the principles of equilibrium theory and exploited these principles to design useful ordered and regular condensed phases. Examples include regular solution theory as it is used in the oil-refining industry, and the Ostwald step rule for nucleation used in the steel industry. But no similarly fundamental understanding is yet available for kinetically trapped disordered solids and nanoclusters -- materials, like glass, that emerge by driving liquid matter out of equilibrium. This research is devoted to ameliorating this gap in knowledge. Concerning glasses, in particular, these materials are welcoming and long-term stable hosts for impurities. Glasses are thus materials of choice when contemplating the safe stable storage of radioactive waste materials. Of similar or possibly greater importance, secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) are most often in glassy states. Their transformations play a dominant role in the chemistry of the atmosphere, affecting Earth's climate and human health. This research, therefore, addresses issues pertaining to significant problems in society. Its profound importance together with its fundamental nature makes it superbly appropriate for motivating and training students to become scientists.
