Statistical Physics of Liquids at Freezing and Beyond

Exploring important theories for understanding freezing and the liquid-glass transition, this book is useful for graduate students and researchers in soft-condensed matter physics, chemical physics and materials science. It details recent ideas and key developments, providing an up-to-date view of current understanding. The standard tools of statistical physics for the dense liquid state are covered. The freezing transition is described from the classical density functional approach. Classical nucleation theory as well as applications of density functional methods for nucleation of crystals from the melt are discussed, and compared to results from computer simulation of simple systems. Discussions of supercooled liquids form a major part of the book. Theories of slow dynamics and the dynamical heterogeneities of the glassy state are presented, as well as nonequilibrium dynamics and thermodynamic phase transitions at deep supercooling. Mathematical treatments are given in full detail so readers can learn the basic techniques.

1. Statistical physics of liquids; 2. The freezing transition; 3. Crystal nucleation; 4. The supercooled liquid; 5. Dynamics of collective modes; 6. Nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics; 7. The field theoretic model; 8. The ergodic-nonergodic transition; 9. The nonequilibrium dynamics; 10. Thermodynamic transition scenario; References; Index.

Exploring important theories for understanding freezing and the liquid-glass transition, this book is useful for graduate students and researchers in soft-condensed matter physics, chemical physics and materials science. It details recent ideas and key developments, providing an up-to-date view of current understanding.

Shankar Prasad Das is Professor of Physics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. During the course of his career, he has made significant contributions to the field of slow dynamics in supercooled liquids and the glass transition.