Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Cooling Rate Dependent Ellipsometry Measurements to Determine the Dynamics of Thin Glassy Films
Published on: January 26, 2016
Jamming percolation and glass transitions in lattice models
Cristina Toninelli1, Giulio Biroli, Daniel S Fisher
1Laboratoire Physique Théorique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24, rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France. cristina@corto.lpt.ens.fr
New lattice gas models reveal a dynamical glass transition. Above critical density, particle jamming breaks ergodicity, showing two-step relaxation dynamics akin to glass formers.
Area of Science:
- Statistical Mechanics
- Complex Systems
Background:
- Lattice gas models are fundamental in statistical mechanics.
- Understanding dynamical transitions is crucial for complex systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- Introduce a novel class of lattice gas models.
- Investigate the occurrence of a dynamical glass transition in these models.
Main Methods:
- Development of lattice gas models with trivial interactions and constrained dynamics.
- Analysis of ergodicity breaking and particle jamming phenomena.
- Characterization of dynamical correlation lengths and time scales.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated a dynamical glass transition at a critical density (rho_c).
- Observed the formation of an infinite spanning cluster of jammed particles.
- Found discontinuous fraction of jammed particles at the transition.
- Dynamical correlation lengths and time scales diverge exponentially in the unjammed phase.
- Dynamic correlations exhibit two-step relaxation.
Conclusions:
- The introduced lattice gas models exhibit a genuine dynamical glass transition.
- The transition is characterized by jamming and ergodicity breaking.
- The observed dynamics are analogous to those in glass formers and jamming systems.
Related Concept Videos
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation
Trends in Lattice Energy: Ion Size and Charge
Lattice Energies of Ionic Crystals
Phase Transitions
Phase Transitions

