Understanding the ideal glass transition: lessons from an equilibrium study of hard disks in a channel

We use an exact transfer-matrix approach to compute the equilibrium properties of a system of hard disks of diameter σ confined to a two-dimensional channel of width 1.95σ at constant longitudinal applied force. At this channel width, which is sufficient for next-nearest-neighbor disks to interact, the system is known to have a great many jammed states. Our calculations show that the longitudinal force (pressure) extrapolates to infinity at a well-defined packing fraction ϕ(K) that is less than the maximum possible ϕ(max), the latter corresponding to a buckled crystal. In this quasi-one-dimensional problem there is no question of there being any real divergence of the pressure at ϕ(K). We give arguments that this avoided phase transition is a structural feature, the remnant in our narrow channel system of the hexatic to crystal transition, but that it has the phenomenology of the (avoided) ideal glass transition. We identify a length scale ξ̃(3) as our equivalent of the penetration length for amorphous order: In the channel system, it reaches a maximum value of around 15σ at ϕ(K), which is larger than the penetration lengths that have been reported for three-dimensional systems. It is argued that the α-relaxation time would appear on extrapolation to diverge in a Vogel-Fulcher manner as the packing fraction approaches ϕ(K).