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Updated: Mar 8, 2026

Cooling Rate Dependent Ellipsometry Measurements to Determine the Dynamics of Thin Glassy Films
Published on: January 26, 2016
Long-wavelength fluctuations and the glass transition in two dimensions and three dimensions
Skanda Vivek1, Colm P Kelleher2,3, Paul M Chaikin2,3
1Department of Physics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322; skanda.vivek@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Phase transitions significantly differ between 2D and 3D systems, but the influence of dimensionality on the glass transition is unresolved. We use microscopy to study colloidal systems as they approach their glass transitions at high concentrations and find differences between two dimensions and three dimensions. We find that, in two dimensions, particles can undergo large displacements without changing their position relative to their neighbors, in contrast with three dimensions. This is related to Mermin-Wagner long-wavelength fluctuations that influence phase transitions in two dimensions. However, when measuring particle motion only relative to their neighbors, two dimensions and three dimensions have similar behavior as the glass transition is approached, showing that the long-wavelength fluctuations do not cause a fundamental distinction between 2D and 3D glass transitions.
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