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Energy landscape models of entropy production in glass relaxation: Emergence of stretched exponential decay

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  • Mauro, Sofia F.
  • Smith, Nathan D.
  • Mauro, John C.

Abstract

Glass relaxation is the process by which the non-equilibrium glassy state undergoes gradual structural change towards the liquid state. Relaxation causes degradation over time in advanced glasses, driven by the system’s capacity to increase its configurational entropy. A mathematical model of entropy relaxation is developed for energy landscapes with an arbitrary number of locally stable basins, where limiting landscapes with fully connected (N-dimensional) and sequential (one-dimensional) topologies represent the extremes of relaxation behavior. The generalized solution of the time-dependent occupation probabilities of basins in these landscapes demonstrates that entropy relaxation is a function of the available transition pathways. Entropy relaxation is found to follow a stretched exponential decay function. The energy landscape model is therefore proposed as a physical origin of the empirical stretched exponential relaxation function and the source of a functional form for the driving force of glass relaxation.

Suggested Citation

  • Mauro, Sofia F. & Smith, Nathan D. & Mauro, John C., 2026. "Energy landscape models of entropy production in glass relaxation: Emergence of stretched exponential decay," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 696(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:696:y:2026:i:c:s0378437126004048
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2026.131668
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