The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences (Kavli ITS) held a conference on From Supercooled Liquids to Glasses: Current Challenges for Amorphous Materials from Aug. 6th to Aug. 18th, 2017. More than forty scholars from all over the world including professors from Yale University, University of Sydney, HK University of Science & Technology, Johns Hopkins University, University of North Carolina, Univ. di Pisa and others has participated and delivered speeches on their latest researches, covering a wide range of interdisciplinary fields such as physics, chemistry and material science. Professor Fu-Chun Zhang, the director of Kavli ITS, gave his warm welcome to all the participants at the opening ceremony.
Amorphous materials or glasses are a large sub-set of condensed matters that are universal in nature and have been widely used in our lives. It would also benefit the electronics and optoelectronics, metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, foodscience, biomaterials, geoscience, volcanology, petrology, materials for energy source applications and other research fields if we could solve the glass problems. However, the problem of glass transition and the nature of glass is still at large because of the lack of apparent structural symmetries and the failure to connect the structure of glasses to their intriguing properties and unique performance.
The puzzling questions surrounding supercooled liquids and glasses can be roughly divided into four categories: structures, thermodynamics, dynamics and application properties. Recently, it has become clearer that although the challenges for amorphous materials are not confined to their individual categories, but are deeply intertwined at the most fundamental level. Therefore there is a need for integrating studies on structures, thermodynamics, dynamics and application properties of glasses, and for developing better connections between liquids and glasses. Through these efforts, we might be able to reach a new level of understanding of amorphous materials that will benefit both fundamental sciences and technological applications.
Prof. Zexin Zhang (Soochow University)
Prof. Jepp Dyre (Roskilde University)
The general objective of this program is to bring together the leading researchers in supercooled fluids and glasses across several disciplines, including physicists, chemists, and material scientists, to foster awareness and cross-disciplinary transfer of ideas in this rapidly evolving field. Speakers and participants shared ideas and discussed about the future of structures, thermodynamics, dynamics and application properties in metallic glasses, colloidal glasses, granular materials, and computer simulation. The conference will not only provide a platform for idea exchange and building bridges between local and international scholars, but also to push forward the research in this field as well as to construct Kavli ITS as a world-class scientific research and interdisciplinary communication center.
