THE SHEAR MODULUS OF LIQUIDS

According to the interstitialcy model of condensed matter states, liqu ids are crystals containing a few percent of self-interstitials in the rmal equilibrium. Glasses are frozen liquids. The model is expressed i n terms of the properties of the shear modulus, which decreases expone ntially with the interstitial concentration and temperature in the liq uid state, and can be nearly as large as the crystalline value in the supercooled liquid near the glass temperature. Available experimental data support the model predictions, showing that the shear modulus pla ys a central role in the description of thermodynamic and kinetic prop erties of liquids and glasses.