ALL ATTEMPT TO GO BEYOND THE CURRENT-MODE COUPLING THEORIES OF SUPERCOOLED LIQUIDS AND GLASS TRANSITIONS

The current mode coupling theory (MCT) of supercooled liquids and glas s transition appears to be limited to the initial stage of freezing pr ior to glass transition despite its remarkable successes. In the hope of overcoming this limitation a theoretical framework is proposed whic h combines the mode coupling mechanism and the free energy barrier hop ping which takes place in the glassy state. The new theory takes the f orm of a Fokker-Planck type equation for the probability distribution functional of density. The theory can be mapped onto a kinetic Ising m odel and some numerical consequences will be presented. (C) 1998 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.