Dielectric relaxation in dipole glasses, and thermal relaxation and the glass transition in systems with a maximum relaxation time

Abstract

The dielectric relaxation of dipole glasses, represented through a complex conductivity, is describable by a sublinear frequency dependence of the real part of the conductivity, σ(ω) at high frequencies (above the relaxation peak frequency, ω c) and a supralinear, possibly quadratic, frequency dependence at low frequencies, ω < ω c. σ(ω) is also known to scale as σ(ω) σ(ω c ) = g( ω ω c ) . This simple scaling formulation for σ(ω) translates into a rather complex scaling relationship for the dielectric constant. A plausible explanation of these results is given. The question of whether the glass transition in dipole glasses can be repsesented as a process of dynamic percolation at a percolation time, t p, related to ω c −1 is also considered in an indirect fashion. Evidence for such an interpretation is given.