Glass transition as a topological phase transition.

Abstract

The glass transition is described as a phase transition in the system of topologically protected excitations in matter structure. The critical behavior of the system is considered in both static and dynamic cases. It is shown that the proposed model reproduces most of the characteristic thermodynamic and kinetic properties of glass transition: the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann law, the behavior of susceptibility and nonlinear susceptibilities, and heat capacity behavior as well as the appearance of a boson peak in the frequency dependence of the dynamic structure factor near the glass transition temperature.