Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Nov 12;93(20):205701. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.205701. Epub 2004 Nov 10.
Physical review letters
Moshe Schwartz
PMID: 15600940 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.205701
The distinction between a classical glass and a classical liquid is difficult, since both are disordered. The difference is in the fact that a glass is frozen while the liquid is not. In this Letter an equilibrium measure is suggested that distinguishes between a glass and a liquid. The choice of this measure is based on the idea that in a system which is not frozen symmetry under permutation of particles is physically relevant, because particles can be permuted by actual physical motion. This is not the case in a frozen system. In this Letter it is shown how to generalize naturally the quantum mechanical concept of Bose condensed fraction to classical systems in order to distinguish between the glass and the liquid. It is finite in the liquid and zero in the frozen state. The actual value of the condensed fraction in the liquid may serve also as a measure of the glassiness in the liquid.
