Roles of liquid structural ordering in glass transition, crystallization, and water's anomalies

Abstract

The liquid state is one of the fundamental and essential states of matter, but its physical understanding is far behind the other states, such as the gas and solid states, due to the difficulties associated with the high density causing many-body correlations and the lack of long-range order. Significant open problems in liquid science include glass transition, crystallization, and water's anomalies. Austen Angell has contributed tremendously to these problems and proposed many new concepts of fundamental importance. In this article, we review how these concepts have influenced our work on liquid physics, focusing on the roles of liquid structural ordering in glass transition, crystallization, and water's anomalies.

Keywords

• Glass transition
• Crystallization
• Water's anomalies
• Glass-forming ability
• Many-body correlations
• Angular order