Glassy state: a new field theory describes amorphous materials such as glass beads. (Courtesy: iStock/schmidt-z) Many common materials such as glass, compacted sand and toothpaste have a solid’s ...

In a crystalline solid, the atoms form an ordered lattice. Crystalline solids respond elastically to small deformations: When the applied strain is removed, the macroscopic stress, as well as the ...

Researchers have developed a new method for understanding the structure organization of disordered materials fundamentally different from previous geometric approaches of ordered crystals. This ...

A QUESTION of fundamental importance in the theory of the solid state is the nature of the arrangement of the ultimate particles in amorphous or vitreous bodies, of which glass is the most familiar ...