Mean-field description for the architecture of low-energy excitations in glasses.

Abstract

In amorphous materials, groups of particles can rearrange locally into a new stable configuration. Such elementary excitations are key as they determine the response to external stresses, as well as to thermal and quantum fluctuations. Yet, understanding what controls their geometry remains a challenge. Here we build a scaling description of the geometry and energy of low-energy excitations in terms of the distance to an instability, as predicted, for instance, at the dynamical transition in mean-field approaches of supercooled liquids. We successfully test our predictions in ultrastable computer glasses, with a gapped spectrum and an ungapped (regular) spectrum. Overall, our approach explains why excitations become less extended, with a higher energy and displacement scale upon cooling.