A statistical free-volume model for glass-forming liquids

Abstract

A simple model for a liquid, based on volume fluctuations, is proposed. The model is developed in terms of a statistical geometry and provides a method, albeit naive, for calculating both viscosity coefficients and coordination distributions. A realistic viscosity relation is obtained by assuming that the fluctuations are normally distributed and that cooperative processes vary with temperature. The model does not require the viscosity of a glass to rise to infinity at some finite temperature, as in other models, although this possibility is not precluded.