Colloquium

Puzzling Physics of the Complex Fluid, Liquid Water

H. Eugene Stanley
Director of the Center for Polymer Studies,
Boston University
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
Higgins 310, 4 pm

Recent experimental and theoretical investigations highlight the central importance of supercooled and glassy states for understanding liquid water, and provide a body of knowledge from which a coherent interpretation of its properties may possibly emerge in the future [1]. We will review some of the highlights of this recent work [2]. We will also discuss some recent work [3], such as attempts to understand cooperative phenomena in water by investigating spatially heterogeneous dynamics [4].

This work was done in collaboration with C. A. Angell, S. V. Buldyrev, G. Franzese, N. Giovambattista, E. La Nave, G. Malescio, S. Mossa, S. Sastry, A. Scala, F. Sciortino, A. Skibinsky, F. W. Starr, and M. Yamada.

[1] See, e.g., P. G. Debenedetti and H. E. Stanley, "The Physics of Supercooled and Glassy Water" Physics Today 56 [June issue], p. 40 (2003); see also the mini-reviews O. Mishima and H. E. Stanley, "The relationship between liquid, supercooled and glassy water" Nature 396, 329 (1998), F. W. Starr, C. A. Angell, E. La Nave, S. Sastry, A. Scala, F. Sciortino, and H. E. Stanley, "Recent Results on the Connection between Thermodynamics and Dynamics in Supercooled Water" [Festschrift for W. A. Kauzmann] Biophysical Chemistry 105, 573--583 (2003), S. V. Buldyrev and H. E. Stanley, "A System with Multiple Liquid-Liquid Critical Points" [Proc. Eilat Conf.], Physica A 330, 124--129 (2003), and recent unpublished reviews by C. A. Angell and P. G. Debenedetti.

[2] Recent experimental work is described in: O. Mishima,  "Liquid-Liquid Critical Point in Heavy Water,'' Phys. Rev. Lett. 85,   334--336 (2000); Y. Katayama et al, "A First-Order Liquid-Liquid   Phase Transition in Phosphorus,'' Nature 403, 170--173 (2000);   A. K. Soper and M. A. Ricci, "Structures of High-Density and   Low-Density Water," Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2881--2884 (2000);   O. Mishima and H. E. Stanley, "Decompression-Induced Melting of Ice   IV and the Liquid-Liquid Transition in Water,'' Nature   392, 164 (1998). Recent calculations include A. Scala, F. W. Starr,   E. La Nave, H. E. Stanley, and F. Sciortino, "The Free Energy Surface   of Supercooled Water" Phys. Rev. E 62, 8016 (2000); G. Franzese,   G. Malescio, A. Skibinsky, S. V. Buldyrev, and H. E. Stanley,   "Generic mechanism for generating a liquid-liquid phase transition''   Nature 409, 692-695 (2001).

[3] See, e.g., the recent work: A.Scala, F. W. Starr, F. Sciortino, E. La Nave, and H. E. Stanley,"Configurational Entropy and Diffusivity of Supercooled Water" Nature 406, 166-169 (2000); E. La Nave, A. Scala, F. W. Starr, H. E. Stanley and F. Sciortino, "Dynamics of Supercooled Water in Configuration Space," Phys. Rev. E 64, 036102-1 -- 036102-10 (2001); F. W. Starr, S. Sastry, E. La Nave, A. Scala, H. E. Stanley and F. Sciortino, "Thermodynamic and Structural Aspects of the Potential Energy Surface of Simulated Water," Phys. Rev. E 63 041201-1 -- 041201-10 (2001); E. La Nave, H. E. Stanley and F. Sciortino, "Configuration Space Connectivity across the Fragile to Strong Transition in Silica'' Phys.Rev.Letters 88, 035501-1 to 035501-4 (2002) cond-mat/0108546; M. Yamada, S. Mossa, H. E. Stanley, F. Sciortino, "Interplay Between Time-Temperature-Transformation and the Liquid-Liquid Phase Transition in Water'' Phys. Rev. Letters 88, 195701 (2002); cond-mat/0202094; M. Yamada, F. Sciortino, and H. E. Stanley, "Equation of State of Supercooled Water from the Sedimentation Profile,'' Phys. Rev. E Rapid Communications 67, 010202 (2003); N. Giovambattista, C. A. Angell, F. Sciortino, and H. E. Stanley, "Glass-transition temperature of water: A simulation study", Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 047801 (2004); N. Giovambattista, F. Sciortino, and H. E. Stanley, "Cooling Rate, Heating Rate, and Aging Effects in Glassy Water,'' Phys. Rev. E Rapid Communications 69, 050201 (2004).

[4] N. Giovambattista, F. Starr, S. V. Buldyrev, and H. E. Stanley, "Connection between Adam-Gibbs Theory and Spatially Heterogeneous Dynamics'' Phys. Rev. Letters 90, 085506 (2003); N. Giovambattista, F. W. Starr, F. Sciortino, S. V. Buldyrev, and H. E. Stanley, " Transitions between Inherent Structures in Water," Phys. Rev. E 65, 041502-1 -- 041502-6 (2002) cond-mat/0201028; N. Giovambattista, H. E. Stanley, and F. Sciortino, "A Potential Energy Landscape Study of the Amorphous-Amorphous Transformation in H₂0," Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 115504 (2003); N. Giovambattista, H. E. Stanley, and F. Sciortino, "Relation between the High-Density Phase and the Very High-Density Phase of Amorphous Solid Water'' Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, xxxxx (2005).