title: Field-theoretic formulation of a mode-coupling equation for colloids.
abstract: The only available quantitative description of the slowing down of the dynamics upon approaching the glass transition has been, so far, the mode-coupling theory, developed in the 1980s by Götze and collaborators. The standard derivation of this theory does not result from a systematic expansion. We present a field-theoretic formulation that arrives at very similar mode-coupling equation but which is based on a variational principle and on a controlled expansion in a small dimensionless parameter. Our approach applies to such physical systems as colloids interacting via a mildly repulsive potential. It can in principle, with moderate efforts, be extended to higher orders and to multipoint correlation functions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes, UMR CNRS 7057, Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7, 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, 75205 Paris cedex 13, France.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jacquin
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: van Wijland