title: Nonlinear plastic modes in disordered solids.
abstract: We propose a theoretical framework within which a robust micromechanical definition of precursors to plastic instabilities, often termed soft spots, naturally emerges. They are shown to be collective displacements (modes) z[over ̂] that correspond to local minima of a barrier function b(z[over ̂]), which depends solely on inherent structure information. We demonstrate how some heuristic searches for local minima of b(z[over ̂]) can a priori detect the locus and geometry of imminent plastic instabilities with remarkable accuracy, at strains as large as γ_{c}-γ∼10^{-2} away from the instability strain γ_{c}. Our findings suggest that the a priori detection of the entire field of soft spots can be effectively carried out by a systematic investigation of the landscape of b(z[over ̂]).
authors: Institute for Theoretical Physics, Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Luka
authors: L
authors: Gartner
authors: Institute for Theoretical Physics, Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Edan
authors: E
authors: Lerner