title: Long-wavelength fluctuations and the glass transition in two dimensions and three dimensions.
abstract: Phase transitions significantly differ between 2D and 3D systems, but the influence of dimensionality on the glass transition is unresolved. We use microscopy to study colloidal systems as they approach their glass transitions at high concentrations and find differences between two dimensions and three dimensions. We find that, in two dimensions, particles can undergo large displacements without changing their position relative to their neighbors, in contrast with three dimensions. This is related to Mermin-Wagner long-wavelength fluctuations that influence phase transitions in two dimensions. However, when measuring particle motion only relative to their neighbors, two dimensions and three dimensions have similar behavior as the glass transition is approached, showing that the long-wavelength fluctuations do not cause a fundamental distinction between 2D and 3D glass transitions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322; skanda.vivek@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Skanda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vivek
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003.|Center for Soft Matter Research, New York University, New York, NY 10003.
authors.forename: Colm P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Kelleher
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003.|Center for Soft Matter Research, New York University, New York, NY 10003.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Chaikin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322.
authors.forename: Eric R
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1503-3633
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Weeks
keywords: colloidal glass transition; dimensionality; long-wavelength fluctuations; phase transition; two-dimensional physics