Thermodynamic universality of configurational entropy in glass-forming liquids

Glass is a liquid-like disordered material but behaves mechanically like a solid. Ubiquitous in nature and important in technology, the vitreous state manifests its presence from window glass, polymers, to optical fiber, and almost all kinds of materials have ability to form glass. Significant progress has been made in understanding the nature of the phenomenon, yet the issue remains a major scientific challenge. Here we propose one concise,...