Long-range density fluctuations in glass-forming liquids

A theory of the long-range correlations (LRCs) of density fluctuations is presented for glass-forming liquids. The supercooled heterophase liquid (HPL) is considered as composed of solid-like and fluid-like species with many types of the short-range order (SRO). The random field Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equations are deduced for the HPL. The variety of the SRO originates the local random fields. It is shown that optimization of the free energy gives rise to the medium and LRCs of the random fields and order parameter. Conditions for observation of such correlations are deduced. Time dependent GL equations are used to establish the ultra-slow dynamics and annealing kinetics of the LRCs. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.