Thermal expansion and the glass transition

Abstract Melting is well understood in terms of the Lindemann criterion, which essentially states that crystalline materials melt when thermal vibrations their atoms become so vigorous they shake themselves free binding forces. This picture does not necessarily have to hold for glasses, where nature solid–liquid cross-over highly debated. The criterion implies expansion coefficients crystals are inversely proportional melting temperatures. Here we find that, contrast, coefficient glasses decreases more strongly with increasing glass temperature, marks liquid–solid this material class. However, proportionality returns scaled by fragility, a measure particle cooperativity. Therefore, liquid, it sufficient simply overcome interparticle energies. Instead, energy must be invested break up typical cooperative network common glassy materials. liquid phase reveals similar anomalous behaviour and universally enhanced constant factor approximately 3. These universalities allow estimation temperatures from vice versa.