An analytically tractable model is introduced which exhibits both, a glass– like freezing transition, and a collection of double–well configurations in its zero– temperature potential energy landscape. The latter are generally believed to be responsible for the anomalous low–temperature properties of glass-like and amorphous systems via a tunneling mechanism that allows particles to move back a...

Extensive studies on polymer thin films to date have revealed their interesting but unusual properties such as film thickness dependence of glass transition temperature Tg and thermal expansivity. Recent studies have shown that the lower Tg is not always related to the higher mobility in polymer thin films, which contradicts our current understanding of the glass transition process. In this wor...

Low-temperature properties of crystalline solids can be understood using harmonic perturbations around a perfect lattice, as in Debye's theory. Low-temperature properties of amorphous solids, however, strongly depart from such descriptions, displaying enhanced transport, activated slow dynamics across energy barriers, excess vibrational modes with respect to Debye's theory (i.e., a boson peak),...

We study by molecular dynamics computer simulation a binary soft-sphere mixture that shows a pronounced difference in the species' long-time dynamics. Anomalous, power-law-like diffusion of small particles arises that can be understood as a precursor of a double-transition scenario, combining a glass transition and a separate small-particle localization transition. Switching off small-particle ...

The ability of seeds to germinate at high salt concentration in the soil is crucial importance for the survival and perpetuation of many plant species. Therefore, we examined effects of different concentrations of NaCl (200, 400, 600 and 800 mM) on germination of four species from fam. Solanaceae and Brassicaceae (Capsicum annum, Solanum lycopersicum, Brasica oleracea and Sinapis alba). By this...