Relaxation phenomena in the glass transition

Abstract

A review work on some of the most important aspects on relaxation phenomena that occur both in fragile and strong glass-formers is presented. In particular, different empirical forms for the logarithmic shift factor and its relation with the specific heat that have been studied in the literature are discussed. The application of the generalized stochastic matrix method in strong glasses and the behavior of the relaxation times are indicated. Special attention is given to the alpha and beta relaxation processes and the crossover between the different dynamical regimes that may be recognized in the vicinity of the glass transition.