Self-organization and the physics of glassy networks

Network glasses are the physical prototype for many self-organized systems, ranging from proteins to computer science. Conventional theories of gases, liquids and crystals do not account for the strongly material-selective character of the glass-forming tendency, the phase diagrams of glasses or their optimizable properties. A new topological theory, only 25 years old, has succeeded where conventional theories have failed. It shows that ( probably all slowly quenched) glasses, including network glasses, are the result of the combined effects of a few simple mechanisms. These glass-forming mechanisms are topological in nature and have already been identified for several important glasses, including chalcogenide alloys, silicates ( window glass and computer chips) and proteins.