Non-Newtonian viscosity of interacting Brownian particles: comparison of theory and data

A recently developed first-principles approach to the non-linear rheology of dense colloidal suspensions is evaluated and its results compared to those from simulations of sheared systems close to their glass transitions. The predicted scenario of a universal transition of the structural dynamics between yielding of glasses and non-Newtonian (shear-thinning) fluid flow appears well obeyed, and calculations within simplified models rationalize the data over variations in shear rate and viscosity of up to three decades.