Computer simulations of structure and transport in glasses and supercooled liquids

In terms of development in the study of glasses and glass-forming liquids via computer simulation, during 1997 and early 1998, notable advances have been made in the quantification of dynamical heterogeneities in supercooled liquids; in particular several studies have identified a growing dynamical length scale as the glass transition is approached. New insights into the origins of ‘polyamorphism’ have been obtained from simulations of water and silica. Most significantly, a connection between equilibrium relaxation and inherent structures of liquids has been identified that suggests an underlying static origin for the glass transition.