Theoretical Aspects of Topology and Successful Applications to Glasses and Proteins

The origin of glass formation has been one of the greatest mysteries of science. The first clues emerged in GexSe1-x glasses, where the bond-stretching and bond angle-bending constraints are countable, and it was found that the most favorable compositions for glass formation involved matching constraints with the degrees of freedom. Modulated-Differential Scanning Calorimetric (MDSC) studies on GexSe1-x chalcogenide glasses revealed two elastic phase transitions—a stiffness transition at x = 0.20 and a stress transition at x = 0.26—leading to the observation of three topological phases: a flexible phase at x < 0.20, an intermediate phase in the 0.20 < x < 0.26 range, and a stressed–rigid phase for compositions x > 0.26. The three topological phases (TPs) have now been generically observed in more than two dozen chalcogenides and modified oxide glasses. In proteins, the transition from the unfolded (flexible) to the folded (isostatically rigid intermediate) phase represents the stiffness transition. Self-organization causes proteins to display a dynamic reversibility of the folding process. The evolutions of protein dynamics may also exhibit stiffness phase transitions similar to those seen in glasses.