Affinity and its derivatives in the glass transition process.

The thermodynamic treatment of the glass transition remains an issue of intense debate. When associated with the formalism of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, the lattice-hole theory of liquids can provide new insight in this direction, as has been shown by Schmelzer and Gutzow [J. Chem. Phys. 125, 184511 (2006)], by Möller et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 125, 094505 (2006)], and more recently by Tropin et al. [J. Non-Cryst. Solids 357, 1291 (2011); ibid. 357, 1303 (2011)]. Here, we employ a similar approach. We include pressure as an additional variable, in order to account for the freezing-in of structural degrees of freedom upon pressure increase. Second, we demonstrate that important terms concerning first order derivatives of the affinity-driving-force with respect to temperature and pressure have been previously neglected. We show that these are of crucial importance in the approach. Macroscopic non-equilibrium thermodynamics is used to enlighten these contributions in the derivation of C(p),κ(T), and α(p). The coefficients are calculated as a function of pressure and temperature following different theoretical protocols, revealing classical aspects of vitrification and structural recovery processes. Finally, we demonstrate that a simple minimalist model such as the lattice-hole theory of liquids, when being associated with rigorous use of macroscopic non-equilibrium thermodynamics, is able to account for the primary features of the glass transition phenomenology. Notwithstanding its simplicity and its limits, this approach can be used as a very pedagogical tool to provide a physical understanding on the underlying thermodynamics which governs the glass transition process.