Physicists experimentally observe topological defects in glasses for the first time

Alessio Zaccone: Amorphous state of matter is the most abundant form of visible matter in the universe.

An amorphous material is a solid whose molecules and atoms form disordered structures.

Topological defects are mathematically described as points of singularity within an ordered pattern.

They practically control the physical properties of crystals, such as their plastic yielding and melting.

Research interests range from statistical physics of disordered systems (random packings, jamming, glasses and the glass transition, colloids, nonequilibrium thermodynamics) to solid-state physics and superconductivity.

Research interests include the theory of thermally-activated reaction rate processes in shear flows.