"Discarded Theory Unveils Glass's Sound-Damping Mystery, Say Physicists"
Physicists at the University of Konstanz have rediscovered and reworked an old model to explain the unique way in which glass carries sound waves and vibrations. Unlike crystalline solids, glass's disordered structure causes vibrations to disperse into smaller waves, resulting in damping. The model, known as the "Euclidean random matrix approach," was initially rejected but has now been found to accurately describe the anomalies of glass at low temperatures. This rediscovery provides a starting point for further calculations and research on quantum mechanical effects in glass.