Residual stresses in glasses

The history dependence of glasses formed from flow-melted steady states by a sudden cessation of the shear rate _ is studied in colloidal suspensions, by molecular dynamics simulations and by mode-coupling theory. In an ideal glass, stresses relax only partially, leaving behind a finite persistent residual stress. For intermediate times, relaxation curves scale as a function of _ t, even though no flow is present. The macroscopic stress evolution is connected to a length scale of residual liquefaction displayed by micro- scopic mean-squared displacements. The theory describes this history dependence of glasses sharing the same thermodynamic state variables but differing static properties.