Eur. Phys. J. E (2014) 37: 31
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2014-14031-4

Regular Article

The glass transition in a nutshell: A source of inspiration to describe the subcritical transition to turbulence

¹ EC2M, ESPCI-ParisTech, UMR Gulliver 7083 CNRS, 75005, Paris, France
² Laboratoire de Physique, ENS Lyon, CNRS, Université de Lyon, 46 Allée d’Italie, 69007, Lyon, France
³ Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique, Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble, CNRS UMR 5588, BP 87, F-38402, Saint-Martin d’Hères, France

^* e-mail: eric.bertin@ujf-grenoble.fr

Received: 26 July 2013
Revised: 8 October 2013
Accepted: 15 October 2013
Published online: 28 April 2014

Abstract

The starting point of the present work is the observation of possible analogies, both at the phenomenological and at the methodological level, between the subcritical transition to turbulence and the glass transition. Having recalled the phenomenology of the subcritical transition to turbulence, we review the theories of the glass transition at a very basic level, focusing on the history of their development as well as on the concepts they have elaborated. Doing so, we aim at attracting the attention on the above-mentioned analogies, which we believe could inspire new developments in the theory of the subcritical transition to turbulence. We then briefly describe a model inspired by one of the simplest and most inspiring models of the glass transition, the so-called Random Energy Model, as a first step in that direction.