1. Department of Polymer Science, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325-3909, USA
2. IA&E, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia

Correspondence to: A. P. Sokolov¹ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to A.P.S. (Email: alexei@uakron.edu).

Abstract

The nature of the transformation by which a supercooled liquid 'freezes' to a glass—the glass transition—is a central issue in condensed matter physics^{1, 2, 3} but also affects many other fields, including biology⁴. Substantial progress has been made in understanding this phenomenon over the past two decades, yet many key questions remain. In particular, the factors that control the temperature-dependent relaxation and viscous properties of the liquid phase as the glass transition is approached (that is, whether the glass-forming liquid is 'fragile' or 'strong'^{5, 6, 7}) remain unclear. Here we show that the fragility of a glass-forming liquid is intimately linked to a very basic property of the corresponding glass phase: the relative strength of shear and bulk moduli, or Poisson's ratio.

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