Abstract:
Gaining microscopic insights into the true nature of the glass transition remains one of
the most challenging problem in condensed matter physics [1]. Glasses are di cult to
understand since they are mechanically rigid like crystals but at the same time have a
disordered structure like that of a liquid. Glasses and other amorphous solids could be
made of atoM.S., organic molecules, polymers, or assemblies of colloidal particles. Glass
formation in various kinds of materials exhibit remarkably universal features.
A large portion of this e ort in understanding the glass transition problem, however,
has focused on systeM.S. that are in thermal equilibrium. The question address in this
thesis is how the glass transition phenomenology changes if the system is driven by
uctuations
that do not have a thermal origin? In the last decade it has been realized that
many of the phenomena associated with glassy dynamics are also observed in two prototypical
non-equilibrium systeM.S. driven granular media [2{7] and active matter [8]. These
systeM.S. are out of equilibrium as there is continuous input of energy at each particle level
and detailed balance is violated. The term active matter encompasses a variety of di erent
materials [8], ranging from living tissues to active colloidal particles to macroscopic
granular matter driven by external forcing.
