While there are four commonly observed states of matter (solid crystal, liquid, gas, and plasma), we have known for some time now that there exist many other forms of matter. Disordered hyperuniform many-particle systems can be regarded to be new states of disordered matter in that they behave more like crystals or quasicrystals in the manner in which they suppress large-scale density fluctuations, and yet are also like liquids and glasses because they are statistically isotropic structures with no Bragg peaks. Thus, disordered hyperuniform systems can be regarded to possess a "hidden order" that is not apparent on short length scales, which endows the material with novel bulk properties. I will review the theoretical foundations of hyperuniform states of matter, and then describe a variety of different disordered examples that arise in physics, materials science, mathematics and biology. These include highly degenerate classical disordered ground states, quantum-mechanical varieties, Coulombic systems, and photoreceptor cell patterns in the retinas of birds. By mapping disordered hyperuniform many-particle configurations to network solids, what was previously thought to be impossible became possible, namely, the first disordered solids to have large isotropic photonic band gaps comparable in size to photonic crystals, enabling waveguide geometries unhindered by crystallinity and anisotropy.<br/>We have shown that driving amorphous silicon configurations to nearly hyperuniform states improve their electronic band-gap properties. Finally, I will describe how the hyperuniformity concept has suggested new correlation functions from which one can extract relevant growing length scales as a function of temperature as a liquid is supercooled below its glass transition temperature.<br/>

<b>Award Address </b>(Joel Henry Hildebrand Award in the Theoretical & Experimental Chemistry of Liquids sponsored by ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company). Disordered hyperuniform materials: New states of amorphous matter

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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Award Address (Joel Henry Hildebrand Award in the Theoretical & Experimental Chemistry of Liquids sponsored by ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company). Disordered hyperuniform materials: New states of amorphous matter