Amorphous solids lack long-range order. Therefore identifying structural defects—akin to dislocations in crystalline solids—that carry plastic flow in these systems remains a daunting challenge. By comparing many different structural indicators in computational models of glasses, under a variety of conditions we carefully assess which of these indicators are able to robustly identify the structural defects responsible for plastic flow in amorphous solids. We further demonstrate that the density of defects changes as a function of material preparation and strain in a manner that is highly correlated with the macroscopic material response. Our work represents an important step towards predicting how and when an amorphous solid will fail from its microscopic structure.

中文翻译：

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从结构指标预测无序固体中的可塑性

非晶态固体缺乏长程有序。因此，要确定结构缺陷（类似于结晶固体中的位错），这些缺陷会在这些系统中产生塑性流动，仍然是一项艰巨的挑战。通过在玻璃的计算模型中比较许多不同的结构指标，我们可以在各种条件下仔细评估这些指标中的哪一个能够稳健地确定造成非晶态固体中塑料流动的结构缺陷。我们进一步证明，缺陷的密度随材料制备和应变的变化而变化，与宏观材料响应高度相关。我们的工作代表了从微观结构预测无定形固体将如何以及何时失效的重要一步。