Modelling of strain fields in sheared colloidal glasses using Eshelby inclusions

Abstract: When amorphous solids are strained they display elastic deformation at small strain, however, beyond a critical strain they yield and begin to flow plastically. The origin of this plasticity lies in the irreversible rearrangement of particles. Such rearrangements have been shown to give rise to a long-ranged quadrupolar strain field, similar to Eshebly's spherical inclusions. However, their spatio-temporal organisation at finite temperatures and finite shear rate remains unclear. Here, we have investigated the strain field in sheared colloidal glasses. We show that the strain field in homogeneous flows can be modelled using a distribution of Eshelby inclusions. In particular, we show that the non-trivial decay of spatial strain correlations in sheared colloidal glasses is a result of elastic interactions between plastic rearrangements that form at spatially correlated locations.