Relationship between ideal noncrystals and ideal glasses

Determine the relationship between ideal noncrystal states—obtained via steric structure ordering toward efficient packing in physical spatial dimensions—and the mean-field ideal glass concept that emerges from random-first-order transition theories; clarify whether and how these states coincide or differ.

Background

The authors contrast INC, which arise from steric ordering and efficient packing, with ideal glasses defined in mean-field theories where structural ordering is not considered.

They explicitly state that how these two concepts relate remains unclear and identify resolving this as an important problem for future investigation.