Highly Mobile Metastable State of He-4 Thin Films: A Glass Transition by Mechanical Perturbation?

Solid layers of helium on graphite surface are known to go into a highly mobile state (HMS) once the solid layer is enforced to slip on the substrate. The HMS collapses to the stable inert state with the lifetime extending over 104\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$10^4$$\end{document} s. In this paper, we suggest that the HMS is a structural glass by showing the similarities between the present system and an organic conductor named BEDT-TTF. The latter was recently discovered to be an electronic glass if the cooling rate is rapid enough across the freezing temperature (Wigner crystal formation temperature). We then address a novel annealing process promoted by a local condensate which should be seen for the present He-4 case as the condensation fraction grows in the liquid overlayer.