Theoretical approach to the Poisson’s ratio behaviour during structural changes in metallic glasses Eloi Pineda ∗ Dept. de F´ ısica i Enginyeria Nuclear, ESAB, Universitat Polit` ecnica de Catalunya, Campus Baix Llobregat, Avda. Canal Ol´ ımpic s/n, 08860 Castelldefels, Spain (Dated: January 25, 2006) Abstract Recently, various studies dealing with the relationship between the elastic constants and various of the macroscopic properties of metallic glasses have been published. Particularly, the correlations between the Poisson’s ratio of the glass and both the super-cooled liquid viscosity behaviour and the brittle-ductile transition have aroused much interest. In this work, we use a model developed by Knuyt et al. (1990 and 1991) based on a Gaussian distribution for the nearest-neighbour distance in an ideal uni-component metallic glass, in order to describe qualitatively the dependence of the Poisson’s ratio on changes of the atomic structure. The results are used to explain the experimental results obtained in structural relaxation and hydrostatic pressure tests of metallic glasses. PACS numbers: 61.43.Fs, 61.25.Mv, 62.20.Dc * Electronic address: eloi.pineda@upc.edu; URL: http://mie.esab.upc.es/eloi 1