INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS Rep. Prog. Phys. 68 (2005) 1405–1478 doi:10.1088/0034-4885/68/6/R03 Supercooled dynamics of glass-forming liquids and polymers under hydrostatic pressure C M Roland 1 , S Hensel-Bielowka 2 , M Paluch 2 and R Casalini 1,3 1 Naval Research Laboratory, Chemistry Division, Code 6120, Washington, DC 20375-5342, USA 2 Institute of Physics, Silesian University, ul. Uniwersytecka 4, 40-007 Katowice, Poland 3 Chemistry Department, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA Received 11 March 2005 Published 19 May 2005 Online at stacks.iop.org/RoPP/68/1405 Abstract An intriguing problem in condensed matter physics is understanding the glass transition, in particular the dynamics in the equilibrium liquid close to vitrification. Recent advances have been made by using hydrostatic pressure as an experimental variable. These results are reviewed, with an emphasis in the insight provided into the mechanisms underlying the relaxation properties of glass-forming liquids and polymers. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version) 0034-4885/05/061405+74$90.00 © 2005 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK 1405 Downloaded from http://polymerphysics.net Downloaded from http://polymerphysics.net