Are Mean-Field Spin-Glass Models Relevant for the Structural Glass Transition?

Abstract

We analyze the properties of the energy landscape of {\it finite-size} fully connected p-spin-like models whose high temperature phase is described, in the thermodynamic limit, by the schematic Mode Coupling Theory of super-cooled liquids. We show that {\it finite-size} fully connected p-spin-like models, where activated processes are possible, do exhibit properties typical of real super-cooled liquid when both are near the critical glass transition. Our results support the conclusion that fully-connected p-spin-like models are the natural statistical mechanical models for studying the glass transition in super-cooled liquids.