Liquid limits: glass transition and liquid-gas spinodal boundaries of metastable liquids.

The liquid-gas spinodal and the glass transition define ultimate boundaries beyond which substances cannot exist as (stable or metastable) liquids. The relation between these limits is analyzed via computer simulations of a model liquid. The results obtained indicate that the liquid-gas spinodal and the glass transition lines intersect at a finite temperature, implying a glass-gas mechanical instability locus at low temperatures. The glass transition lines obtained by thermodynamic and dynamic criteria agree very well with each other.