Do we understand the solid-like elastic properties of confined liquids?

Recently, in polymeric liquids, unexpected solid-like shear elasticity has been discovered, which gave rise to a controversial discussion about its origin (1⇓–3). The observed solid-like shear modulus G depends strongly on the distance L between the plates of the rheometer according to a power law G ∝ L − p with a nonuniversal exponent ranging between p = 2 and p = 3 . Zaccone and Trachenko (4) have published an article in which they claim to explain these findings by a nonaffine contribution to the liquid shear modulus. The latter is represented as Δ G ∝ − ∑ λ = L , T 1 V … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: giancarlo.ruocco{at}roma1.infn.it. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1