  The glass-forming ability is an important material property for manufacturing
glasses and understanding the long-standing glass transition problem. Because
of the nonequilibrium nature, it is difficult to develop the theory for it.
Here we report that the glass-forming ability of binary mixtures of soft
particles is related to the equilibrium melting temperatures. Due to the
distinction in particle size or stiffness, the two components in a mixture
effectively feel different melting temperatures, leading to a melting
temperature gap. By varying the particle size, stiffness, and composition over
a wide range of pressures, we establish a comprehensive picture for the
glass-forming ability, based on our finding of the direct link between the
glass-forming ability and the melting temperature gap. Our study reveals and
explains the pressure and interaction dependence of the glass-forming ability
of model glass-formers, and suggests strategies to optimize the glass-forming
ability via the manipulation of particle interactions.
