  Understanding the difference between universal low-temperature properties of
amorphous and crystalline solids requires an explanation of the stronger
damping of long-wavelength phonons in amorphous solids. A longstanding sound
attenuation scenario, resulting from a combination of experiments, theories,
and simulations, leads to a quartic scaling of sound attenuation with the
wavevector, which is commonly attributed to Rayleigh scattering of the sound.
Modern computer simulations offer conflicting conclusions regarding the
validity of this picture. We simulate glasses with an unprecedentedly broad
range of stabilities to perform the first microscopic analysis of sound damping
in model glass formers across a range of experimentally relevant preparation
protocols. We present a convincing evidence that quartic scaling is recovered
for small wavevectors irrespective of the glass's stability. With increasing
stability, the wavevector where the quartic scaling begins increases by
approximately a factor of three and the sound attenuation decreases by over an
order of magnitude. Our results uncover an intimate connection between glass
stability and sound damping.
