  A fundamental challenge for disordered solids is predicting macroscopic yield
from the microscopic arrangements of constituent particles. Yield is
accompanied by a sudden and large increase in energy dissipation due to the
onset of plastic rearrangements. This suggests that one path to understanding
bulk rheology is to map particle configurations to their mode of deformation.
Here, we perform laboratory experiments and numerical simulations that are
designed to do just that: 2D dense colloidal systems are subjected to
oscillatory shear, and particle trajectories and bulk rheology are measured. We
quantify particle microstructure using excess entropy. Results reveal a direct
relation between excess entropy and energy dissipation, that is insensitive to
the nature of interactions among particles. We use this relation to build a
physically-informed model that connects rheology to microstructure. Our
findings suggest a framework for tailoring the rheological response of
disordered materials by tuning microstructural properties.
