  Relaxation processes are crucial in understanding the structural
rearrangements of liquids and amorphous materials. However, the overarching
principle that governs these processes across vastly different materials
remains an open question. Substantial analysis has been carried out based on
the motions of individual particles. Here, alternatively, we propose viewing
the global configuration as a single entity. We introduce a global order
parameter, namely the inherent structure minimal displacement (IS Dmin), to
quantify the variability of configurations by a pattern-matching technique.
Through atomic simulations of seven model glass-forming liquids, we unify the
influences of temperature, pressure, and perturbation time on the relaxation
dissipation, via a scaling law between the mechanical damping factor and IS
Dmin. Fundamentally, this scaling reflects the curvature of the local potential
energy landscape. Our findings uncover a universal origin of glassy relaxation
and offer an alternative approach to studying disordered systems.
