  A comparison is made between the nonlinear rheological response of bulk
metallic glass formers and of colloidal dispersions. Stress-strain curves
measured after switch-on of constant deformation rates are analyzed
quantitatively using a schematic model of mode coupling theory generalized to
homogeneous and incompressible flows. A mapping between metallic and dispersion
rheology is possible when stresses are rescaled by an entropic scale,
accumulated strains by geometrical factors, and rates by the intrinsic
relaxation time. Exploiting this similarity and the possibility to directly
observe individual colloidal particles, we investigate the structural
distortions in the colloidal system using confocal microscopy. The distortions
exhibit the (from elasticity theory) expected quadrupolar but also a strong
isotropic component.
