Mean-field glass transition in a model liquid

We investigate the liquid-glass phase transition in a system of point-like particles interacting via a finite-range attractive potential in D-dimensional space. The phase transition is driven by an `entropy crisis' where the available phase space volume collapses dramatically at the transition. We describe the general strategy underlying the first-principles replica calculation for this type of transition; its application to our model system then allows for an analytic description of the liquid-glass phase transition within a mean-field approximation, provided the parameters are chosen suitably. We find a transition exhibiting all the features associated with an `entropy crisis', including the characteristic finite jump of the order parameter at the transition while the free energy and its first derivative remain continuous.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Absence of a structural glass phase in a monoatomic model liquid predicted to undergo an ideal glass transition

We study numerically a monodisperse model of interacting classical particles predicted to exhibit a static liquid-glass transition. Using a dynamical Monte Carlo method we show that the model does not freeze into a glassy phase at low temperatures. Instead, depending on the choice of the hard-core radius for the particles the system either collapses trivially or a polycrystalline hexagonal structure emerges.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, minor changes in introduction and conclusions, additional reference

Free-energy distribution functions for the randomly forced directed polymer

We study the $1+1$-dimensional random directed polymer problem, i.e., an elastic string $\phi(x)$ subject to a Gaussian random potential $V(\phi,x)$ and confined within a plane. We mainly concentrate on the short-scale and finite-temperature behavior of this problem described by a short- but finite-ranged disorder correlator $U(\phi)$ and introduce two types of approximations amenable to exact solutions. Expanding the disorder potential $V(\phi,x) \approx V_0(x) + f(x) \phi(x)$ at short distances, we study the random force (or Larkin) problem with $V_0(x) = 0$ as well as the shifted random force problem including the random offset $V_0(x)$; as such, these models remain well defined at all scales. Alternatively, we analyze the harmonic approximation to the correlator $U(\phi)$ in a consistent manner. Using direct averaging as well as the replica technique, we derive the distribution functions ${\cal P}_{L,y}(F)$ and ${\cal P}_L(F)$ of free energies $F$ of a polymer of length $L$ for both fixed ($\phi(L) = y$) and free boundary conditions on the displacement field $\phi(x)$ and determine the mean displacement correlators on the distance $L$. The inconsistencies encountered in the analysis of the harmonic approximation to the correlator are traced back to its non-spectral correlator; we discuss how to implement this approximation in a proper way and present a general criterion for physically admissible disorder correlators $U(\phi)$.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

Energy distribution of maxima and minima in a one-dimensional random system

We study the energy distribution of maxima and minima of a simple one-dimensional disordered Hamiltonian. We find that in systems with short range correlated disorder there is energy separation between maxima and minima, such that at fixed energy only one kind of stationary points is dominant in number over the other. On the other hand, in the case of systems with long range correlated disorder maxima and minima are completely mixed.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX, 1 eps figure. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Large times off-equilibrium dynamics of a particle in a random potential

We study the off-equilibrium dynamics of a particle in a general $N$-dimensional random potential when $N \to \infty$. We demonstrate the existence of two asymptotic time regimes: {\it i.} stationary dynamics, {\it ii.} slow aging dynamics with violation of equilibrium theorems. We derive the equations obeyed by the slowly varying part of the two-times correlation and response functions and obtain an analytical solution of these equations. For short-range correlated potentials we find that: {\it i.} the scaling function is non analytic at similar times and this behaviour crosses over to ultrametricity when the correlations become long range, {\it ii.} aging dynamics persists in the limit of zero confining mass with universal features for widely separated times. We compare with the numerical solution to the dynamical equations and generalize the dynamical equations to finite $N$ by extending the variational method to the dynamics.Comment: 70 pages, 7 figures included, uuencoded Z-compressed .tar fil