27 research outputs found
Stochastic level-set method for shape optimisation
We present a new method for stochastic shape optimisation of engineering
structures. The method generalises an existing deterministic scheme, in which
the structure is represented and evolved by a level-set method coupled with
mathematical programming. The stochastic element of the algorithm is built on
the methods of statistical mechanics and is designed so that the system
explores a Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution of structures. In non-convex
optimisation problems, the deterministic algorithm can get trapped in local
optima: the stochastic generalisation enables sampling of multiple local
optima, which aids the search for the globally-optimal structure. The method is
demonstrated for several simple geometrical problems, and a proof-of-principle
calculation is shown for a simple engineering structure.Comment: 17 pages, 10 fig
Dynamic facilitation explains democratic particle motion of metabasin transitions
Transitions between metabasins in supercooled liquids seem to occur through
rapid "democratic" collective particle rearrangements. Here we show that this
apparent homogeneous particle motion is a direct consequence of dynamic
facilitation. We do so by studying metabasin transitions in facilitated spin
models and constrained lattice gases. We find that metabasin transitions occur
through a sequence of locally facilitated events taking place over a relatively
short time frame. When observed on small enough spatial windows these events
appear sudden and homogeneous. Our results indicate that metabasin transitions
are essentially "non-democratic" in origin and yet another manifestation of
dynamical heterogeneity in glass formers.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Preparation and relaxation of very stable glassy states of a simulated liquid
We prepare metastable glassy states in a model glass-former made of
Lennard-Jones particles by sampling biased ensembles of trajectories with low
dynamical activity. These trajectories form an inactive dynamical phase whose
`fast' vibrational degrees of freedom are maintained at thermal equilibrium by
contact with a heat bath, while the `slow' structural degrees of freedom are
located in deep valleys of the energy landscape. We examine the relaxation to
equilibrium and the vibrational properties of these metastable states. The
glassy states we prepare by our trajectory sampling method are very stable to
thermal fluctuations and also more mechanically rigid than low-temperature
equilibrated configurations.Comment: Minor revisions in light of referee comments. 5 pages, 4 fig
Excitations are localized and relaxation is hierarchical in glass-forming liquids
For several atomistic models of glass formers, at conditions below their
glassy dynamics onset temperatures, , we use importance
sampling of trajectory space to study the structure, statistics and dynamics of
excitations responsible for structural relaxation. Excitations are detected in
terms of persistent particle displacements of length . At supercooled
conditions, for of the order of or smaller than a particle diameter, we
find that excitations are associated with correlated particle motions that are
sparse and localized, occupying a volume with an average radius that is
temperature independent and no larger than a few particle diameters. We show
that the statistics and dynamics of these excitations are facilitated and
hierarchical. Excitation energy scales grow logarithmically with .
Excitations at one point in space facilitate the birth and death of excitations
at neighboring locations, and space-time excitation structures are microcosms
of heterogeneous dynamics at larger scales. This nature of dynamics becomes
increasingly dominant as temperature is lowered. We show that slowing of
dynamics upon decreasing temperature below is the result of a
decreasing concentration of excitations and concomitant growing hierarchical
length scales, and further that the structural relaxation time follows
the parabolic law, , for , where , and
can be predicted quantitatively from dynamics at short time
scales. Particle motion is facilitated and directional, and we show this
becomes more apparent with decreasing . We show that stringlike motion is a
natural consequence of facilitated, hierarchical dynamics.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, + links to movies; To appear in Phys. Rev.
Fast Simulation of Facilitated Spin Models
We show how to apply the absorbing Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm of
Novotny to simulate kinetically constrained models of glasses. We consider in
detail one-spin facilitated models, such as the East model and its
generalizations to arbitrary dimensions. We investigate how to maximise the
efficiency of the algorithms, and show that simulation times can be improved on
standard continuous time Monte Carlo by several orders of magnitude. We
illustrate the method with equilibrium and aging results. These include a study
of relaxation times in the East model for dimensions d=1 to d=13, which
provides further evidence that the hierarchical relaxation in this model is
present in all dimensions. We discuss how the method can be applied to other
kinetically constrained models.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure