74 research outputs found
Reorientational relaxation of a linear probe molecule in a simple glassy liquid
Within the mode-coupling theory (MCT) for the evolution of structural
relaxation in glass-forming liquids, correlation functions and susceptibility
spectra are calculated characterizing the rotational dynamics of a top-down
symmetric dumbbell molecule, consisting of two fused hard spheres immersed in a
hard-sphere system. It is found that for sufficiently large dumbbell
elongations, the dynamics of the probe molecule follows the same universal
glass-transition scenario as known from the MCT results of simple liquids. The
-relaxation process of the angular-index-j=1 response is stronger,
slower and less stretched than the one for j=2, in qualitative agreement with
results found by dielectric-loss and depolarized-light-scattering spectroscopy
for some supercooled liquids. For sufficiently small elongations, the
reorientational relaxation occurs via large-angle flips, and the standard
scenario for the glass-transition dynamics is modified for odd-j responses due
to precursor phenomena of a nearby type-A MCT transition. In this case, a major
part of the relaxation outside the transient regime is described qualitatively
by the -relaxation scaling laws, while the -relaxation scaling
law is strongly disturbed.Comment: 40 pages. 10 figures as GIF-files, to be published in Phys. Rev.
A mode-coupling theory for the glassy dynamics of a diatomic probe molecule immersed in a simple liquid
Generalizing the mode-coupling theory for ideal liquid-glass transitions,
equations of motion are derived for the correlation functions describing the
glassy dynamics of a diatomic probe molecule immersed in a simple glass-forming
system. The molecule is described in the interaction-site representation and
the equations are solved for a dumbbell molecule consisting of two fused hard
spheres in a hard-sphere system. The results for the molecule's arrested
position in the glass state and the reorientational correlators for
angular-momentum index and near the glass transition are
compared with those obtained previously within a theory based on a
tensor-density description of the molecule in order to demonstrate that the two
approaches yield equivalent results. For strongly hindered reorientational
motion, the dipole-relaxation spectra for the -process can be mapped on
the dielectric-loss spectra of glycerol if a rescaling is performed according
to a suggestion by Dixon et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 65}, 1108 (1990)]. It is
demonstrated that the glassy dynamics is independent of the molecule's inertia
parameters.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, Phys. Rev. E, in prin
Universal and non-universal features of glassy relaxation in propylene carbonate
It is demonstrated that the susceptibility spectra of supercooled propylene
carbonate as measured by depolarized-light-scattering, dielectric-loss, and
incoherent quasi-elastic neutron-scattering spectroscopy within the GHz window
are simultaneously described by the solutions of a two-component schematic
model of the mode-coupling theory (MCT) for the evolution of glassy dynamics.
It is shown that the universal beta-relaxation-scaling laws, dealing with the
asymptotic behavior of the MCT solutions, describe the qualitative features of
the calculated spectra. But the non-universal corrections to the scaling laws
render it impossible to achieve a complete quantitative description using only
the leading-order-asymptotic results.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Propylene Carbonate Reexamined: Mode-Coupling Scaling without Factorisation ?
The dynamic susceptibility of propylene carbonate in the moderately viscous
regime above is reinvestigated by incoherent neutron and
depolarised light scattering, and compared to dielectric loss and solvation
response. Depending on the strength of relaxation, a more or less
extended scaling regime is found. Mode-coupling fits yield consistently
and K, although different positions of the
susceptibility minimum indicate that not all observables have reached the
universal asymptotics
The mean-squared displacement of a molecule moving in a glassy system
The mean-squared displacement (MSD) of a hard sphere and of a dumbbell
molecule consisting of two fused hard spheres immersed in a dense hard-sphere
system is calculated within the mode-coupling theory for ideal liquid-glass
transitions. It is proven that the velocity correlator, which is the second
time derivative of the MSD, is the negative of a completely monotone function
for times within the structural-relaxation regime. The MSD is found to exhibit
a large time interval for structural relaxation prior to the onset of the
-process which cannot be described by the asymptotic formulas for the
mode-coupling-theory-bifurcation dynamics. The -process for molecules
with a large elongation is shown to exhibit an anomalously wide cross-over
interval between the end of the von-Schweidler decay and the beginning of
normal diffusion. The diffusivity of the molecule is predicted to vary
non-monotonically as function of its elongation.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, Phys. Rev. E, in prin
Structural relaxation in a system of dumbbell molecules
The interaction-site-density-fluctuation correlators, the dipole-relaxation
functions, and the mean-squared displacements of a system of symmetric
dumbbells of fused hard spheres are calculated for two representative
elongations of the molecules within the mode-coupling theory for the evolution
of glassy dynamics. For large elongations, universal relaxation laws for states
near the glass transition are valid for parameters and time intervals similar
to the ones found for the hard-sphere system. Rotation-translation coupling
leads to an enlarged crossover interval for the mean-squared displacement of
the constituent atoms between the end of the von Schweidler regime and the
beginning of the diffusion process. For small elongations, the superposition
principle for the reorientational -process is violated for parameters
and time intervals of interest for data analysis, and there is a strong
breaking of the coupling of the -relaxation scale for the diffusion
process with that for representative density fluctuations and for dipole
reorientations.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, Phys. Rev. E in pres
Fluids of hard ellipsoids: Phase diagram including a nematic instability from Percus-Yevick theory
An important aspect of molecular fluids is the relation between orientation
and translation parts of the two-particle correlations. Especially the detailed
knowledge of the influence of orientation correlations is needed to explain and
calculate in detail the occurrence of a nematic phase.
The simplest model system which shows both orientation and translation
correlations is a system of hard ellipsoids. We investigate an isotropic fluid
formed of hard ellipsoids with Percus-Yevick theory.
Solving the Percus-Yevick equations self-consistently in the high density
regime gives a clear criterion for a nematic instability. We calculate in
detail the equilibrium phase diagram for a fluid of hard ellipsoids of
revolution. Our results compare well with Monte Carlo Simulations and density
functional theory.Comment: 7 pages including 4 figure
Spin models for orientational ordering of colloidal molecular crystals
Two-dimensional colloidal suspensions exposed to periodic external fields
exhibit a variety of molecular crystalline phases. There two or more colloids
assemble at lattice sites of potential minima to build new structural entities,
referred to as molecules. Using the strength of the potential and the filling
fraction as control parameter, phase transition to unconventional
orientationally ordered states can be induced. We introduce an approach that
focuses at the discrete set of orientational states relevant for the phase
ordering. The orientationally ordered states are mapped to classical spin
systems. We construct effective hamiltonians for dimeric and trimeric molecules
on triangular lattices suitable for a statistical mechanics discussion. A
mean-field analysis produces a rich phase behavior which is substantiated by
Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 19 pages, 21 figures; misplacement of Fig.3 fixe
Test of mode coupling theory for a supercooled liquid of diatomic molecules.I. Translational degrees of freedom
A molecular dynamics simulation is performed for a supercooled liquid of
rigid diatomic molecules. The time-dependent self and collective density
correlators of the molecular centers of mass are determined and compared with
the predictions of the ideal mode coupling theory (MCT) for simple liquids.
This is done in real as well as in momentum space. One of the main results is
the existence of a unique transition temperature T_c, where the dynamics
crosses over from an ergodic to a quasi-nonergodic behavior. The value for T_c
agrees with that found earlier for the orientational dynamics within the error
bars. In the beta- regime of MCT the factorization of space- and time
dependence is satisfactorily fulfilled for both types of correlations. The
first scaling law of ideal MCT holds in the von Schweidler regime, only, since
the validity of the critical law can not be confirmed, due to a strong
interference with the microscopic dynamics. In this first scaling regime a
consistent description within ideal MCT emerges only, if the next order
correction to the asymptotic law is taken into account. This correction is
almost negligible for q=q_max, the position of the main peak in the static
structure factor S(q), but becomes important for q=q_min, the position of its
first minimum. The second scaling law, i.e. the time-temperature superposition
principle, holds reasonably well for the self and collective density
correlators and different values for q. The alpha-relaxation times tau_q^(s)
and tau_q follow a power law in T-T_c over 2 -- 3 decades. The corresponding
exponent gamma is weakly q-dependent and is around 2.55. This value is in
agreement with the one predicted by MCT from the value of the von Schweidler
exponent but at variance with the corresponding exponent gammaComment: 14 pages of RevTex, 19 figure
Asymptotic laws for tagged-particle motion in glassy systems
Within the mode-coupling theory for structural relaxation in simple systems
the asymptotic laws and their leading-asymptotic correction formulas are
derived for the motion of a tagged particle near a glass-transition
singularity. These analytic results are compared with numerical ones of the
equations of motion evaluated for a tagged hard sphere moving in a hard-sphere
system. It is found that the long-time part of the two-step relaxation process
for the mean-squared displacement can be characterized by the -relaxation-scaling law and von Schweidler's power-law decay while the
critical-decay regime is dominated by the corrections to the leading power-law
behavior. For parameters of interest for the interpretations of experimental
data, the corrections to the leading asymptotic laws for the non-Gaussian
parameter are found to be so large that the leading asymptotic results are
altered qualitatively by the corrections. Results for the non-Gaussian
parameter are shown to follow qualitatively the findings reported in the
molecular-dynamics-simulations work by Kob and Andersen [Phys. Rev. E 51, 4626
(1995)]
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