1,070 research outputs found
Colloidal glass transition: Beyond mode-coupling theory
A new theory for dynamics of concentrated colloidal suspensions and the
colloidal glass transition is proposed. The starting point is the memory
function representation of the density correlation function. The memory
function can be expressed in terms of a time-dependent pair-density correlation
function. An exact, formal equation of motion for this function is derived and
a factorization approximation is applied to its evolution operator. In this way
a closed set of equations for the density correlation function and the memory
function is obtained. The theory predicts an ergodicity breaking transition
similar to that predicted by the mode-coupling theory, but at a higher density.Comment: to be published in PR
Self-Organized Criticality Below The Glass Transition
We obtain evidence that the dynamics of glassy systems below the glass
transition is characterized by self-organized criticality. Using molecular
dynamics simulations of a model glass-former we identify clusters of
cooperatively jumping particles. We find string-like clusters whose size is
power-law distributed not only close to T_c but for ALL temperatures below T_c,
indicating self-organized criticality which we interpret as a freezing in of
critical behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Mode-coupling theory for structural and conformational dynamics of polymer melts
A mode-coupling theory for dense polymeric systems is developed which
unifyingly incorporates the segmental cage effect relevant for structural
slowing down and polymer chain conformational degrees of freedom. An ideal
glass transition of polymer melts is predicted which becomes molecular-weight
independent for large molecules. The theory provides a microscopic
justification for the use of the Rouse theory in polymer melts, and the results
for Rouse-mode correlators and mean-squared displacements are in good agreement
with computer simulation results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett. in pres
Vibrational origin of the fast relaxation processes in molecular glass-formers
We study the interaction of the relaxation processes with the density
fluctuations by molecular dynamics simulation of a flexible molecule model for
o-terphenyl (oTP) in the liquid and supercooled phases. We find evidence,
besides the structural relaxation, of a secondary vibrational relaxation whose
characteristic time, few ps, is slightly temperature dependent. This i)
confirms the result by Monaco et al. [Phys. Rev, E 62, 7595 (2000)] of the
vibrational nature of the fast relaxation observed in Brillouin Light
Scattering (BLS) experiments in oTP; and ii) poses a caveat on the
interpretation of the BLS spectra of molecular systems in terms of a purely
center of mass dynamics.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 4 eps figure
Critical Decay at Higher-Order Glass-Transition Singularities
Within the mode-coupling theory for the evolution of structural relaxation in
glass-forming systems, it is shown that the correlation functions for density
fluctuations for states at A_3- and A_4-glass-transition singularities can be
presented as an asymptotic series in increasing inverse powers of the logarithm
of the time t: , where
with p_n denoting some polynomial and x=ln (t/t_0). The results are
demonstrated for schematic models describing the system by solely one or two
correlators and also for a colloid model with a square-well-interaction
potential.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, Proceedings of "Structural Arrest Transitions in
Colloidal Systems with Short-Range Attractions", Messina, Italy, December
2003 (submitted
Colloidal gelation and non-ergodicity transitions
Within the framework of the mode coupling theory (MCT) of structural
relaxation, mechanisms and properties of non-ergodicity transitions in rather
dilute suspensions of colloidal particles characterized by strong short-ranged
attractions are studied. Results building on the virial expansion for particles
with hard cores and interacting via an attractive square well potential are
presented, and their relevance to colloidal gelation is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; Talk at the Conference: "Unifying Concepts in
Glass Physics" ICTP Trieste, September 1999; to be published in J. Phys.:
Condens. Matte
Numerical and Theoretical Study of a Monodisperse Hard-Sphere Glass Former
There exists a variety of theories of the glass transition and many more
numerical models. But because the models need built-in complexity to prevent
crystallization, comparisons with theory can be difficult. We study the
dynamics of a deeply supersaturated \emph{monodisperse} four-dimensional (4D)
hard-sphere fluid, which has no such complexity, but whose strong intrinsic
geometrical frustration inhibits crystallization, even when deeply
supersaturated. As an application, we compare its behavior to the mode-coupling
theory (MCT) of glass formation. We find MCT to describe this system better
than any other structural glass formers in lower dimensions. The reduction in
dynamical heterogeneity in 4D suggested by a milder violation of the
Stokes-Einstein relation could explain the agreement. These results are
consistent with a mean-field scenario of the glass transition.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Gaussian density fluctuations, mode coupling theory, and all that
We consider a toy model for glassy dynamics of colloidal suspensions: a
single Brownian particle diffusing among immobile obstacles. If Gaussian
factorization of static density fluctuations is assumed, this model can be
solved without factorization approximation for any dynamic correlation
function. The solution differs from that obtained from the ideal mode coupling
theory (MCT). The latter is equivalent to including only some, positive
definite terms in an expression for the memory function. An approximate
re-summation of the complete expression suggests that, under the assumption of
Gaussian factorization of static fluctuations, mobile particle's motion is
always diffusive. In contrast, MCT predicts that the mobile particle becomes
localized at a high enough obstacle density. We discuss the implications of
these results for models for glassy dynamics.Comment: to be published in Europhys. Let
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
Kinetically driven glassy transition in an exactly solvable toy model with reversible mode coupling mechanism and trivial statics
We propose a toy model with reversible mode coupling mechanism and with
trivial Hamiltonian (and hence trivial statics). The model can be analyzed
exactly without relying upon uncontrolled approximation such as the
factorization approximation employed in the current MCT. We show that the model
exhibits a kinetically driven transition from an ergodic phase to nonergodic
phase. The nonergodic state is the nonequilibrium stationary solution of the
Fokker-Planck equation for the distribution function of the modelComment: 10 pages, 1 figure, contribution to the Proceedings of the Barcelona
Workshop 'Glassy Behavior of Kinetically Constrained Models'. To appear in J.
Phys. Condens. Matte
- …