155 research outputs found
Dynamics and structure of an aging binary colloidal glass
We study aging in a colloidal suspension consisting of micron-sized particles
in a liquid. This system is made glassy by increasing the particle
concentration. We observe samples composed of particles of two sizes, with a
size ratio of 1:2.1 and a volume fraction ratio 1:6, using fast laser scanning
confocal microscopy. This technique yields real-time, three-dimensional movies
deep inside the colloidal glass. Specifically, we look at how the size, motion
and structural organization of the particles relate to the overall aging of the
glass. Particles move in spatially heterogeneous cooperative groups. These
mobile regions tend to be richer in small particles, and these small particles
facilitate the motion of nearby particles of both sizes.Comment: 7 pages; submitted to Phys. Rev. E. Revised with 1 new figure,
improved tex
Molecular motion in concentrated solutions of spherical polystyrene microgels studied with the pulsed field gradient n.m.r.
Results of a pulsed field gradient n.m.r. study of the motion of swollen spherical microgels in solution are presented. We have measured the echo attenuation (or the incoherent dynamic structure function) of the protons in the microgels in the dynamic range from qR≪1 up to qR ≈ 1.8 (where q=scattering vector and R = particle radius), and in the timescale from a few milliseconds up to 100 ms. Rotational diffusion of the microgel spheres could not be detected with certainty. However, restricted diffusion of the spheres within a cage was observed, in particular for the large microgel with R =125 nm, where the short-time diffusion could be monitored. For apparent volume fractions (φ > 0.6, the diffusion is restricted within a space scale of root mean square displacement, 〈z2〉 1 2 120 nm. With increasing volume fraction of the microgels in solution, (φ > 0.6, the diffusion becomes increasingly restricted. This crossover corresponds to the dynamic glass transition observed by Bartsch et al. for a similar system using quasielastic light scattering. © 1994
Segmental relaxation in semicrystalline polymers: a mean field model for the distribution of relaxation times in confined regimes
The effect of confinement in the segmental relaxation of polymers is
considered. On the basis of a thermodynamic model we discuss the emerging
relevance of the fast degrees of freedom in stimulating the much slower
segmental relaxation, as an effect of the constraints at the walls of the
amorphous regions. In the case that confinement is due to the presence of
crystalline domains, a quasi-poissonian distribution of local constraining
conditions is derived as a result of thermodynamic equilibrium. This implies
that the average free energy barrier for conformational
rearrangement is of the same order of the dispersion of the barrier heights,
, around . As an example, we apply the results to
the analysis of the -relaxation as observed by dielectric broad band
spectroscopy in semicrystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate) cold-crystallized
from either an isotropic or an oriented glass. It is found that in the latter
case the regions of cooperative rearrangement are significantly larger than in
the former.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures .ep
Reply to ``Comment on `Hole-burning experiments within glassy models with infinite range interactions' ''
This is a reply to the comments by Richter and Chamberlin, and Diezemann and
Bohmer to our paper (Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3448 (2000)). As further evidence for
the claims in this Letter, we here reproduce the nonlinear spectral
hole-burning experimental protocol in an equilibrated fully connected
spin-glass model and we exhibit frequency selectivity, together with a shift in
the base of the spectral hole.Comment: 1 page, two figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Sticky Spheres, Entropy barriers and Non-equilibrium phase transitions
A sticky spheres model to describe slow dynamics of a non-equilibrium system
is proposed. The dynamical slowing down is due to the presence of entropy
barriers. We present an exact mean field analysis of the model and demonstrate
that there is a non-equilibrium phase transition from an exponential cluster
size distribution to a powerlaw.Comment: 10pages text and 2 figure
Hole-burning experiments within solvable glassy models
We reproduce the results of non-resonant spectral hole-burning experiments
with fully-connected (equivalently infinite-dimensional) glassy models that are
generalizations of the mode-coupling approach to nonequilibrium situations. We
show that an ac-field modifies the integrated linear response and the
correlation function in a way that depends on the amplitude and frequency of
the pumping field. We study the effect of the waiting and recovery-times and
the number of oscillations applied. This calculation will help descriminating
which results can and which cannot be attributed to dynamic heterogeneities in
real systems.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figures, RevTe
Dynamic heterogeneities in the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of simple spherical spin models
The response of spherical two-spin interaction models, the spherical
ferromagnet (s-FM) and the spherical Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (s-SK) model, is
calculated for the protocol of the so-called nonresonant hole burning
experiment (NHB) for temperatures below the respective critical temperatures.
It is shown that it is possible to select dynamic features in the
out-of-equilibrium dynamics of both models, one of the hallmarks of dynamic
heterogeneities. The behavior of the s-SK model and the s-FM in three
dimensions is very similar, showing dynamic heterogeneities in the long time
behavior, i.e. in the aging regime. The appearence of dynamic heterogeneities
in the s-SK model explicitly demonstrates that these are not necessarily
related to {\it spatial} heterogeneities. For the s-FM it is shown that the
nature of the dynamic heterogeneities changes as a function of dimensionality.
With incresing dimension the frequency selectivity of the NHB diminishes and
the dynamics in the mean-field limit of the s-FM model becomes homogeneous.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure
Local influence of boundary conditions on a confined supercooled colloidal liquid
We study confined colloidal suspensions as a model system which approximates
the behavior of confined small molecule glass-formers. Dense colloidal
suspensions become glassier when confined between parallel glass plates. We use
confocal microscopy to study the motion of confined colloidal particles. In
particular, we examine the influence particles stuck to the glass plates have
on nearby free particles. Confinement appears to be the primary influence
slowing free particle motion, and proximity to stuck particles causes a
secondary reduction in the mobility of free particles. Overall, particle
mobility is fairly constant across the width of the sample chamber, but a
strong asymmetry in boundary conditions results in a slight gradient of
particle mobility.Comment: For conference proceedings, "Dynamics in Confinement", Grenoble,
March 201
Anomalous self-diffusion in the ferromagnetic Ising chain with Kawasaki dynamics
We investigate the motion of a tagged spin in a ferromagnetic Ising chain
evolving under Kawasaki dynamics. At equilibrium, the displacement is Gaussian,
with a variance growing as . The temperature dependence of the
prefactor is derived exactly. At low temperature, where the static
correlation length is large, the mean square displacement grows as
in the coarsening regime, i.e., as a finite fraction of the
mean square domain length. The case of totally asymmetric dynamics, where
(resp. ) spins move only to the right (resp. to the left), is also
considered. In the steady state, the displacement variance grows as . The temperature dependence of the prefactor is derived exactly,
using the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang theory. At low temperature, the displacement
variance grows as in the coarsening regime, again proportionally to
the mean square domain length.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures. A few minor changes and update
Relationship between dynamical heterogeneities and stretched exponential relaxation
We identify the dynamical heterogeneities as an essential prerequisite for
stretched exponential relaxation in dynamically frustrated systems. This
heterogeneity takes the form of ordered domains of finite but diverging
lifetime for particles in atomic or molecular systems, or spin states in
magnetic materials. At the onset of the dynamical heterogeneity, the
distribution of time intervals spent in such domains or traps becomes stretched
exponential at long time. We rigorously show that once this is the case, the
autocorrelation function of the renewal process formed by these time intervals
is also stretched exponential at long time.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
- …