We show that applying simple dynamical rules to Baxter's eight-vertex model
leads to a system which resembles a glass-forming liquid. There are analogies
with liquid, supercooled liquid, glassy and crystalline states. The disordered
phases exhibit strong dynamical heterogeneity at low temperatures, which may be
described in terms of an emergent mobility field. Their dynamics are
well-described by a simple model with trivial thermodynamics, but an emergent
kinetic constraint. We show that the (second order) thermodynamic transition to
the ordered phase may be interpreted in terms of confinement of the excitations
in the mobility field. We also describe the aging of disordered states towards
the ordered phase, in terms of simple rate equations.Comment: 11 page