We present an information-theoretic approach inspired by distributional clustering to assess the structural heterogeneity of particulate systems. Our method identifies communities of particles that share a similar local structure by harvesting the information hidden in the spatial variation of two- or three-body static correlations. This corresponds to an unsupervised machine learning approach that infers communities solely from the particle positions and their species. We apply this method to three models of supercooled liquids and find that it detects subtle forms of local order, as demonstrated by a comparison with the statistics of Voronoi cells. Finally, we analyze the time-dependent correlation between structural communities and particle mobility and show that our method captures relevant information about glassy dynamics.
The dynamical heterogeneity in supercooled liquids measured by a molecular dynamics simulation has been quantified on the basis of the multifractal formalism. The singularity spectrum becomes broader as the glass transition is approached. This behavior is similar to that observed in the case of the Anderson-localization transition.
The existence of heterogeneity in the dynamics of supercooled liquids is believed to be one of the hallmarks of the glass transition. Intense research has been carried out in the past to understand the origin of this heterogeneity in dynamics and a possible length scale associated with it. We have done extensive molecular dynamics simulations of few model glass-forming liquids in three dimensions to understand the temporal evolution of the dynamic heterogeneity and the heterogeneity length scale. We find that although the strength of the dynamic heterogeneity is maximum at a timescale close to…
A theoretical treatment of deeply supercooled liquids is difficult because their properties emerge from spatial inhomogeneities that are self-induced, transient, and nanoscopic. I use computer simulations to analyse self-induced static and dynamic heterogeneity in equilibrium systems approaching the experimental glass transition. I characterise the broad sample-to-sample fluctuations of salient dynamic and thermodynamic properties in elementary mesoscopic systems. Findings regarding local lifetimes and distributions of dynamic heterogeneity are in excellent agreement with recent single molecul…
Zero-temperature Avalanche Criticality Governing Dynamical Heterogeneity in Supercooled Liquids
Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc.（丰田中央研究所）；D3 Center, The University of Osaka（大阪大学D3中心）；Department of Physics, The University of Osaka（大阪大学物理系）；Department of Physics, Nagoya University（名古屋大学物理系）；Division of Chemical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering Science, The University of Osaka（大阪大学工学研究科化学工程专修）
Polydispersity is found to have a significant effect on the potential energy landscape; the the average inherent structure energy with temperature decreases with polydispersity. Increasing polydispersity at fixed volume fraction decreases the glass transition temperature and the fragility of glass formation analogous to the antiplasticization seen in some polymeric melts. An interesting temperature dependent crossover of heterogeneity with polydispersity is observed at low temperature due to the faster build-up of dynamic heterogeneity at lower polydispersity.
We report that the local Debye-Waller factor in a simulated 2D glass-forming mixture exhibits significant spatial heterogeneities and that these short time fluctuations provide an excellent predictor of the spatial distribution of the long time dynamic propensities [Phys.Rev.Lett. 93, 135701 (2004)]. In contrast, the potential energy per particle of the inherent structure does not correlate well with the spatially distributed dynamics.
Recent work has demonstrated the strong qualitative differences between the dynamics near a glass transition driven by short-ranged repulsion and one governed by short-ranged attraction. Here, we study in detail the behavior of non-linear, higher-order correlation functions that measure the growth of length scales associated with dynamical heterogeneity in both types of systems. We find that this measure is qualitatively different in the repulsive and attractive cases with regards to the wave vector dependence as well as the time dependence of the standard non-linear four-point dynamical susce…
In this work, we study the nature of transitions between inherent structures of a two-dimensional model supercooled liquid. We demonstrate that these transitions occur predominately along a small number of directions on the energy landscape. Moreover, we show that the number of such directions decreases as the temperature of the liquid is decreased in the mildly supercooled regime, in concert with earlier studies on an athermal jamming system. We show that this decrease happens in parallel with a change in character of the transitions as dynamics in the system become more heterogeneous and loc…
In this paper we study the four point correlation function $χ_4$ of collective density fluctuations in a nonequilibrium liquid. The equilibration is controlled by a modified stretched exponential behavior ( $\exp [-{(t_\mathrm{w}/τ)}^β]$ ) having the relaxation time $τ$ dependent on the aging time $t_\mathrm{w}$. Similar aging behavior has been seen experimentally in supercooled liquids. The basic equations of fluctuating nonlinear hydrodynamics (FNH) are solved here numerically to obtain $χ_4$ for equilibrium and non equilibrium states. We also identify a dynamic length scale $ξ$ from the equ…
The use of probe molecules to extract the local dynamical and structural properties of complex dynamical systems is an age-old technique both in simulations and experiments. A lot of important information which is not immediately accessible from the bulk measurements can be accessed via these local measurements. Still, a detailed understanding of how a probe particle's dynamics are affected by the surrounding liquid medium is not very well understood, especially in the supercooled temperature regime. This work shows how translational dynamics of a rod-like particle immersed in a supercooled li…
We discuss the spatiotemporal behavior of local density and its relation to dynamical heterogeneity in a highly supercooled liquid by using molecular dynamics simulations of a binary mixture with different particle sizes in two dimensions. To trace voids heterogeneously existing with lower local densities, which move along with the structural relaxation, we employ the minimum local density for each particle in a time window whose width is set along with the structural relaxation time. Particles subject to free volumes correspond well to the configuration rearranging region of dynamical heterog…
Probing dynamic and static correlation in glass-forming supercooled liquids has been a challenge for decades in spite of extensive research. Dynamic correlation which manifests itself as Dynamic Heterogeneity is ubiquitous in a vast variety of systems starting from molecular glass-forming liquids, dense colloidal systems to collections of cells. On the other hand, the mere concept of static correlation in these dense disordered systems remain somewhat elusive and its existence is still actively debated. We propose a novel method to extract both dynamic and static correlations using rod-like pa…
A few years ago it was showed that some systems that have very similar local structure, as quantified by the pair correlation function, exhibit vastly different slowing down upon supercooling [L. Berthier and G. Tarjus, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 170601 (2009); U.R. Pedersen, T.B. Schroder and J.C. Dyre, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 157801 (2010)]. Recently, a more subtle structural quantity, the so-called "point-to-set" length, was found to reliably correlate with the average dynamics [G.M. Hocky, T.E. Markland and D.R. Reichman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 225506 (2012)]. Here we use computer simulations to e…
In the present study, we performed molecular-dynamics simulations and investigated dynamical heterogeneity in a supercooled liquid under a steady shear flow. Dynamical heterogeneity can be characterized by three quantities: the correlation length $ξ_4(t)$, the intensity $χ_4(t)$, and the lifetime $τ_\text{hetero}(t)$. We quantified all three quantities by means of the correlation functions of the particle dynamics, i.e., the four-point correlation functions, which are extended to the sheared condition. Here, to define the local dynamics, we used two time intervals $t=τ_α$ and $τ_{\text{ngp}}$;…
We combine Creutz energy conservation with Kawasaki spin exchange to simulate the microcanonical dynamics of a system of interacting particles. Relaxation occurs via Glauber spin-flip activation using a self-consistent temperature. Heterogeneity in the dynamics comes from finite-size constraints on the spin exchange that yield a distribution of correlated regions. The simulation produces a high-frequency response that can be identified with the boson peak, and a lower-frequency peak that contains non-Debye relaxation and non-Arrhenius activation, similar to the primary response of supercooled …
By analyzing two Kinetically Constrained Models of supercooled liquids we show that the anomalous transport of a driven tracer observed in supercooled liquids is another facet of the phenomenon of dynamical heterogeneity. We focus on the Fredrickson-Andersen and the Bertin-Bouchaud-Lequeux models. By numerical simulations and analytical arguments we demonstrate that the violation of the Stokes-Einstein relation and the observed field-induced superdiffusion have the same physical origin: while a fraction of probes do not move, others jump repeatedly because they are close to local mobile region…
We compare the spatial correlations of bond-breaking events and bond-orientational relaxation in a model two-dimensional liquid undergoing Newtonian dynamics. We find that the relaxation time of the bond-breaking correlation function is much longer than the relaxation time of the bond-orientational correlation function and self-intermediate scattering function. However, the relaxation time of the bond-orientational correlation function increases faster with decreasing temperature than the relaxation time of the bond-breaking correlation function and the self-intermediate scattering function. M…
Gaining fundamental understanding of crystal nucleation processes in metal alloys is crucial for the development and design of high-performance materials with targeted properties. Yet, crystallization is a complex non-equilibrium process and, despite having been studied for decades, the microscopic aspects that govern the crystallization mechanism of a material remain to date elusive. Recent evidence shows that spatial heterogeneity in the supercooled liquid, characterised by extended regions with distinctive mobility and order, may be a key microscopic factor that determines the mechanism of …
We compare dynamical heterogeneities in equilibrated supercooled liquids and in the nonequilibrium glassy state within the framework of the random first order transition theory. Fluctuating mobility generation and transport in the glass are treated by numerically solving stochastic continuum equations for mobility and fictive temperature fields that arise from an extended mode coupling theory containing activated events. Fluctuating spatiotemporal structures in aging and rejuvenating glasses lead to dynamical heterogeneity in glasses with characteristics distinct from those found in the equili…
We have investigated dynamical heterogeneity in a highly supercooled liquid using molecular-dynamics simulations in three dimensions. Dynamical heterogeneity can be characterized by three quantities: correlation length $ξ_4$, intensity $χ_4$, and lifetime $τ_{\text{hetero}}$. We evaluated all three quantities consistently from a single order parameter. In a previous study (H. Mizuno and R. Yamamoto, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 82}, 030501(R) (2010)), we examined the lifetime $τ_{\text{hetero}}(t)$ in two time intervals $t=τ_α$ and $τ_{\text{ngp}}$, where $τ_α$ is the $α$-relaxation time and $τ_{\text{ng…
We present a theoretical analysis of the dynamic structure factor (DSF) of a liquid at and below the mode coupling critical temperature $T_c$, by developing a self-consistent theoretical treatment which includes the contributions both from continuous diffusion, described using general two coupling parameter ($F_{12}$) mode coupling theory (MCT), and from the activated hopping, described using the random first order transition (RFOT) theory, incorporating the effect of dynamical heterogeneity. The theory is valid over the whole temperature plane and shows correct limiting MCT like behavior abov…
Non-Gaussian nature of the probability distribution of particles' displacements in the supercooled temperature regime in glass-forming liquids are believed to be one of the major hallmarks of glass transition. It is already been established that this probability distribution which is also known as the van Hove function show universal exponential tail. The origin of such an exponential tail in the distribution function is attributed to the hopping motion of particles observed in the supercooled regime. The non-Gaussian nature can also be explained if one assumes that the system has heterogeneou…
We present Monte Carlo simulation results on the equilibrium relaxation dynamics in the two dimensional lattice Coulomb gas, where finite fraction $f$ of the lattice sites are occupied by positive charges. In the case of high order rational values of $f$ close to the irrational number $1-g$ ($g\equiv(\sqrt{5} -1)/2$ is the golden mean), we find that the system exhibits, for wide range of temperatures above the first-order transition, a glassy behavior resembling the primary relaxation of supercooled liquids. Single particle diffusion and structural relaxation show that there exists a breakdown…
Dynamical heterogeneity and the decoupling of diffusion and structural relaxation in a supercooled liquid is investigated in terms of a time-dependent, fourth-order density correlation function. The generalized susceptibility $χ_4(t)$ corresponding to this correlation function has a maximum at an intermediate time $t_4^*$, and both $t_4^*$ and $χ_4(t_4^*)$ grow strongly with decreasing temperature. We show that the main contribution to $χ_4(t)$ arises from spatial correlations between temporarily localized (``caged'') particles. We compare $χ_4(t)$ with a generalized susceptibility $χ_M(t)$ re…
It is widely believed that the breakdown of the Stokes-Einstein (SE) relation between the translational diffusivity and the shear viscosity in supercooled liquids is due to the development of dynamic heterogeneity i.e. the presence of both slow and fast moving particles in the system. In this study we \emph{directly} calculate the distribution of the diffusivity for a model system for different temperatures in the supercooled regime. We find that with decreasing temperature, the distribution evolves from Gaussian to bimodal indicating that on the time scale of the typical relaxation time, mobi…
The dielectric response of supercooled liquids is phenomenologically modeled by a set of Asymmetric Double Wells (ADW), where each ADW contains a dynamical heterogeneity of $N_{corr}$ molecules. We find that the linear macroscopic susceptibility $χ_1$ does not depend on $N_{corr}$ contrary to all higher order susceptibilities $χ_{2k+1}$. We show that $χ_{2k+1}$ is proportional to the $k^{th}$ moment of $N_{corr}$, which could pave the way for new experiments on glass transition. In particular, as predicted by Bouchaud and Biroli on general grounds [Phys. Rev. B, {\bf 72}, 064204 (2005)], we fi…
We investigate the connection between local structure and dynamical heterogeneity in supercooled liquids. Through the study of four different models we show that the correlation between a particle's mobility and the degree of local order in nearby regions is highly system dependent. Our results suggest that the correlation between local structure and dynamics is weak or absent in systems that conform well to the mean-field picture of glassy dynamics and strong in those that deviate from this paradigm. Finally, we investigate the role of order-agnostic point-to-set correlations and reveal that …
We show that the various crossovers between dynamical regimes observed in experiments and simulations of supercooled liquids can be explained in simple terms from the existence and statistical properties of dynamical heterogeneities. We confirm that dynamic heterogeneity is responsible for the slowing down of glass formers at temperatures well above the dynamic singularity T_c predicted by mode coupling theory. Our results imply that activated processes govern the long-time dynamics even in the temperature regime where they are neglected by mode-coupling theory. We show that alternative interp…
Using computer simulations, we show that the localized low frequency normal modes of a configuration in a supercooled liquid are strongly correlated with the irreversible structural reorganization of the particles within that configuration. Establishing this correlation constitutes the identification of the aspect of a configuration that determines the heterogeneity of the subsequent motion. We demonstrate that the spatial distribution of the summation over the soft local modes can persist in spite of particle reorganization that produces significant changes in individual modes. Along with spa…
Amorphous materials have a rich relaxation spectrum, which is usually described in terms of a hierarchy of relaxation mechanisms. In this work, we investigate the local dynamic modulus spectra in a model glass just above the glass transition temperature by performing a mechanical spectroscopy analysis with molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the spectra, at the local as well as on the global scale, can be well described by the Cole-Davidson formula in the frequency range explored with simulations. Surprisingly, the Cole-Davidson stretching exponent does not change with the size of the…
We combine the swap Monte Carlo algorithm to long multi-CPU molecular dynamics simulations to analyse the equilibrium relaxation dynamics of model supercooled liquids over a time window covering ten orders of magnitude for temperatures down to the experimental glass transition temperature $T_g$. The analysis of \rev{several} time correlation functions coupled to spatio-temporal resolution of particle motion allow us to elucidate the nature of the equilibrium dynamics in deeply supercooled liquids. We find that structural relaxation starts at early times in rare localised regions characterised …
As liquids approach the glass transition temperature, dynamical heterogeneity emerges as a crucial universal feature of their behavior. Dynamic facilitation, where local motion triggers further motion nearby, plays a major role in this phenomenon. Here we show that long-range, elastically-mediated facilitation appears below the mode-coupling temperature, adding to the short-range component present at all temperatures. Our results suggest deep connections between the supercooled liquid and glass states, and pave the way for a deeper understanding of dynamical heterogeneity in glassy systems.
We propose and numerically implement a local probe of the static self-induced heterogeneity characterizing glass-forming liquids. The method relies on the equilibrium statistics of the overlap between pairs of configurations measured in mesoscopic cavities with unconstrained boundaries. By systematically changing the location of the probed cavity, we directly detect spatial variations of the overlap fluctuations. We provide a detailed analysis of the statistics of a local estimate of the configurational entropy and we infer an estimate of the surface tension between amorphous states, ingredien…
Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on TIP4P/2005 supercooled water to investigate the molecular diffusion and shear viscosity at various timescales and assess the Stokes-Einstein (SE) and Stokes-Einstein-Debye (SED) relations. For this purpose, we calculated various time correlation functions, such as the mean-squared displacement, stress relaxation function, density correlation function, hydrogen-bond correlation function, rotational correlation function of molecular orientation, non-Gaussian parameter, and four-point correlation function. Our study of the SE and SED relations…
Potential energy landscape picture of zero-temperature avalanche criticality governing dynamics in supercooled liquids
Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc.（丰田中央研究所）；D3 Center, The University of Osaka（大阪大学D3中心）；Department of Physics, The University of Osaka（大阪大学物理系）；Department of Physics, Nagoya University（名古屋大学物理系）；Division of Chemical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering Science, The University of Osaka（大阪大学工学研究科化学工程专攻）
Dynamic heterogeneity, believed to be one of the hallmarks of the dynamics of supercooled liquids, is expected to affect the diffusion of the particles comprising the liquid. We have carried out extensive molecular dynamics simulations of two model glass-forming liquids in three dimensions to study the time scales at which Fick's law of diffusion starts to set in. We have identified two different Fickian timescales: one at which the mean squared displacement begins to show a linear dependence on time, and another one at which the distribution of particle displacements becomes Gaussian. These t…
In a recent study by some of us, we have proposed a new measure of the structure of a liquid, the softness of the mean-field caging potential, and shown that it can describe the temperature dependence of the dynamics. In this work, we put this parameter through a stringent test and study the causal relationship between this softness parameter at the local level and the local dynamics. We first extend the earlier study to describe the local softness. We find a distribution of the softness value where the distribution has reasonably strong temperature dependence. This shows that the parameter ca…
We examine the structure of the distribution of single particle displacements (van-Hove function) in a broad class of materials close to glass and jamming transitions. In a wide time window comprising structural relaxation, van-Hove functions reflect the coexistence of slow and fast particles (dynamic heterogeneity). The tails of the distributions exhibit exponential, rather than Gaussian, decay. We argue that this behavior is universal in glassy materials and should be considered the analog, in space, of the stretched exponential decay of time correlation functions. We introduce a dynamical m…
Temporal relaxation of density fluctuations in supercooled liquids near the glass transition occurs in multiple steps. The short-time $β$-relaxation is generally attributed to spatially local processes involving the rattling motion of a particle in the transient cage formed by its neighbors. Using molecular dynamics simulations for three model glass-forming liquids, we show that the $β$-relaxation is actually cooperative in nature. Using finite-size scaling analysis, we extract a growing length-scale associated with $β$-relaxation from the observed dependence of the $β$-relaxation time on the …
