Spatial Correlations of Mobility and Immobility in a Glassforming Lennard-Jones Liquid

Published

January 1, 1999

Author(s)

C Donati, S C. Glotzer, P H. Poole, W Kob, S J. Plimpton

Abstract

Using extensive molecular dynamics of an equilibrium, glass-forming Lennard-Jones mixture, we characterize in detail the local atomic motions. We show that spatial correlations exist among particles undergoing extremely large (mobile) or extremely small (immobile) displacements over a suitably chosen time interval. The immobile particles form the cores of relatively compact clusters, while the mobile particles move cooperatively and form quasi-one-dimensional, string-like clusters. The strength and length scale of the correlations between mobile particles are found to grow strongly with decreasing temperature, and the mean cluster size appears to diverge at the mode-coupling critical temperature. We show that these correlations in the particle displacements are related to equilibrium fluctuations in the local potential energy and local composition.

Citation

Physical Review E (Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics)

Volume

60

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

dynamics, glass transition, supercooled liquids

Citation

Donati, C. , Glotzer, S. , Poole, P. , Kob, W. and Plimpton, S. (1999), Spatial Correlations of Mobility and Immobility in a Glassforming Lennard-Jones Liquid, Physical Review E (Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics), [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=851516 (Accessed October 13, 2025)