Characterization of the dynamics of glass-forming liquids from the properties of the potential energy landscape

Banerjee, Sumilan and Dasgupta, Chandan (2012) Characterization of the dynamics of glass-forming liquids from the properties of the potential energy landscape. In: Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear and Soft Matter Physics, 85 (2, Par).

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Abstract

We develop a framework for understanding the difference between strong and fragile behavior in the dynamics of glass-forming liquids from the properties of the potential energy landscape. Our approach is based on a master equation description of the activated jump dynamics among the local minima of the potential energy (the so-called inherent structures) that characterize the potential energy landscape of the system. We study the dynamics of a small atomic cluster using this description as well as molecular dynamics simulations and demonstrate the usefulness of our approach for this system. Many of the remarkable features of the complex dynamics of glassy systems emerge from the activated dynamics in the potential energy landscape of the atomic cluster. The dynamics of the system exhibits typical characteristics of a strong supercooled liquid when the system is allowed to explore the full configuration space. This behavior arises because the dynamics is dominated by a few lowest-lying minima of the potential energy and the potential energy barriers between these minima. When the system is constrained to explore only a limited region of the potential energy landscape that excludes the basins of attraction of a few lowest-lying minima, the dynamics is found to exhibit the characteristics of a fragile liquid.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear and Soft Matter Physics
Publisher:	The American Physical Society
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to The American Physical Society.
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited:	13 Mar 2012 10:59
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2012 10:59
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/43828

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