Numerical and Theoretical Study of a Monodisperse Hard-Sphere Glass Former

TL;DR

This study investigates a four-dimensional monodisperse hard-sphere fluid with intrinsic geometrical frustration, comparing its dynamics to mode-coupling theory, and finds strong agreement supporting a mean-field view of the glass transition.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed comparison of 4D monodisperse hard-sphere dynamics with mode-coupling theory, highlighting the role of dimensionality and frustration.

Findings

MCT describes 4D monodisperse hard-sphere behavior better than lower-dimensional models.

Reduced dynamical heterogeneity in 4D aligns with MCT predictions.

Results support a mean-field perspective of the glass transition.

Abstract

There exists a variety of theories of the glass transition and many more numerical models. But because the models need built-in complexity to prevent crystallization, comparisons with theory can be difficult. We study the dynamics of a deeply supersaturated \emph{monodisperse} four-dimensional (4D) hard-sphere fluid, which has no such complexity, but whose strong intrinsic geometrical frustration inhibits crystallization, even when deeply supersaturated. As an application, we compare its behavior to the mode-coupling theory (MCT) of glass formation. We find MCT to describe this system better than any other structural glass formers in lower dimensions. The reduction in dynamical heterogeneity in 4D suggested by a milder violation of the Stokes-Einstein relation could explain the agreement. These results are consistent with a mean-field scenario of the glass transition.